There is no evidence for the popular belief that Sable’s horses arrived as survivors of a shipwreck.
The true story
A Boston clergyman, the Reverend Andrew Le Mercier, sent the first horses to graze on the island in 1737. Most of them were probably stolen by privateers and fishermen. About 1760, Boston merchant and shipowner Thomas Hancock shipped 60 horses to Sable. These horses survived and became wild.
But whose horses were they?
Between 1755 and 1763, Acadians were deported from Nova Scotia by British authorities. Hancock was paid to transport Acadians to the American colonies. The Acadians were forced to abandon all their livestock. It appears that Hancock helped himself to some of their horses and put them to pasture on Sable Island.
There is no evidence for the popular belief that Sable’s horses arrived as survivors of a shipwreck.
The true story
A Boston clergyman, the Reverend Andrew Le Mercier, sent the first horses to graze on the island in 1737. Most of them were probably stolen by privateers and fishermen. About 1760, Boston merchant and shipowner Thomas Hancock shipped 60 horses to Sable. These horses survived and became wild.
But whose horses were they?
Between 1755 and 1763, Acadians were deported from Nova Scotia by British authorities. Hancock was paid to transport Acadians to the American colonies. The Acadians were forced to abandon all their livestock. It appears that Hancock helped himself to some of their horses and put them to pasture on Sable Island.
© Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History 2001 All Rights Reserved.
Artist's rendering of an Acadian homesite at Belleisle, N.S., before the Expulsion - watercolour by Azor Vienneau, Nova Scotia Museum collection.
Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History
Sable Island Preservation Trust
© Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History 2001 All Rights Reserved.
1612 The first horses came to Nova Scotia.
1632 Horses brought to Acadia from France were a mixture of several breeds.
after 1680 These horses were interbred with stallions from the New England colonies.
1760 During the deportation of the Acadians, about 60 of their horses were shipped to Sable Island and became wild.
1801 - 1940s Sable horses were regularly rounded up and sold in Halifax, but prices were low. A variety of stallions were sent to breed with the wild horses, in hopes of increasing the price.
1960 Parliament under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker ruled that Sable's horses should be left alone.
Today Sable Island horses still look like the horses of the early Acadian settlers. They are rugged animals, well suited to life on the island.
1612 The first horses came to Nova Scotia.
1632 Horses brought to Acadia from France were a mixture of several breeds.
after 1680 These horses were interbred with stallions from the New England colonies.
1760 During the deportation of the Acadians, about 60 of their horses were shipped to Sable Island and became wild.
1801 - 1940s Sable horses were regularly rounded up and sold in Halifax, but prices were low. A variety of stallions were sent to breed with the wild horses, in hopes of increasing the price.
1960 Parliament under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker ruled that Sable's horses should be left alone.
Today Sable Island horses still look like the horses of the early Acadian settlers. They are rugged animals, well suited to life on the island.
© Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History 2001 All Rights Reserved.
These are modern horses of the kinds known to have been sent to Sable Island from 1801 - 1912 for breeding purposes.
Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History
Sable Island Preservation Trust
© Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History 2001 All Rights Reserved.
Learning Objectives
The learner will:- Describe where the Sable Island horses came from
- Identify the different breeds of horses mixed together to make the Sable Island Pony
