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Thank you to our Corporate Sponsors for their ongoing generosity and support.
Preserving Rare Breeds
The Wilbur-Cruce Colonial Spanish Mission Herd
Diamonte is a classic example of a horse from the Colonial Spanish Mission period.
The Wilbur-Cruce Mission Horse, the Colonial Spanish Horse and theSpanish Barb are all names that refer to the horse descended from those brought to the Americas by the Spaniards beginning in 1493. These horses are significant both historically and genetically because they are representative of the original Spanish stock.
For over 113 years, these horses were kept in isolation near the Wilbur family ranch in southern Arizona. In 1989 these horses were discovered by The Nature Conservancy. The Minor Breeds Conservancy then placed them for preservation.
The ranch was sold in 1990 and the horses had to be removed. Dr. Philip Sponenberg, DVM, Ph.D. led the effort, and with Eva Antonia Wilbur-Cruce's permission, he gathered and placed the horses. He was responsible for dividing the herd of seventy-seven into breeding groups and distributing them among conservation breeders. In 1995, the Spanish Barb Breeders Association stepped in, creating a division of their Registry for the Wilbur-Cruce Mission Strain. Now, the strain can be documented as a distinct population, giving it maximum genetic value for long term conservation.
Robin Keller, founder of The Heritage Discovery Center, was the major breeder for the conservation effort and later registered the horses into the Spanish Barb Breeder's Association.
For more information on the Wilbur-Cruce herd, we invite you to read Beautiful Cruel Country, by Eva Antonia Wilbur–Cruce. You can learn more about this book in our resources section.
