Forever Florida Asks Public To Name New Filly

By  //  July 16, 2013

NAME THE NEW SANTA CRUZ FILLY

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NAME THE NEW SANTA CRUZ FILLY

Forever Florida, a  4,700 acre eco-ranch and wildlife conservation area encompassing nine distinct ecosystems, is asking the public to name its new filly. The Santa Cruz filly comes from a beautiful livestock breed.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT YOUR SUGGESTION FOR THE FILLY’S NEW NAME

FOREVER-FLORIDA-220x135The filly’s parents are dam, Taffy, and sire, Toblerone. Taffy is a cremelo (white), while Toblerone is chestnut.

Taffy, a cremello, looked like a light taffy colored Palomino with blue eyes when she was born.  She went through a long “ugly duckling stage” as a yearling and is now dainty and beautiful.  Toblarone is 2007 stallion, with a gentle and sweet demeanor.

HISTORY OF THE SANTA CRUZ BREED

Santa Cruz horses arrived on the island about 1769.  They were brought by Spanish missionaries and apparently were never crossbred with any others.  According to Texas A&M, their DNA Is 100 percent Iberian.

RELATED STORY: Endangered Equine Breed Thrives At Crescent J Ranch

When the island was purchased by TNC and the National Park Service, the plan was to remove all exotic species.  The horses were moved to a preserve on the mainland.  Over the centuries, the horses had lost their fear of predators and within weeks cougars had killed several of them.

Bill and Margaret Broussard, here with three members of their Santa Cruz herd, are committed to the preservation of the endangered equine breed. The palomino on the right is Paco, one of their foundation stallions. (SpaceCoastDaily.com image)
Bill and Margaret Broussard, here with three members of their Santa Cruz herd, are committed to the preservation of the endangered equine breed. The palomino on the right is Paco, one of their foundation stallions. (SpaceCoastDaily.com image)

Santa Cruz horses were under the watch of a California nonprofit organization and one member, Christina Nooner, volunteered to protect them on her small farm.

She went far in debt for this project and was unable to get anyone in the west to help significantly.  She was working with the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy and they knew of Forever Florida’s efforts to preserve Spanish Colonial horses and cattle.

Forever Florida’s non profit, The Allen Broussard Conservancy (ABC), came to the rescue and  purchased 13 of the 25 horses left to save the breed.

CLICK HERE For information about Forever Florida

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Forever Florida’s new filly’s parents are dam, Taffy, and sire, Toblerone. Taffy is a cremelo (white), while Toblerone is chestnut.