HORSIN' AROUND
THE FLORIDA CRACKER HORSE IS A TRUE NATIVE BREED PROMOTED AS VITAL AND VALUABLE PART OF STATE’S HERITAGE
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Written by: Kym Rouse Holzwart
true native Floridian for more than 500 years, the Florida Cracker Horse is living history. This breed descends from horses that Spanish explorers brought to Florida in the 1500s, beginning with Ponce de León in 1521.
LEFT PHOTO COURTESY OF LISA KEEP HARMON; RIGHT PHOTO COURTESY OF FLORIDA CRACKER HORSE ASSOCIATION
Similar to other breeds developed and introduced by the Spanish to the New World, its ancestry can be traced to horses of early 16th-century Spain. The horses and cattle that the explorers left to survive in Florida’s harsh environment adapted and evolved into the hardy Florida Cracker Horse and Florida Cracker Cow, respectively.
Florida has been cattle country since the late 1500s; early American cowboys were nicknamed “Florida Crackers” because of the distinctive cracking of their long whips in the air when driving cattle. This name was transferred to the horses they rode and the cattle they drove. It took an extraordinary horse to deal with the sly, lean, tough Cracker Cattle, which were adept at living in swampy, scrubby Florida. These cow-smart horses were known for their agility, speed, endurance and toughness. They were also comfortable to ride, which was important when spending long days in the saddle working cattle in wild Florida. When ranches were established in the early 1800s by Florida’s pioneering families, the value of these horses for use in the thriving cattle business was recognized. These horses were the predominant type in the Southeast from the mid-1500s through the 1930s. At left, Lisa Keep Harmon of Live Oak, Florida, enjoys trailing riding with her Cracker Horse mare. In 1991, the Florida Cracker Horse Association established a registry of 75 purebred, foundation horses.
IT TOOK AN EXTRAORDINARY HORSE TO DEAL WITH THE SLY, LEAN, TOUGH CRACKER CATTLE, WHICH WERE ADEPT AT LIVING IN SWAMPY, SCRUBBY FLORIDA. F LO R I D A C O U NTRYM A G A Z I N E . C O M
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