state of Florida. With them, the state started three small herds in Tallahassee, Withlacoochee State Forest, and Paynes Prairie State Preserve. By 1989, however, these three herds and around 100 other horses owned by private families were all that remained of the breed. In 1989 the Florida Cracker Horse Association was founded and in 1991 a registry was established. After the registry was created, 75 horses designated as "foundation horses" and 14 of their offspring were immediately registered. These horses came mainly from four lines of Cracker bloodstock and were designated as purebreds by breed experts – partbred horses were denied entry to the registry. As of 2009, around 900 horses had been registered since the foundation of the registry. Effective July 1, 2008, the Florida House of Representatives declared the Florida Cracker Horse the official state horse. As of 2009 there are three main bloodlines of Cracker stock, as well as a few smaller lines. The state of Florida still maintains two groups of Ayers-line horses in Tallahassee and Withlacoochee for breeding purposes and a display group in the Paynes Prairie Preserve. The state annually sells excess horses from all three herds, and individual breeders also send horses to the sale. The Livestock Conservancy considers the breed to be at "critical" status, as part of the Colonial Spanish horse family, meaning that the estimated global population of the breed is fewer than 2,000 and there are fewer than 200 registrations annually in the United States. The Equus Survival Trust also considers the population to be "critical," meaning that there are between 100 and 300 active adult breeding mares in existence today. However, breed numbers are slowly on the rise. Chickasaw horse The original Chickasaw horse, bred by the Chickasaw Indians using horses captured from De Soto's expedition, became extinct after being used to create the Florida Cracker Horse and having some influence on the Quarter Horse. Some sources still use the Chickasaw name to describe the Florida Cracker Horses of today. In the 1970s, there was a surge of interest in re-creating the Chickasaw, using horses bearing strong resemblances to the original breed, but this has since died out and the breed association no longer exists. References External links The Florida Cracker Horse Association Florida Cracker Horses at Florida-Backroads-Travel.com Conservation Priority Breeds of the Livestock Conservancy Florida cracker culture Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in the United States Horse