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The Abaco Barb Youth Project presents:
Saving Abaco/Abaco Alert!
By Grace R., age 13
Columbus OH
Homeschool Newspaper: The Daily RoastBuy a model horse. Save a real one?
Catherine Jula hopes to do that by buying Breyer's model horse, Capella, a paint Abaco stallion.
The New Jersey Company, Breyer®, is selling a model horse based on an endangered Abaco Barb stallion. Liz Krathammer the product manager of Breyer® says the Capella model is selling much better than expected and that a portion of the proceeds from each model, which cost from $35 to $50, will go to Arkwild. The organization is dedicated to saving the Abaco from extinction.
�Well it's just like carrier pigeons, they used to block out the sun but now there are none left,� Jula said. �I don't think that any species deserves to be completely demolished like that.�
The Abaco Barbs live on Grand Abaco Island in the Bahamas 150 miles off of Florida's Gold coast. The pony-sized horses are descended from the horses of the Conquistadors, who came or were shipwrecked there 500 years ago.
Today only 12 remain from the 200 that roamed the island. Over the years many foals were killed by wild dogs. There also were the mysterious deaths of four stallions and two mares.
The horses can be bay (a brown color with a black mane, tail and legs) pinto (a Mixture of white and in this case Bay splotches) or roan (black or red hairs mixed with white). There are five stallions and seven mares.
Pictured:
A Bay stallion named Mimosa and a Pinto mare named Dubhe.
Milanne Rehor founder of Arkwild and director of WHOA (Wild Horses of Abaco) began the effort to save the Abaco in 1992.
Susan Dudasik and the girls of the Salmon Idaho model horse 4-H club can be credited with the idea of making a Breyer® model of the Abaco.
�One of our members had an idea to have everybody send a letter to Breyer,� Dudasik said. �My girls wrote passionate letters and had lots of information on the subject. They thought that since they were kids Breyer® wouldn't listen. Well, don't think that just because it's a big company or someone in the government that you, as a youth, wouldn't be heard. You will, just take a chance.�
Their hard work has certainly paid off.
�The Abacos really hit me because it was such an emergency case, such a small number of the horses left on the face of the earth,� Krathammer said.
Money from the sale of the model is being used to buy food, equipment and medical supplies for the horses. Rehor lives on a boat just off of the island and looks after the animals with the help of volunteers and a veterinarian.
Donations can also be made by visiting the Arkwild website at www.arkwild.org.
Great article, Grace!
