Rare Ojibwe spirit horse birth sparks excitement at Canadian farm
An Ottawa farm is celebrating a rare event: a second foal has been born at the Mādahòkì Farm, expanding the farm's herd of rare Ojibwe spirit horses.
Most horse breeds register tens of thousands or even a hundred thousand new births a year, but the Ojibwe Horse Society gets excited if there are a dozen foals born in a year.
It’s estimated fewer than 200 of the ponies exist across the world today, following a dramatic decline in the 1970s.
Abigail Bimman has more about these special animals.
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He’s beautiful! What a cutie. I didn’t know these horses existed. They’re beautiful!
it is just one breed out of hundreds of breeds of horses on the planet.
Who are you talking about? The horse is male.
@@timberwolfdtproductions3890 But it might identify as a female. It is near Ottawa after all.
@@Dave-gy5mv only humans invented those rules.
@@vincentvega5686 It's a breed with only a few left.
What a beautiful baby spirit horse 🐴 thank you for bringing the numbers up in this special breed🙏
Yes!!!!😊
The breed is beautiful and absolutely deserves to be preserved, but it's not some kind of mystical pre-colonization horse (because the last true American wild horses died out a very long time ago). They're believed to have descended from Canadian horses (which were originally brought over by the French) and Spanish mustangs.
They look more like the Icelandic and Fjord horses. But the Vikings did take horses to Normandy, France, so maybe strains of those horses were in the later French horses too.
THANK YOU! I hate it, when people think Native Americans/First Nations Peoples have this long, long standing relationship with horses. They don't. I mean, it's 500 years, or so, which is a long time, but nowhere near as long as they've apparently been on this continent (over 10,000 years).
Exactly, thought it was weird when she said "Our indigenous ancestors roamed these forests with these horses since time immemorial". There were equine species in North America over 10,000 years ago that went extinct. Horses as we know them are not native to North America. They keep implying that there were horses here pre-colonization. The guy at the end of the video starts taking about how "these horses really suffered the effects of the colonizers", as though the horses were already in North America.
Yes. These people are deluded. They think these are their horses. They are not. These are feral European horses.
@@OntarioAtOrion Please explain your second part of your reply. I want to learn more.
I hope spirit Horses are allowed to thrive and thank you so much.These horses are absolutely gorgeous...
Hes adorable! Keep the special breed growing. They are priceless.
That is SO sweet and I'm happy to see the breed growing.
God bless you all for working so hard to rebuild this breed!! Congratulations on your beautiful baby!!🥰🥰🥰
Amen to that.
I've never heard about these horses! He's adorable! May the breed be successfully re-established!
what a gorgeous little horsie! So happy they're coming back as majestic horses of Canada
I thought all horses, in the US, descended from the horse brought over by the Spanish Conquistadors?
They are, the claim that they are unique horses that didn't descend from the colonizer's horses is just a fabrication, it makes for a good story.
@@hannahg.8572 Stop telling fabricated crack stories
I want to look into a bit further. Ive same mindset, Spanish horses. But looking at their colors, their size, and this is Canada..big country. At one time, wild horses were pretty widespread.
feelings trump facts
@@user-hz2xl4co9u The DNA studies are unambiguous, and unlike the people making these claims, the scientists don't have an economic interest in proving or disproving whether these horses are native to the Americas (which the DNA shows they aren't, they're a mix of European horses). As many commentors here have pointed out, they look quite similar to several Western or Northern European horse breeds, which is unsurprising, considering that's where most of their DNA comes from. The studies are easy to find online and publicly accessible, if you want to look into it more.
What a beauty. Thank you for sharing this.
WHAT AN AMAZING LITTLE HORSE, SO GLAD THERE ARE PEOPLE SAVING THEM. NOTHING BETTER THAN A PONY
Canadian Horses have been in North America since 1642
True, unlike what the lady claims…
Yeah, they were re-introduced to North America by the Spanish.
These horses are a genetically distinct breed that is believed to predate the introduction of European horses they almost went extinct due to intentional culling by the government and had to be smuggled from a Canadian first nations community to one just across the border where they essentially had to be kept in secret so they were not “discovered” until recently therefore not included in genetic testing to prove if any native breeds survived until recently. But yes all other known/tested horse breeds, or wild/feral horses in north america are descended from horses from outside North America.
@@amberafonso2903 Your story is getting better every time you tell it.😀
@@amberafonso2903 believed? Canadian Horses have historical data to prove their lineage
He’s so fuzzy 🥹I just want to hug him. And I love the history of this breed. Very beautiful.
Thank you for saving these spirit ponies...what a wonderful legacy.
They look kind of Icelandic / Fjord in appearance. Have you done any genetic testing to help establish the original breed or to assist with future breeding? Just curious.
They do look like Fiord horses.
The breed is called the Ojibwe horse and it is a genetically distinct breed strongly believed to predate horses brought in from European settlers so is a true native north American breed and is adapted to live in our northern forests instead of grasslands.
Genetic analysis places their closest “cousins” as draft horses, which matches historical records of France sending draft horses to their settlements in what is now Canada. They are NOT from the Iberian stock of Columbus.
@@evilsharkey8954 When their numbers fell, they were crossed with Spanish mustangs in the 1970s, giving them some Iberian markers..
@@amberafonso2903 The University of Kentucky did research on the breed in 2012 and through typing found they are British pony with some Iberian horse genetics. A study done by a different organization using matrilineal genetics the same year concurred with the results. The other breed listed with them is "Canadian horse" which itself a hybridization of light riding and draft horses imported from France in the 1600s. It is not, therefore, in any way, a native breed. They are the hybrid results of imports; because, as is shown in the fossil record, horses went extinct in North America at the last ice age.
So adorable - oh my goodness 🥰 Thank you for sharing your beautiful Spirit horses with the rest of us💕💕💕
So good to see history isn't being lost and forgotten about. Thank u and good luck with everything xo ❤
He even looks like Spirit!
Wonderful! I wish you luck in saving and breeding these amazing horses. ❤️
I didn’t know about this breed!! How cool! Welcome to the world, lil guy!! Thank you to the folks working hard to restore this beautiful Canadian animal ❤
Beautiful lil dude has a legacy to recreate.
I thought the Spanish brought the horses to North America. All of these breeds are supposedly descendants of them.
Yeah, but that doesn’t mean the horses aren’t an important part of Native American culture. The horses filled in the niche left behind by extinct ice age equines, so they aren’t exactly harmful to the land either
@@averycheesypotato Why did the natives make up some bogus story about the horses?
@@averycheesypotato it’s just that they’re talking like it was here before the Spanish came. So, a few hundred years ago… not exactly ancient.
@@actuallyitisrocketscience there were horses in the Americas before the Spanish. Those were likely all wiped out, but they did certainly exist. Perhaps they even survived longer than we thought? To outright say that stories were made up or suggest that centuries of history are not worth taking seriously would be wrong
@@averycheesypotato just because the horse originally evolved in North America doesn’t mean the natives had them. Horses migrated over to Eurasia long before the human migration to the Americas. I don’t know what you’re trying to argue. The horses in the video are descended from French and Spanish breeds. Europeans and Asians are the original “horse people”, not native Americans. I don’t know why they want to attach so much of their culture to them. Their culture supposedly existed for thousands of years before horses entered the picture. Horses just aren’t Native American.
I didn't know about these gorgeous ponies! It's unreal they have been able to bring them back from just 4 mares (one obviously had to be pregnant with a boy). I hope they can keep a good genetic background. Can't BELIEVE they were considered a "pest". They are precious and unique. ❤
Can someone tell me if I learned it wrong? I was told that horses that were Native to the Americas had all went extinct thousands of years ago and it was the Europeans who introduced the current horses into the Americas....Now this Native is saying that these horses been in the Americas since the beginning of time? It seems off to me.
No you're not mistaken. Horses are not indigenous to north America and were brought here by the Spanish. These ponies where likely selectively bred by natives.
They aren't exactly rocket scientists.
You are correct on both counts and the Global reporter isn’t educated enough to realize fake claims when she hears them.
This breed has proven genetically distinct and evidence strongly suggests it predates European horses. The studies done on wild horses and horses kept by first nations in the states that proved they had European horse dna was not done on this breed as this breed had only a handful left until recently and was intentionally being culled by the canadian government so there was none to be tested at those times and there existence was being actively suppressed. Its true however that unless its descended from those few survivors or some other “undiscovered” or untested breed if you have a wild horse its descended from feral European horses
Horses went extinct in North America around 8000 to 11000 years ago. Current horse populations are descended from horses brought by Europeans. Horses traveled and were traded by natives across the continent faster than the Europeans which accounts for oral history of tribes encountering the animals before European contact. Some tribes claim to have pre-Columbian indigenous horses but archaeological evidence has not yielded evidence of this yet and neither has dna studies done by reputable sources, as it is the last equine species to go extinct in North America was Equus Lambei, a close relative of E. Caballus so if you were to claim that your horse is pre-Columbian indigenous because it has mtDNA of E. lambei you’re in for a surprise, the European horses have it too. Other claims of evidence such as dun factor markings being “proof” of pre-Columbian pedigree are simply ridiculous as dun and dun factor markings are natural to European and Asian horses as well. The U.S and Canada did round up andkill tribes horses and dogs as well as make it illegal to own them but that is not proof of pre-Columbian horse existence or domestication, many tribes have traditions of horses while others don’t so it seems odd that some tribes were so good at hiding them from the rest of us if they indeed had them. Cultures across America bred dogs for various uses, we bred hunting dogs, your average village dog, and we bred large boned strong malamute type dogs which we used as draft animals, we wouldn’t have done this if we had horses, and although scarce few actual indigenous breeds are left and it was illegal to have them, we have more factual evidence of their existence as well as other animals like Muscovy ducks and possibly even skunks that we domesticated than we do of pre-Columbian domesticated horses.
So pretty ❤ so special ❤
I love the Ojibwe! Congratulations on the new addition to the family!
Never heard of this magnificent breed before. They sure are beautiful. I pray that the efforts to increase the population are met with success. God bless them and their caretakers.
Now we are making Canada great again.
😂you can start by giving up alcohol
@@justadildeau Take your own advice hypocrite 🙄
sounds similar to the European wild horse also with a stripe on its back the przewalski (forest dwelling horse)
That's because they're all European horses. There are no native North American horses. They went extinct during the last ice age. Every native horse tradition came from the europeans.
This coloration is called 'dun' and is believed to be the color pattern of Eurasian wild horses. It shows up in many modern horses too, sometimes with zebra-like dark stripes on the legs as well.
@@ToudaHellhi, this is a gentically distinct breed believed to predate European horses. Studies done saying all breeds alive in North America were descended if European horses did not include this breed as it was essentially being kept in secret until very recently due to the government trying to intentionally cull this breed due to there cultural significance to first nations people.
@@amberafonso2903Genetic studies indicate they are most closely related to French draft horses, and Louis the XV did send such horses to that region of the Americas. They were bred to their near current form by the indigenous people and are likely the first breed created in the Americas. They weren’t being exterminated purely to spite the locals. Europeans wiped out the ancestor of their own domestic horses over 100 years ago. It turns out the descendants of Europeans held just as little value of species and breeds that weren’t profitable to them. What’s extra disgusting is just how recently they were doing it to spirit horses. The last of them were slated to be killed in 1977! That’s recently enough to know better! Thank goodness for the people who saved them.
@amberafonso2903 I would really like to see that paper. Living members of a believed extinct species are always exciting finds.
Glad there's been a renewed interest in these precious animals.
What a good looking little horse - I just wanna dig my fingers into that fuzzy winter coat! I too only just learned about Ojibwe horses the other year - knew lots about horse breeds associated with the plains nations in the USA, but I had no idea there was one from eastern Canada.
I was such a total horse-nerd as a kid and I've never heard of this breed before- super cool cold adaptations!
Congratulations on your precious foal !!❤
Bless you protecting & nurturing these special horses. Aho
He is so beautiful!
Now this is a good news I like to know about. What a happy little fellow.
Tears of joy. Great story
Best of luck. So happy for you!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
They are beautiful ! ❤
Wonderful news I’d say 🎉🎉❤
They're beautiful. I hope their numbers grow.🐴💛
Be very interesting to see the DNA results for these horses.
Scientists have already done it. These horses are European stock.
@@MsJellyBellyLove yes, agree! The only "true" wild horses (Przewalski's) currently residing in Asia/Russia have slight DNA admixture of modern domesticated horse. The modern "Tarpan" is also not a true wild horse. It is a recreated mixed breed.
@@MsJellyBellyLove Nonsense 🤣
Quite lovely! They are rare indeed and to be treasured! Congratulations on the new baby...
Beautiful foal
They are adorable and very special please continue their breeding program ❤
This brings so much joy to see!
Go forth and multiply!
God bless you and yours!!
Beautiful horses.
wow! so so sweet, these horses are so important to keep among us
Thank goodness they saved them!
What a cutie and important story!!❤️
Adorableness! Good luck little prince❣️
So much for the books I've read about how many breeds of horses and pony's there are in the world . . . Bless you all for taking on this uphill battle !!!
❤❤ Ohhh sweet baby. Beautiful horses. I'm so glad the breed survived.😊
Thank you for sharing this amazing story.
He’s really beautiful!
Adding love to the people that help them❤
What a sweet lad!
I never knew about these horses! I hope I can visit someday!
Awe, i pray he has the best life!
What breed is this "spirt" horse? Sounds more like a PR release.
It is.
Id give almost anything to work with these beautiful creatures!
Well , bless your hearts 💗🐴
Yay new baby, ❤ Thank you .. 🇨🇦😉
Awesome ❣️👋🏼🇨🇦
Little Tobacco is adorable!!
I respect and appreciate the Spiritual value of the Spirit Horse however you need to recognize that although Horses evolved in what is now North America they went extinct well before the last Ice Age and in fact, the current physical form that Horses presently enjoy also evolved long after they became extinct in North America. The Modern Wild Horse population of the Americas are descendants of the escaped feral horse brought to the Americas by Spanish Conquistadors. I'm sorry to break this to you, however Spirit Horses do not predate Colonialism and, in fact, their presence is a direct result of European Colonial efforts. That being said, your horse is very special and very beautiful.
Hippocampus
Sorry to break this to you but you're clueless
@@SolarEclipse1996 No one is actually going to believe you in any of these comments. You have people here citing actual studies, verified evidence, DNA testing, etc. and your only comments are 1 to 10 word non-sense, responses so poor I can get better from an 8 year old.
Congratulations.Beautiful Foal.
nice to see these great little horses being brought back from the brink.
Good luck little Spirit boy. You are here to help right the wrongs. Blessings for you and your wonderful people.
They are very beautiful, I had never heard of them before, I just hope and pray that their numbers grow!
Beautiful Baby!
Such a beautiful horse with such beautiful heritage! Best wishes!
He is so adorable. 🥰🥰
Love this!!!! ❤
Just Beautiful and Amazing 🌈🦋🌎
Thank you ♥️
Yes celestial joy.
Little horse, welcome! May you walk in beauty.
That's so awesome. Their beautiful ❤😊
You do realize that all the horses, ponies and donkeys in the Americas came here with the “Colonizer”!!
You do realize that coming across the land bridge was also a colonization, right? There were two major influxes of humans into the Americas. People have the right of movement on the earth. And no, that does not support atrocity on either side.
there has always been colonizers everywhere and in every time or in other words travellers and settlers.
@@LittleBitofHopeToo2518 , I totally agree with you. It would seem that all peoples originated in my neck of the woods, Southern Africa, the Cradle of Mankind, and migrated upwards, and both eastwards, westwards, and through the Bering Land Bridge to what we now think of as far westwards, though then it was maybe furthest eastwards. To the people in any place, always the centre of the world, whatever. The centre of their viewpoint. And then we sort of swirled around and created different journeys and patterns and cultures over time. Why do we fight? Why are we threatened by the "otherness" of other cultures? I'm fascinated by different peoples and their stories, and like you, I'm appalled by atrocity and hatred and bigotry. I don't want my European culture wiped out either, there is much of beauty in it, though today it is much endangered, including from the louts within. And much of arrogance and cruelty within our culture, also. But that is the human story, isn't it? That's actually why I turn to nice stories of beautiful horses instead. I get so tired of the hurtful games humans play. I prefer animals any day.
well actually, horses originated in the americas, migrated across the landbridge into modern russia and mongolia, across europe and asia, and then back across the atlantic to their homeland. But by then, they'd gone extinct in the americas! So horses are from amercia originally, but also, there were no horses here when the europeans brought them over.
They evolved on the North American continent but, unfortunately, they were hunted to extinction and thought to be extinct by 10,000 years ago. It's a surprise to me, hearing of any surviving stock.
How wonderful!!❤🐴❤️😊
Fascinating. ❤
Some of the people in these comments have all the joy & happiness sucked out of them! Beautiful baby. I hope these people get the resources they need to continue a healthy future for this breed. It is a shame they had to be crossed with other breeds, but with only four mares left it was amazing they have a population at all. The extra nose flap bit was very interesting. They seem like a cool breed to have :)
Why ? Because they destroy the fairy tale with actual facts?
Beautiful ❤️❤️
Oh wow, i didnt know there were wild horses native to canada that's amazing!!
Just beautiful!
Very beautiful and happy to know about them. Thank you for caring so much. 🩵
Damn hopefully it will be preserved
A wonderful horses. A beautiful foal.
Congratulations 🎉
So adorable!
Beautiful
Awesome!! ❤
BABYYYYYYYY LOOK HOW HE RUNSSSSSSSSSSS
Sweet little baby!
precious!
I love this!