My name is Rebecca Gilpatrick and I am the owner of the Choctaw Ranch. I became involved with the Colonial Spanish horse in 2001. I was drawn to this rare breed because of it's gentle, people loving nature, it's trainability, hardiness, solid feet, endurance, moderate size, and easy gaits. Today the Choctaw Ranch is home to several Colonial Spanish horses. 
 
       The Rickman family of Finley,Oklahoma have dedicated their lives to conservation of  the Choctaw and Gilbert Jones strains of Colonial Spanish horses and they maintain the primary
breeding herds. One of our goals at the Choctaw Ranch is to provide support to the Rickmans in this massive and important endeavor. This includes exhibitions of Colonial Spanish horses, an educational booth at fairs and expos, and providing materials to the media. These horses are not only of historical interest, but are genetically unique.  If they disappear they will be gone forever.  Most people are not even aware that this breed exist, much less how wonderful they are.  Our focus is to help more people become involved with these delightful horses. 

      "The historical record for the Choctaw Indian horses is extensive and more details are known for this strain than for many other strains of Colonial Spanish horse. But they are surviving by a thin thread...They are perilously close to extinction."

      The Choctaw horses of today are the direct descendants of the horses that traveled with the Choctaw Indians on the "Trail of Tears" in the 1830's from the southeast U.S. to the reservations in Oklahoma. The Indians had gotten their horses from Spanish conquistadors in the 1500's and then selectively bred them for gentle and trusting dispositions and easy gaits . Today they are very rare with only about 200 horses of pure Choctaw breeding in existence. 

    The most outstanding feature of the Choctaw horse is it's quiet, people oriented disposition. They are not tall horses (most are 14 to 14.2 hands), but they are built to carry weight and can easily carry a 200 plus pound man over 50 and 100 mile races. They have very sound legs and hooves and most are never shod. Choctaw horses come in every color and pattern and most commonly have long, full manes and tails.

     In addition to it's wonderful disposition they are very athletic and excel in endurance events.  Many Choctaw horses are gaited, however even the trotters are very smooth riding. The Choctaw horses make excellent trail horses and they also do well participating in other activities from dressage to reining to jumping and western games. Their striking looks make them a natural choice for parade, trick, and exhibition horses while their calm and engaging dispositions make them great family pets.

    The Gilbert Jones line of Colonial Spanish horses has made its mark in endurance races.  These horses are highly intelligent, mild tempered and people oriented. They have excellent feet, are surefooted and hardy.  The strain is founded on Choctaw breeding, and includes Cherokee, Kiowa, Chickasaw, Comanche, and Huasteca horses and well as horses from the herd that produced the real-life "Hidalgo".

    Since removal of these horses from the Kiamichi mountains began in February of 2008 I have brought several of them to my ranch.  Even coming straight from running wild on 1.7 million acres to here they have been remarkably easy to work with and have bonded with us very quickly.  The efforts to bring these horses to safety and to place the individuals not needed in the breeding program continues.  Today there are many young stallions, particuarly of the Gilbert Jones strain that can be gelded and will make wonderful riding and performance partners. 

   Bringing these horses  safely out of the mountains and keeping them in pens until alternative grazing lands can be found is an costly endeavor.  The Rickman's need all the assistance that they can get in the way of monetary donations and donations of hay and feed.  Your purchase of a horse from the Rickman herd contributes greatly in helping to feed the remaining horses and to provide veterinary care.  In addition we are seeking a long term solution that would be provided by the donation of permanent grazing lands, preferrably in eastern Oklahoma.  Tax deductible donations can be made to the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy's "Choctaw horse fund".  Their contact information, as well as the Rickman's, is found below.



Blackjack Mountain Horse Rescue Fact Sheet

American Livestock Breeds Conservancy

PO Box 477, Pittsboro, NC 27312,
Phone (919) 542-5704
www.albc-usa.org
June 2008

The Horses –
• Colonial Spanish horses are of great historic importance in the New World. They descend from horses introduced from Spain during the age of the conquest of the New World. They are a direct remnant of the horses of the “Golden Age” of Spanish horse breeding and that type is mostly or wholly extinct now in Spain. Our Colonial Spanish horses are therefore a unique genetic resource. The term “Spanish Mustang” is a fairly old term and is used to refer to the stock of pure Colonial Spanish descent that has not been mixed with other breeds. Consequently, these horses can be identified as “Colonial Spanish” horses.

• The Rickman herd is comprised of bloodlines that originate from Choctaw, Cherokee,
Huasteca, Kiowa, Comanche, and other Native American tribes along with Colonial
Spanish horses from Utah and New Mexico. The Rickman herd of Spanish mustangs
numbers at approximately 350 horses and was made famous in 2004 through the movie
“Hidalgo”. According to the conservation breeding plan developed by ALBC Technical Advisor, Dr. Phil Sponenberg, the plan subdivides the herd into two main breeding populations or lines within the herd.

Jones line: These are horses from Gilbert Jones breeding. They are from a foundation of
North Texas, New Mexico, and Utah horses, to which has been added a good deal of Choctaw or Huasteca breeding. These horses usually excel at endurance, and can be tough competitors, with tough competitive minds.

Choctaw line: Choctaw horses are the most endangered and in need of conservation.
They are a Southeastern strain that was bred by the Choctaw Indians and traveled with
the people on the Trail of Tears. All of these horses are highly people oriented and are
subdivided into four subgroups including:

1. Pure Choctaw - These horses are known for durability and kind nature, as well as
flashy colors. Approximately ten percent are gaited, but even the trotters have smooth
gaits.
2. Cherokee lineage – These are Choctaw with significant Cherokee influence. They
number about 40 head (estimate). They tend to be flashy paints, and many are
strongly gaited.
3. Huasteca lineage - These are important because the Choctaw portion in this group is
otherwise unrepresented in the Pure Choctaw group. That is, they are essential to the
Choctaw conservation program. These tend to be durable and kind horses as well.
4. “Mixed” Group made up of a combination of the above mentioned Southeast
Oklahoma strains.

• The Rickman herd of Spanish mustangs was kept on open range in the Kiamichi Mountains near Blackjack Mountain and Medicine Spring, which are located southeast of Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 2007 the grazing lease on the land the horses lived on was terminated and the landowners needed the horses removed from the land as soon as possible. Using catch pens situated in various sites in the mountains, the horses were captured by Bryant Rickman with the help of friends and family, and then relocated to the Rickman Spanish Mustang Ranch in Soper, OK, about an hour’s drive west from the mountains. From there they will go to their new owners.

The People -

• Gilbert Jones collected and bred the Colonial Spanish horses for many years and formed
the herd that is now the subject of the ALBC Choctaw Rescue. Gilbert was born in 1906
within Indian Territory one year before Oklahoma statehood. He was raised in Llano
Estacado, a region in the northern panhandle of Texas. He began breeding Spanish
mustangs in 1923 when he purchased his first Colonial Spanish stallion, an iron gray
horse he named “Grey Eagle.” He searched far and wide for exceptional horses including
the acquisition of horses from the herd that produced the famous endurance horse
“Hidalgo”. After many years of gathering and breeding Spanish mustangs in Texas, he
and his family moved to Oklahoma and settled on his Medicine Springs ranch in 1958.
Gilbert continued to breed and conserve Spanish mustangs until his death in 2000. His
herd passed on to his good friends Bryant and Darlene Rickman who continues to ensure
that Gilbert’s horse legacy endures.

• Bryant and Darlene Rickman are the owners of the herd of Spanish mustangs that are
the focus of the ALBC Choctaw Rescue. Bryant has been a long time advocate of the
Spanish mustang and was a close friend of the famous horse breeder Gilbert Jones.
Bryant inherited Gilbert’s herd upon his death and continues to breed them in the same
tradition that Gilbert followed. Bryant is a superb horseman and trainer and has close
relationships with all of his horses, including the wild ones on the mountain. It is through
these relationships that Bryant is able to coax wild horses into catch pens in order to
safely remove them from the mountain.

• Dr. Phil Sponenberg is the ALBC Technical Advisor and acts as lead on the
organization’s rescue effort of the Rickman herd of Spanish mustangs. He is a long time
collaborator for the conservation of Spanish mustangs with the Rickman’s and with the
late Gilbert Jones. With the data accrued on the Rickman herd, Dr. Sponenberg has
developed a conservation breeding strategy to ensure the genetic diversity and the long
term survival of the irreplaceable genetics represented in the horses.

The Organizations -
• Southwest Spanish Mustang Association (SSMA) was founded in 1978 by Gilbert Jones and serves as a registry for all of the Gilbert Jones line of horses, the horses in the
Rickman herd, and other Spanish mustangs of good Colonial Spanish type and ancestry.
The Board of Directors include Bryant Rickman, Billie (Sisty) Monroe, and Ken Pelt.
Kelly Hickman is the SSMA Newsletter Editor and Publisher. Darlene Rickman is the
Registrar for the association’s studbook.

Southwest Spanish Mustang Association (SSMA)
Antlers, OK
580-326-8069
sistymonroe@aol.com
southwestspanishmustangassociation.com

• The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) was founded in 1977 and protects genetic diversity in livestock and poultry species through the conservation and promotion of endangered breeds. ALBC lists the strains of Colonial Spanish horse, including the Choctaw, as critically endangered on the ALBC Conservation Priority List making the
rescue of the Rickman herd a priority for the organization.