GREAT ABACO, BAHAMAS...Once, they were a mighty herd, perhaps 200 strong: pinto, bay and roan horses rippling through thousands of acres of pine forest. They were as free as the sea winds that blew across the island they had conquered.

Their origins remained unclear until 1998, when it was recognized, by a few individuals, that the horses probably were Spanish Barbs. In August of 2002, based on three separate DNA analyses and photo and video records, the horses were accepted by the Horse of The Americas Registry as the Abaco Barbs, descendents of horses brought over at the time of Columbus's explorations.

Throughout the world Barbs are recognized as critically endangered. The Abaco Barbs nearly went extinct in the early 1970's. Today they are once again fighting for survival. The horses have been returned to a preseve in their ancestral forest home. Their history, as we know it today, follows.