EQUUS

ISLANDS

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Small horses—often referred to as “ponies”—found on many offshore islands from Nova Scotia south to the Carolinas provide an excellent example of the law of dispersal. The origins of these population­s are often said to be “mysterious” or they are considered survivors of Spanish shipwrecks. However, the main source for island horse population­s was the “peninsular husbandry” common in every English colony where shoreline geography permitted it. Confining horses to waterbound eyots, barspits, islets and peninsulas saved stockmen the trouble and expense of fencing. Further, as time went on, horse herds in many districts multiplied beyond settlers’ needs, and swimming them out to barrier islands provided a convenient way to regulate their numbers.

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