Oral traditions and documentation support the existence of this resourceful breed back to the time of the conquistadors. Descending from stock brought by the Spanish, these little horses of the upper southeastern coast were rugged and tough. In Colonial times they were used on cattle drives, for riding, transport and farming.
The Chickasaw, the Cherokee, the Seminole, and the Choctaw all likely came into contact with the Marsh Tacky up and down the Southeastern Seaboard. It thrived in feral and semi-feral states in the lowcountry marshland where blooded animals would have perished. Tackys were often captured, tamed and made into reliable mounts for children. Many worked the fields or pulled buggies and carts.
Documentation also suggests that Tackys played a part in the Revolutionary War as mounts during skirmishes in South Carolina. Most notable was Francie Marion, known as the Swamp Fox, a colonel who used early gurerrila warfare tactics riding Tackys to out manuver the British in the swamps
Throughout the 1800’s Tackys were reported to have been found as far north as Myrtle Beach and as far south as Georgia down to St. Simons near the Florida border. The first recorded documentation of horses on the islands came during the Civil War era. Union troops stormed Hilton Head and when the slaves there were set free, they were offered “40 acres and a marsh tacky” to begin their new lives with.
In the years following the Civil War, Tackys continued to be useful. Their ability to safely navigate the marshy swamps of the land made them exceptional saddle and hunting horses. They were part of everyday life, pulling plows, hauling firewood for the home, drawing wagons with goods to market, as a mount for hunting deer, wild hog and other game for food, or carrying the family to church. They were handy herding cattle too when the East still had cattle drives. They were important to professionals in the field carrying mail, pulling the doctor’s buggy, and getting the teacher to schoolhouse. For the Gullah farmers of the region, the Marsh Tacky was as indispensable as the John Deere tractor is today.
Modern history indicates the Tackys still roamed freely by the hundreds in the early 20th Century on the islands off South Carolina, including Hilton Head. Native islanders called Gullahs continued to breed and use the Tackys until the 1950’s when developers moved in paving roads and gobbling up real estate. By 1974 there was one lone survivor left cropping grass on the lawn of local island restaurant.
