Kiawah Island Digest March 2017

March 2017

March 2017

D I G E S T

The Official Publication of the Kiawah Island Community Association

Carolina Marsh Tacky : Living Legends of the Lowcountry

Story Highlights The Chincoteague Ponies are famous … but did you know South
The Kiawah Cup features the rare Carolina has its own breed of onceferal Colonial Spanish horse ? The
Carolina Marsh Tacky horse
Tackies have an extensive history history and preservation of the in South Carolina and Kiawah critically endangered Marsh Tacky Horse is important to all who love
At the Kiawah Cup , attendees will Lowcountry culture and United States have a chance see these majestic history . These living legends have animals in action survived over the last 500 years by adapting to the environment and developing an intuitive sense of self-preservation .
Marsh Tackies arrived with the Spanish explorers and settlers in the 1500s . The Spanish colonies failed , but their horses braved the harsh conditions and lived on by their wits , surviving on marsh grass and forage . Feral Marsh Tackies sought refuge in Lowcountry marshes and were captured and domesticated by Native Americans , African slaves and European settlers .
The breed ’ s gentle disposition and tough constitution made it the most dependable horse in the marshy Lowcountry . For centuries , they were owned by rich and poor alike and were used for everything from carrying children to school , delivering the mail , hunting , herding cattle and plowing fields . Most Gullah families had one or two Marsh Tackies in their yards or tied outside their homes . The horses even have a history of military use . They were reportedly used by the troops of American Revolutionary War General Francis Marion , AKA the Swamp Fox , to navigate swamps and marshes , and were employed by the US Coast Guard ’ s beach patrol during WWII .
Tough as Pine Knots In 1846 notable naturalist John James Audubon wrote that the Marsh Tacky is as “ tough as a Pine knot .” The expression is still used today . Marsh Tackies don ’ t flee when the unexpected happens and adapt easily to new situations . As owner and rider Wylie Bell said in South Carolina Wildlife Magazine , “ They don ’ t panic when they get wrapped up in briars or when they are mired in a bog up to their chest . Like little bulldozers , they push through whatever you ask them to . Marsh Tackies are not big horses , but they ride big . They have huge hearts and sharp minds , and for people who own them , they ’ ll be that horse of a lifetime .”
Marsh Tackies on Kiawah In the early 1950s , Kiawah was an isolated wilderness reached by boat . It had just one permanent resident , Charlie Scott . Charlie had been the head plowman for the Vanderhorst family , and lived in a cabin on the Kiawah River . Charlie was the last African American tenant farm worker on Kiawah , and reportedly owned three Marsh Tacky horses that roamed the island and were used in the infamous Thanksgiving hunts . Rod Welsh of SCIWAY News remembers his grandfather surf-fishing from the back of his Tacky . Brothers Ed and Arthur
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