History and Origin of the Breed
The Spanish Barb has a legacy bequeathed out of the Spanish
discovery, exploration and colonization of the New World. Arriving by ship to confront
foreign environs, the Spanish Barb horse adapted, endured and survived the epoch of
exploration, conquest and colonization, and continued through the age of settlement of the
American West. The Spanish Barb was one of America's greatest resources and without the
presence of these horses, history would read quite differently. Once the New World was
firmly established, the Spanish Barb forged ahead to other tasks. Whether war horse,
mission horse or ranch horse, the Spanish Barb fulfilled his destiny with extraordinary
success, facilitating the power of movement critical to founding a new nation. This nation
was dependent on the Spanish Barb "work" horse, instead of
the imported "sport" horse until the time of the Industrial Revolution when a
mechanized society became the order of the day.
The Spanish Barb horse has an ancient origin. He is the result of crossing the African
Barb, or Berber horse with the resident horse of the Iberian Peninsula after the Moors
invaded Spain in 711 AD. The precursors of the Barb/Iberian horse are attributed to having
descended from Equus stenonius, one of the six original types of wild horses known
to man. The Barb/Iberian horse was developed by those cultures who depended on their
horses in every day life. It is these cultures which have always produced the world's best
horses.
The Spanish Barb was nearly cross-bred and abandoned to the point of extinction around
the turn of the 20th century. Fortunately enough 20th century horseman realized that a treasure was about
to be lost and dedicated themselves to preserving a nucleus of those horses. Time and
circumstance had resulted in some degeneration of the original Spanish Barb, so it became
necessary to institute strict breeding programs in an effort to restore this horse to his
original state. This was accomplished by culling those individuals who did not
consistently produce Spanish Barb phenotype. All horses are inspected before they are
registered and each stands on it's own merit, regardless of his parentage. There are two
divisions in the Registry: the lower division is for foals and for adult horses which
score in the median to low range; and, the upper division is for horses who are inspected
again after reaching three years of age and score in the upper percentile. It is from the
upper division of the Registry that breeders are encouraged to select their breeding
stock.
The first quarter century of the Registry, there were five bloodlines being used: the
Romero; the Belsky; the Coche Two; the A-ka-wi; and, the Sun. The Wilbur-Cruce Mission
Strain, which
is a rancher gene pool having over 113 years of history on one ranch, was added in 1996
(*). Each bloodline has documentation to support it, with three of the six being rancher
gene pools, two of which date back to the 1800's. None of the foundation horses were
feral. No horse was brought in from the range and placed in the Registry even though three
of the lines do trace back to some feral stock. The goal of the Spanish Barb Breeders
Association has been to produce the best Spanish Barb possible and to do so in the mold of
the horse brought to this continent by the Conquistadores. The Spanish Barb Registry
constitutes an "untampered" with breed of horse, which has been continually bred
to be a composite of those characteristics of excellence with which the original
Barb/Iberian horse was endowed.
History and Origin of the *Wilbur-Cruce Mission Strain
In the late 1600's, Father Eusebio Kino, a Jesuit priest and missionary, first brought the
Spanish horse into the Primeria Alta, the area made up of what is now southern Arizona and
northern Mexico. Father Kino established his headquarters in the San Miguel river valley,
approximately twenty-five miles east of today's Magdelena, where he founded Mission
Dolores and Rancho Dolores. It is from this area that the Wilbur-Cruce Mission Strain
originated.
The Wilbur-Cruce Mission Horse, the Colonial Spanish Horse and the
Spanish Barb are all names that refer to the horse descended from those brought to the
Americas by the Spaniards in the days of colonization, in 1493. These horses are
significant both historically and genetically because they are representative of the
original stock. Within this group various strains exist. One such strain, the
Wilbur-Cruce, was preserved on a ranch in Southern Arizona and discovered by Spanish horse
enthusiasts in 1989.
In the late 1870's, a horse trader named Juan Sepulveda gathered a
herd of several hundred horses from the Mission Dolores area, with the intention of
herding them to the Kansas City stockyards, where they could be sold. Sepulveda's first
stop was at the homestead of Dr. Rueben Wilbur, where he sold a manada (breeding
group of horses) of twenty-five mares and a stallion. Wilbur was a Harvard educated
physician and the first rancher to settle in the Arivaca district of the Arizona
Territory.
Dr. Wilbur turned his horses out in the high desert mountains of the
ranch and allowed them to run in wild bands, continuing the harsh selection of nature to
which they undoubtedly had been exposed in the past. The horses were hardy and well
adapted to the dry climate and rocky, steep terrain. For over 113 years the family worked
the ranch and kept their stock, which they referred to as the "rock horses", in
isolation. They caught and trained only those horses they needed for ranch use, letting
the remainder fend for themselves.
The ranch was sold in 1990 and the horses had to be removed. The
American Livestock Breeds Conservancy recognized the historical and genetic value of the
Wilbur-Cruce horses and provided the funding for their trapping and removal. Dr. Philip
Sponenberg, DVM, PhD., and ALBC technical coordinator, was responsible for dividing the
herd of seventy-seven into breeding groups and distributing them among conservation
breeders.
In 1995, the Spanish Barb Breeders Association stepped in, creating
a division of their Registry for the Wilbur-Cruce Mission Strain. Now, the strain can be
documented as a distinct population, giving it maximum genetic value for long term
conservation, as well as the use of some individuals for providing genetic variability to
other Colonial Spanish Horse strains. The SBBA will also serve as the repository for
historical documents about the strain.
Breed
Characteristics
The Spanish Barb stands 14 to 15 hands with the median height being
14.2 to 14.3 hands. This breed has remained within the natural "size to height"
ratio which students of equine physiology consider to be optimum. The profile is straight
to slightly convex as was that of its ancestors. The ears are short to moderate in length,
most often being notched at the tip. The Spanish Barb has an expressive eye, a broad forehead and the
head tapers to a small muzzle. The neck is well arched on the top line, broad at the base
and blending into a shoulder of good to excellent length and angle. The back is short to
medium in length and the loin it strong and powerful. The croup can be rounded or slightly
angular with a medium to low tail set. The legs are medium in length with cannons of
excellent circumference. The hooves are ample in size and are extremely tough. The mane
and tail is full, particularly in the stallions. The Spanish Barb may reflect more Barb
heritage with a narrower chest and slightly angular croup, or he may reflect more Iberian
heritage with a broader chest and rounder croup. Whether tending more toward the Barb type
or the Iberian type, the overall appearance of the Spanish Barb should be one of balance.
the Spanish Barb is usually a solid-colored horse of black, sorrel, chestnut or any of a
wide variety of shades of roan, grullo, dun or buckskin. No description of the Spanish
Barb would be complete without mentioning his great strength of spirit. He not only
possesses the physical attributes to accomplish any task but also his very essence brings
a vitality to the pursuit of those tasks.
Famous Horses
Scarface
This chestnut stallion was Foundation #1 and a herd sire from the Romero Ranch, an old
land grant ranch in New Mexico. He proved to be an extremely prepotent sire and many of
his progeny have been distinguished performance horses, as well as being invaluable in
breeding programs.
Natan de Quieto
A grandson of
Scarface and a composite of the Romero, Coche and A-ka-wi lines. He was nominated to the
National Cutting Horse Futurity in 1981, was converted by a new owner to Combined
Training, then in 1991 he won Novice Open Division Reserve Champion in the Texas Reining
Horse Association. One of his get claimed Junior Horse of the Year honors his first year
competing on the Greater Houston Combined Training circuit.
Sisoka Luta
A granddaughter of Scarface and a composite of the Romero, Coche and Sun lines. She is the
winningest horse in the history of the Registry and is know as the "grand dame"
of performance. She has won championships in every show discipline, has placed well in
endurance competitions and does fox hunting and team penning for recreation. Sisoka was
retired from major competition at 15 and is currently the mount for a young Pony Clubber.
Breed Organizations
Spanish Barb Breeders Association
P. O. Box 598
Anthony, Florida 32617
Phone: 352/622-5878
Fax: 352/368-1022
E-mail: caballo01@sprynet.com
Information supplied by the Spanish
Barb Breeders Association |