If I say, “The glories of Spain,” you may think of modern cathedrals, or historic armadas, or Inigo Montoya. But no matter what you think of when Spain is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind might not be “livestock.” If you live in North America, though, maybe you should put that one in the mental hopper, because when Ponce de Leon came over to Florida in 1521 looking for the fountain of youth (here set up a colony somewhere in there too), things fundamentally changed over here. Horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, chickens – the whole shebang was on the boat. Not all of them made it, though, because they had to contend with heat, humidity, bugs, panthers, heat, snakes, and humidity, among other things. Florida: Adapt or die.
One of the things that did make it was starter stock for the sturdy, smart, smooth-gated equine that became known as the Florida Cracker Horse. It not only survived, but thrived, and became known as a superior cow pony in the swampy wild land that was Florida of old - before Disney tamed it, of course.
Stephen Monroe (the Cowboy Poet) is our guest today, and he’ll tell us about these amazingly well-adapted animals, and how their history is our history. And he’ll talk a little bit about the heat, too. And the humidity.
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