The LAC LA CROIX INDIAN PONY

A Breed or a By-Product

 

Much has been postulated about the how the LLCIP ‘came to be’. Where was it from? How did it get here? How long has it been here? Is it a unique breed? Is it just a mixture of all kinds of breeds?

 

In attempting to find the answer to all of these questions and many, many more I embarked on a journey of undetermined origin. The destination was clear in my mind, but the paths and tributaries to get there were yet to be discovered. Since becoming involved with these ponies some four years ago, I guardedly promoted them for the first few years as I was not really certain what it was I was promoting – all I knew for certain was that a number of my predecessors had done some homework and they felt justified in saying that this was indeed a unique breed. Taking their findings on faith, and having worked with and lived with some fine examples of the breed, I endeavored to continue their trail of discovery.

Two years later, and after many hours of pouring through volumes of written material and references, and with the help of a few very significant personal contacts, I have gathered a substantial amount of additional research material, which I feel not only corroborates their findings, but adds new dimensions as well.

 

The more immediate history of “where” and “how did it get here” is addressed in an outstanding article entitled “A Fitting Tribute”, written by Walter McElderry and included in the spring issue of The Pony Express. The answer to the more distant history is still being researched.

 

The LLCIP, as we know it today, has been in Northern Minnesota and Northern Ontario since at least the time of Canada’s Confederation, before borders were cleanly established and “lines” were drawn. According to Wally Olsen, who visited the village of Lac La Croix weekly in the 40’s and 50’s, the elders oft spoke of the ponies that were residing there and had done so “as far back as they could remember”. Given the age of the elders of the village and their tradition for preserving history and educating their young via story-telling and recounting their past, that would put the ponies in the village (in Ontario) in the mid 1800’s if not earlier.

 

Is it a unique breed? Is it just a mixture of all kinds of breeds?

Given the nature of the development of the horse, this appeared not to be an easy question to answer. However, having gone back in time to the very first horses over 55 million years ago, there appears (according to experts) only three distinct, separate “types” of horses from which ALL others have developed either by man’s interventions or natures influence. I was surprised to learn that the very first horses evolved on the North American continent roaming the grasslands for millions of years extending their range to most of the continents of the earth. The ‘horse’ migrated across the Bering Island bridge into Siberia and from there across Asia into Europe and south to the Middle East and Northern Africa. It is important to detail this beginning in order to understand the breeds contributing to the development of the LLCIP.

“But horse evolution was not smooth and gradual. Different traits evolved at different rates, didn't always evolve together, and occasionally reversed "direction." Also, horse species did not always come into being by gradual transformation (anagenesis) of their ancestors; instead, sometimes new species split off from ancestors (cladogenesis) and then coexisted with those ancestors for some time. Some species arose gradually, others suddenly. Overall, the horse family demonstrates the diversity of evolutionary mechanisms. The most modern equids (descendants of Parahippus) are called equines. Strictly speaking, only the very modern genus Equus contains "horses.”

The Evolution of the Horse http://www.pbs.org/wildhorses/wh_origin/wh_origin_intro.html

About 8000 B.C. horses vanished from North America completely. In 1000 B.C., the first horses were domesticated and used for transportation of cargo and man. Horses were not re-introduced to North America until about 1500 A.D. when the Spanish came to conquer the New World. Their small, sturdy mounts spread quickly, once again, throughout America.

 

It is said that the Lac Lac Croix Indian Pony has a shared history of having blood of both the Canadian Horse and the Spanish Mustang. While some favour one over the other, for either patriotic reasons or personal preference, I considered it essential that no matter what the outcome of any research, the answer to that postulation had to be correct according to the breed’s actual history.

There is an abundance of information that says this little pony ‘came’ from both Western Ontario, up and around the Great Lakes into Northern Ontario, and from the Northern States, also up into Ontario. Because of this, or maybe in spite of this, the question often asked is; Then if it came from Ontario, is it a descendant of the Canadian, or if it came from the States, is it a Spanish Mustang descendent? So ….. what is a Canadian Horse and what is a Spanish Mustang?

The Canadian Horse, as we know it today, is not the animal that is referred to in the history books so comparing the LLCIP to today’s Canadian poses many difficulties. Regardless of reported actions of the farmers in the early 1900’s (below), the Canadian is shown repeatedly to be the descendants of the Norman (now recognized as the Spanish-Norman) and the Breton. The Spanish-Norman has the blood not only of the classical Spanish breeds (Andalusion—Arab—Barb—Noriker—Sorraia—Garrano) but also has a history of the heavier, larger breeds (Friesian, Percheron, European Native Stock) thus producing a more prominent feature set – that of a small, light draught horse type. These traits were encouraged and bred for by the farmers as it applied to their use of the horse on the homesteads. This ancestry is evident in some of our LLCIP’s today.

“As has been well pointed out on more than one occasion by Dr. Couture, to whom perhaps, more than to any other man in Quebec in due the present revival of the French Canadian horse, as well as that of the French Canadian cow, a very grave mistake was made thirty years ago by well meaning but short sighted live stock reformers, who, by the introduction of stallions of many different breeds, succeeded in almost entirely destroying the identity of the native strain, and substituting for it the nondescript mongrel now far too frequently found in the stables of our French Canadian fellow citizens.”

“There can be no doubt, in view of the evidence adduced that the hardihood and endurance of the French Canadian horse were derived from the same source as the like attributes in the Thoroughbred, namely the Eastern blood, Arab, Turk or Barb, to which all our modern breeds of light horses owe their best qualities.”

      Report of the Select Standing Committee on Agriculture and Colonization - First Session, Eleventh Parliament 1909
      Dr. J.G. Rutherford, Veterinary Director General
      Edward Vll.   Appendix No. 2        A. 1909

      THE FRENCH CANADIAN HORSE
      House of Commons, Committee Room No. 34, Wednesday, March 17, 1909

1909standingsenate.html
Report of the Select Standing Committee on Agriculture and ... 34, Wednesday, March 17,
1909, The Select Standing Committee on Agriculture and Colonization met ...
www3.sympatico.ca/mapleridge/ 1909standingsenate_html.html

     Very little care was given to the early Canadian breed, and it is a testimony to their hardiness that they survived. In summer, when the horses were little used, they ran loose in the woods, where they were tormented by flies against which they had no defense due to the French practice of docking the tails. In the winter they were usually given no shelter at all, especially the young stock which were not in use. The inhabitants cured no hay so their horses existed mostly on straw. They seldom received enough grain but were required to work hard. When the owners took to the road they thought nothing of driving the horses as fast as they would go for a dozen miles or more, then leaving them to stand uncovered for hours in blizzard conditions.  It was their opinion that harsh exposure was an excellent way to toughen an animal.

      New France furnished the horses taken to the western settlements at Detroit and in the Illinois area. Many of these horses were allowed to run loose in large herds and were only brought in when needed for work. Great numbers are known to have escaped to run with the mustangs of the American plains - an ancestor never mentioned in writings of the American Mustang.

       Many purebred French Canadian horses were entered in to the early stud books of the Morgan, Standardbred, and American Saddlebred. Foundation sires of these breeds were often pure Canadian or were mated to Canadian mares. The Tennessee Walking Horse and Missouri Foxtrotter can also claim Canadian ancestry.

Canadian Horse History
HISTORY OF. THE. CANADIAN HORSE. The Canadian breed may well be one
of the best kept secrets of the twentieth century - not because ...
www.eidnet.org/local/cdnhorse/history.htm

            So, that’s a Canadian Horse as I understand it. Now, what is a Spanish Mustang? That was a little harder to figure out because so many types are called Spanish Mustangs, and so many are very different, that it took a lot more effort to sort and sift through the details. An equal number of breeds went into the development of the Spanish Mustang as went into the Canadian, however the biggest difference is that, without exception, there were none of the ‘heavier’, work-horse type breeds. In fact, some of the key breeds are very little known, endangered themselves, and are direct descendants of the Iberian Horse that survived the Ice Ages.

          The Spanish Mustang comes directly from the blood of the horses of Spain and Portugal – The Sorraia and the Garrano. The Sorraia Horse and the Garrano Pony both share a history. For the most part (there are a few difference), they have a commonality in their physique, breed features, and temperament. All are basically feral animals domesticated for use as pack animals, transportation and hauling. The Sorraia Pony stands, on average, 14.2 hh with the Mustang coming in at 13.2 hh and the Garrano at 12.3 hh. The Mustang falls in the middle both in size, conformation and temperament.

            “Colonial Spanish Horses are of great historic importance in the New World. They descend from horses introduced from Spain during the age of the conquest of the New World. They are a direct remnant of the horses of the Golden Age of Spain and that type is mostly or wholly extinct now in Spain. Our Colonial Spanish horses are therefore a treasure chest of genetic wealth from a time long ago.

SPANISH MUSTANGS & BARBS A Part of Our Living History                                 North American Colonial Spanish Horse – Part I, History & Type                                                                                         by Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, Ph.D.

The Spanish Mustang (left and above). Note the conformation, and features such as the leg barring, the dorsal stripe and the neck and tail set. The colour of these two examples also duplicates the colour of some of our LLCIP’s. (author comment)

 

The ancestor of the Iberian breeds still exists. Some of America's mustangs are a zoological treasure and of the same type - they represent a chance to rescue this endangered subspecies. “

taken from www.conquistador.com 

THE SORRAIA HORSE  - The Link to Antiquity

Text and photography by Hardy Oelke  (photo of a Sorraia Horse)

The Sorraia, while considered a ‘breed’, represents the indigenous wild horse of Southern Iberia which survived wild and free until the first quarter of this century. All of the breeds of horses in the Iberian Peninsula are related in some degree. Although people call these horses “Spanish horses” today, they are more accurately called “Iberian horses”. Because of their size, people call them ponies but by conformation standards, as with the LLCIP, they are most definitely a horse – under 14.2 hh without a doubt, but definitely not built like a pony. The Sorraia is the most important ancestor of the Iberian breeds such as the Lucitano and the Andalusion – which we’ve learned is a predesessor to the Candanian Horse.

The Garrano (or Minho) Pony is a Portuguese breed and is good natured, lively and quick. In spite of the “lively and quick” features, they were used widely as pack animals being very strong and known for their surefootedness.

     “The Garrano took part in the foundation of Portugal in the II century, then went along with the pilgrims on the Way of St. James (Road to Santiago), and was taken on the ships that left for the New World - always him, identical in aspect and character from immemorial times to today, he possesses the patience of the donkey and the strength of the mules but the docility of the ponies for children. He has been the horse of priests, nobles, farmers and warriors. He carried timber and the last rites without faltering on the steep stony paths of the damp Lusitan mountain, in those places where the clouds travel fast in the sky and the golden eagle still flies…”

The Garranos - A Horse that Comes from the Past:
Text and photos by P. Da Silva    http://www.horseandfarmmagazine.com/Garranos.html 

(various environments and disciplines of the Garrano)

It would seem therefore, that most reasonable conclusion to make with regards to the LLCIP and its relationship between the Spanish Mustang and the Canadian Horse would be one of partnership. Undoubtedly, both in Canada and the United Sates, the generic “Indian ponies” were exposed to animals of both breeds, both whole and part-bloods. Given that the Mustang’s heritage is fully Iberian and the Canadian’s heritage is perhaps in the area of 50% Iberian, then is it any surprise that both qualities exist in today’s ponies with the predominance of the Spanish features?

The re-introduction of the Spanish Mustang, SMOKEY, in 1977 by Walter Saatela was perhaps the most fortunate “interference” man-kind has provided for these animals in a considerable time. Mr. Saatela is no longer with us unfortunately to confirm what his criteria and decision factors were in choosing the stallion he did. Would it be wrong or incorrect to introduce some Canadian blood to the current gene pool? If the animal(s) chosen were of the “old type” or the smaller more genetically pure variety, then I would have to say ‘no’. It would be equally correct to bring in another Spanish Mustang as well although this would dilute even further the remaining influence of the draught horse type genes. Perhaps for purposes of breed preservation, distancing of bloodlines, and broadening of the genetic base, it would be appear to be most correct and wisest to do BOTH however it is my personal opinion that it is best to do nothing in haste. Blood typing and heritage genome testing is perhaps our wisest course of action for the immediate future. Time and answers from these tests will determine the path to follow in the future.

On a note of caution; it appears that there is Spanish blood inherited in most of our current breeds, and unless we wish to change the breed we have, we must exercise extreme caution in providing a stable gene pool base.

Written by Jane Mullen – Equi Lore Farm – February 2003

ADDENDUM: As of August 2004, we have had Dr. E. Gus Cothran, world re-knowned equine geneticist, from the University of Kentucky complete a genetic analysis of the Lac La Croix Indian Pony. Dr. Cothran concludes his report with:

"Genetic variation in the Lac La Croix currently is near the average for horses based upon the most important measure of variation Ho. However, the pattern of genetic variation does indicate the low population size of the LLCIP and suggests that a loss of genetic variation is in progress. There is low genetic diversity. With a population size as small as that for the LLCIP it is impossible to completely stop the loss of variation without introduction of outside blood into the breeding population. As this will change the characteristics of the LLCIP this should be avoided as long as possible.

Current data suggest that recent management of the LLC has been good. The population is divided into several groups which is good for maintenance of genetic variation. Interchange among groups should take place but not every year. As many stallions as possible should be used for breeding, as long as they are sound and meet breed standards. Concentration of breeding with one or two stallions must be avoided as this will rapidly hasten the delay of genetic variation and could cause the rapid establishment of a genetic disease. The current genetic health of the Lac La Croix appears to be good. However, the population size places the group at risk and sound management must be practiced to ensure their survival."