Foundation Horses Series #1:Crane--The Classic Grullo
Foundation Horses Series #1:Copyright ©2000 Vickie Ives Speir and Horse of the Americas, Inc. All rights reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form.
This is #1 in a series of pictures of foundation horses from the Horse of the Americas files. Also see Tiger Eye and Four Lane. More to follow.
This picture of Crane was scanned from a publication. It is perhaps the best known picture of the son of Cochise and Little Thing, and has often been reprinted.
Now from the files of the Horse of the Americas Registry, here are more shots of Crane in Porterville, CA at the Wild Horse Research Farm including a few showing his unique coloration. Though the records do not include photo credits, most are likely the work of Mr. Jeff Edwards. Thanks, Jeff!
Crane as a youngster:
In this 3/4 view, Crane's rimmed ears with their cream tufts are very visible. Note the strongly Iberian profile.
Munching as he walks, Crane meanders. Note the wave in the mane.
Head studies of Crane. This one pictures him as a colt. His Iberian profile has not yet fully matured.
Here is Crane as a mature stallion. With heavy bone over the eye, shallow mouth, rather short powerful neck, rimmed and hooked ears, Crane is an excellent example of the horse which is variously called the Original Indian Horse, the Barb (and Spanish Barb), the Spanish Mustang, and the Spanish Colonial Horse.
Though there are less than 5,000 of America's First True Horses, many registries record their pedigrees including the American Indian Horse Registry, the Spanish Mustang Registry, the Spanish Barb Breeders Association, the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association, The International Barb Horse Registry, the original Horses of the Americas Registry and others.
We really DO know what a good one looks like, don't we? (And if you don't, here's a good example of the conformation of one of the best that ever walked. Below is the best photo of Crane still in existance, in my opinion.) We need to get together to promote the real horse of the Old West.
HOA invites all breeders of these Barb type horses with papers in any of the above mentioned registries to participate in the Horse of the Americas Registry, Inc. It is a corporation established to record the bloodlines of all Spanish Colonials, to promote all Spanish Colonials, not just particular lines or strains, to recognize their achievements with national awards programs, establish a complete data base of all living Spanish Colonial horses. United we save the most historic horse in America. Divided we fail. And they've never failed us, have they?
Back to the HOA Index Page.
Counter reset at 577 on 8/28/2002.