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Watch RFD-TV to Learn about the Cracker Horse

Posted July 8th, 2008 by jhoblick

The ancestors of today’s Cracker Horses were introduced to Florida by Spanish explorers, beginning with Ponce de Leon in 1521, and continuing well into the next century. When the Spanish settlements were abandoned in the face of British expansion, their livestock was left to roam wild in the harsh Florida wilderness.

Feral herds expanded and by the 18th century thousands of these horses roamed freely throughout Florida. William Bartram, a famous naturalist of the time, described them as “the most beautiful and sprightly species of that noble creature” that he had ever seen.

When Florida’s pioneer farm families established ranches across the newly acquired U.S. territory in the early 1800s, they recognized the value of using these wild horses in maintaining their cattle herds. Small and agile, the horses were perfectly suited for moving through the palmettos that covered Florida’s landscape.

Florida cowboys, nicknamed "crackers" because of the sound made by their whips cracking in the air, could hunt stray cows where other horses failed. This breed became so essential to working cattle in Florida's rough conditions that it, too, was given the name Cracker.

Watch this fascinating program on RFD-TV or visit http://www.florida-agriculture.com/videos/scripts/script_crac_horse.htm to read the script or view the video on line. The Florida Report is produced for Florida Farm Bureau by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.