Florida Cracker Horse

The Florida Cracker Horse is a critically endangered horse breed from the U.S. state of Florida. It is genetically and physically similar to many other Spanish-style horses, especially those from the Spanish Colonial horse group, including the Banker horse of North Carolina and the Carolina Marsh Tacky of South Carolina. The Florida Cracker Horse is a gaited breed known for its agility and speed. The Spanish first brought horses to Florida with their expeditions in the early 16th century; as colonial settlement progressed, they used the horses for herding cattle. These horses developed into the Florida Cracker type seen today and continued to be used by Florida cattlemen (known as "Florida crackers" or "cowhunters") until the 1930s. By this point, the breed was superseded by American Quarter Horses which were needed to work the larger cattle breeds brought to Florida during the Dust Bowl. As a result, the population of the Florida Cracker Horse declined precipitously. Through the efforts of several private families and the Florida government, the breed was saved from extinction, but there is still concern about its low numbers. Both The Livestock Conservancy and the Equus Survival Trust consider the breed endangered. On July 1, 2008, the Florida House of Representatives declared the Florida Cracker Horse the official state horse. The Florida Cracker is also associated with the Seminole Tribe of Florida, a prominent group of Native Americans in the state, as well as the Chickasaw Nation, a tribe that originally lived in Alabama and Mississippi in the Southern United States.