Cracker Horses And Cattle

Join author Carol Matthews on a galloping romp through the long history of Florida’s cracker horses and cattle. The first horses and cattle to set foot on the North American continent stepped onto Florida land, brought by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521 just south of present day Fort Myers. The animals were abandoned, formed wild herds and would be used by different groups for food, work, trade and transportation for the next 500 years. Cattle ranching was born when Jesuit and Franciscan Friars, also known as missionaries, set up a system of missions across north and north-central Florida. The largest ranch was Rancho de la Chua, located on what is now Paynes Prairie in Alachua County. As a result of this increase in cattle production, Florida rancheros began to sell cattle to Cuba. This was the first industry to develop in the New World and would continue for the next three hundred years. By the 1960s there were only a handful of pure cracker cattle and horses left. But herds were established on state lands, preserving a living link to Florida's past.

Join author Carol Mathews on a galloping romp through the long history of Florida's cracker horses and cattle. The first horses and cattle to set foot on the North American continent stepped onto Florida land, brought by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon in 1521 just south of present day Fort Myers. The animals were abandoned, formed wild herds and would be used by different groups for food, work, trade and transportation for the next 500 years. Cattle ranching was born when Jesuit and Franciscan Friars, also known as missionaries, set up a system of missions across north and north-central Florida. The largest ranch was Rancho de la Chua, located on what is now Paynes Prairie in Alachua County. As a result of this increase in cattle production, Florida rancheros began to sell cattle to Cuba. This was the first industry to develop in the New World and would continue for the next three hundred years. By the 1960s there were only a handful of pure cracker cattle and horses left. But herds were established on state lands, preserving a living link to Florida's past.

"The need to preserve farm animal diversity is increasingly urgent, says the author of this definitive book on endangered breeds of livestock and poultry. Farmyard animals may hold critical keys for our survival, Jan Dohner warns, and with each extinction, genetic traits of potentially vital importance to our agricultural future or to medical progress are forever lost."--BOOK JACKET.

This publication presents the entire content of the acclaimed multi-media museum exhibit, Florida Cattle Ranching: Five Centuries of Tradition, in book form. More than 200 photos present historical documentary images, scenes of contemporary ranch life, and artifacts that range from the Spanish colonial spurs to modern electronic ID tags. The engaging text describes Florida's cattle ranching heritage from the 16th century to the present. An enclosed DVD includes two broadcast-quality videos that present the fascinating story of Cracker Cattle and Cracker Horses descended from stock introduced by Spaniards in the 1500s, and twelve audio segments that feature dozens of Florida cowboys, cowgirls and ranchers who inform and entertain you on topics ranging from cow dogs and Cracker cow whips to cowboy funerals and hilarious poetry based on ranch work experiences.--

Captures the essence of the Florida cowboy through compelling photographs.

Kissimmee Pete, his dog Mud, and his horse Blaze work together to gather a cow herd "as big as the sky."

A Land Remembered has become Florida's favorite novel. Now this Student Edition in two volumes makes this rich, rugged story of the American pioneer spirit more accessible to young readers. Patrick Smith tells of three generations of the MacIveys, a Florida family battling the hardships of the frontier. The story opens in 1858, when Tobias and Emma MacIvey arrive in the Florida wilderness with their son, Zech, to start a new life, and ends in 1968 with Solomon MacIvey, who realizes that his wealth has not been worth the cost to the land. Between is a sweeping story rich in Florida history with a cast of memorable characters who battle wild animals, rustlers, Confederate deserters, mosquitoes, starvation, hurricanes, and freezes to carve a kingdom out of the Florida swamp. In this volume, meet young Zech MacIvey, who learns to ride like the wind through the Florida scrub on Ishmael, his marshtackie horse, his dogs, Nip and Tuck, at this side. His parents, Tobias and Emma, scratch a living from the land, gathering wild cows from the swamp and herding them across the state to market. Zech learns the ways of the land from the Seminoles, with whom his life becomes entwined as he grows into manhood. Next in series > > See all of the books in this series

Did you know that a miniature horse weighs just a few pounds, while a giant draft horse can weigh well over a ton? Or that from a standstill a mule can jump, kangaroo-like, more than five feet high? With answers to hundreds of questions about behavior, physiology, training, and special breed characteristics, Knowing Horses has all your horse quandaries covered.

Reading the Florida Landscape offers all levels of nature enthusiasts an opportunity to improve their skills and increase their appreciation of Florida’s wonderful outdoors. Great photographs and maps enhance the reading pleasure, and diverse and exciting narratives on Florida nature are included. Using interviews with conservation scientists and historical and current case studies, the book blends the skills and knowledge gained from the author’s experiences as a physician and an advanced Florida Master Naturalist to discuss how to identify, or perhaps diagnose, actions and events that have influenced the structure and function of Florida environments. It encourages the reader to identify evidence of land and water use that has occurred in the past to better understand how these have influenced the health and function of ecosystems in the present.