Florida's "Cracker" Cowboy History!
Who knew?? Many, including me, never knew that Florida had cowboys working cattle LONG before our wild west!! Turns out, Juan Ponce De Leon brought spanish cattle and horses to Florida in the 1500's. The spanish didn't stay but the livestock did. The Indians, specifically the Seminole's quickly took advantage of the left-behind animals and started raising and training both cattle for food, and horses for transportation and to work the cattle. The spanish horses as it turns out are small and quick on their feet. Oh, and they're gaited, so easy to ride! Now if you know much about Florida, you are aware that the saw palmetto covered, often quite thickly, much of the state's terrain. Don't get me wrong, there are also vast prairies of grasses, cypress swamps, and of course our beautiful beaches. But for herding the wild cattle that by now were becoming quite populous, these small, quick horses were idea...
