Feral Sable Island Ponies |
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| Country of origin | Sable Island |
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| Horse (Equus ferus caballus) | |
The Sable Island Pony, also known as the Sable Island Horse, is a type of feral horse found on Sable Island, an island off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. The first horses were brought to the island for pasture in the late eighteenth century, and additional horses were later transported to improve the herd's breeding stock. The horses are protected by law in their feral state. The horses live only at Sable Island and at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in nearby Shubenacadie. The latter herd is descended from horses removed from the island in the 1950s.
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The first horses on Sable Island were brought to the island during the late 18th century. Many people believe that they arrived on the island from shipwrecks, but they were intentionally taken there for breeding and pasture. The first recorded horses were brought by a Boston clergyman, the Reverend Andrew Le Mercier in 1737; mariners stole other horses and took them to the island to graze and multiply.
The present-day horses are thought to have descended mostly from horses seized by the British from the Acadians during the Expulsion of the Acadians. The Boston merchant and shipowner Thomas Hancock purchased the horses and transported them to the island in 1760.[1] Although often referred to as ponies due to their small size, they have a horse phenotype.
After the government of Nova Scotia established a lifesaving station on Sable Island in 1801, workers trained some of the horses to haul supplies and rescue equipment. Lifesaving staff brought additional horses to the island to improve the herd's breeding stock. They recorded the importation of the stallion, Jolly, taken there in 1801.[2]
Although the horses live in a challenging and isolated environment, they maintain a stable and healthy herd. Its numbers vary, but it averages between 200 and 350 horses. The Sable Island horses have been protected since 1961 by regulations of the Canada Shipping Act prohibiting removing or interfering with them.[3] In 2008, the Nova Scotia Legislature declared the Sable Island Horse as one of the provincial symbols, making them the official horse of Nova Scotia.[4]
Aside from the island, Sable Island Horses live only at the Shubenacadie Wildlife Park in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. It maintains descendants of Sable Island Ponies removed from the island in the 1950s by the Canadian Department of Transport.[5] The Nova Scotia Museum has a study and specimen collection of the Sable Island horses through a Research Associate. A complete skeleton of Sable Island Pony is displayed in the Mammals Gallery at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History in Halifax.
The horses that remain on Sable Island are feral. In the past, people trained the horses exported to the mainland. They reported the horses as excellent, tough and enduring, and able to travel with ease on any terrain. The present-day horses are very hardy and thrive in an inhospitable environment. As the herds are not managed, the horses exhibit a range of characteristics. In general, they have nice heads with a straight or convex profile, and are short, stocky and muscular in frame. Tails are low-set and shaggy. Their coats are mostly dark colours, but some do have white markings. About half are bays, with the rest evenly distributed among chestnut, black and palomino. There are no grays. Males average about 360 kilograms; females about 300 kilograms.[6]
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