ACTHA Monthly | April 2015| 38
There are a limited number of pure Spanish Mustang breeders throughout the country who work tirelessly to support this breed.
More are needed if they are to survive.
Through a business agreement between Gilbert Jones and Bryant Rickman, the bulk of Gilbert’s horses passed into the Rickman’s hands in the mid-1990s. Bryant also assumed the leadership role of Jones’ organization, the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association. The Rickman’s have dedicated their lives to the preservation of the Choctaw and Gilbert Jones stains that are thriving today, but the battle hasn’t been easy as they fight to preserve the Spanish Mustang and the Choctaw strain from extinction.
Gilbert Jones had secured grazing leases for his herd from timber companies that had owned more than one million acres of unfenced land. A portion of this land encompassed Blackjack Mountain where many of the horses’ ancestors had roamed. The herds had grown and they continued to run free and thrive until fall of 2007 when the timber company cancelled all of the pre-existing grazing leases, including the Rickman leases for the horses, forcing removal of all cattle and horses grazing on the mountain. Given the terrain and untamed nature of the horses this was a seemingly insurmountable task.
Rickman
Spanish Mustangs
The Spirit of Blackjack Mountain (continued)
While Dr. Sponenberg’s research is well documented he states “the historical record for the Choctaw Indian horses is extensive and more details are known for this strain than for many other strains of Colonial Spanish horse. But, they are surviving by a thin thread…perilously close to extinction.” The Livestock Conservancy has listed the Choctaw strain as “critical”; i.e., there are less than 250 alive today.
Photo by Jennie Sweetin-Smith