
A band of Sable Island horses—sturdy descendents of horses put on the island in the mid-to late 1700s—sip at a salt water pool on the south beach.

The Sable Island horses are the most famous of the island’s inhabitants, and Barbara J. Christie is their historian. The second-oldest of four girls, she was born Barbara Thomas in East Grinstead, England, in 1915. In those days, the area was farmland and estates. Barbara's father was a manager for a timber merchant (Henry Langley & Son) providing stock for docks and pilings for international markets. All four of the Thomas girls were interested in horses, and each had her own. In England during World War II it was difficult to keep horses because of feed shortage. Feed for livestock was rationed for food animals and work animals. Sport and pleasure horses were permitted only grazing, so Barbara spent long hours walking her horse along the roads where it could forage in the verge. During the war Barbara worked in a factory, in the south of England, making precision parts for military aircraft. She developed expertise in the operation of three lathe types—capstan, turret, and centre. The factory was located in an “interception area”, where Allied fighters went up to fight incoming German bombers, thus there was a good deal of risk from both enemy and friendly fire. Barbara experienced several very close calls. Barbara met her husband Philip Christie—a Canadian, in the army dental corps—at a party. They married in England in 1942, and in 1943 Barbara came to Canada. Philip Christie set up a private dental practice in Halifax. Although Barbara did not find opportunities to ride as she had in England, she never missed an opportunity to look at horses, and attended the trotting races held on the Halifax Commons. She explained that there had been “wonderful” riding schools run by the British military, but these were closed when the forces returned to England. A prolonged illness in Barbara's young family compelled her to stay at home, but in the early 1950s, after her children were a little older, she began research on the early history of horses in eastern Canada. Barbara was interested in the import of horses from the UK and Europe for breeding purposes (for saddle and agricultural use), and she found that the transportation of each breed was a study in itself. Within a few years she began her work on the Sable Island horses. Barbara had heard about the Sable horses before coming to Canada and, considering the unique combination of issues associated with capturing and shipping these animals from such a far offshore sand bar, she was particularly interested in how horses were transported and sold, and what happened to them once they arrived at the mainland. Barbara was familiar with methods used to round up and sell native ponies in England (e.g. New Forest ponies), and was keen to see how it was done with Sable horses. Although the Sable Island horses have been protected by law since 1960 and since then have been free of all human interference, during the 1800s and early 1900s the population was managed to varying degrees. Mainland horses were sent to the island, and Barbara believed that the horses taken to Sable were put there to develop a certain type of marketable horse—to put "weight to put in the collar" (strength of a horse to pull), for example. By looking at the different breeds and types of horses delivered to the island, Barbara believed it was possible to see which market the managers were aiming for (e.g. light traps and menial jobs). Sable Island horses were shown at shows in lighter vehicles, and some were used as carriage horses in Halifax. However many ended up hauling vendors’ wagons and fishermen’s gear, and serving in the coal mines. Sable horses were probably considered "expendable"—cheap "junk horses". Although Barbara had not intended to delve deeply into the particular history of the Sable horses, she found that they were “so vastly misunderstood” and came across “so many inaccurate accounts as to how the horses arrived on Sable” that she found it impossible not to write about them. She found herself responding to the horses’ detractors, people who were often as vocal and insistent as they were poorly informed. In 1980, Barbara wrote, “Over the years a good deal of myth and misconception has grown up regarding the Sable Island horses, and recently Jim Chabot, British Columbia’s minister for lands, parks and housing, used them to back up his government’s hunting program for 1980. Were his program not followed, he maintained, his province’s big game would become “stunted wildlife like the Sable Island ponies.” ” Barbara went on to explain, “The word “stunted” has frequently been used by those referring to the island horses, but these people are comparing them with horses bred to modern standards… the Sable Island horse is living history; they represent the type of mainland horse seen in Nova Scotia and New England in the early 1700s and, most probably, those of the 1600s… To downgrade the island horses and to remove them from their historic context and then judge them by a standard entirely foreign to them is a mark of ignorance and, in the case of Mr. Chabot’s remarks, a thoughtless condemnation for the sake of political expediency”. These remarks made by a provincial politician far off at the other side of Canada were not the last to deserve correction. Over the years, within both government and some naturalists’ organizations, intermittent blurtings from poorly-informed “experts” promoted the idea that the Sable Island horses were little more than scruffy and scraggly runts that should be culled or removed for their own good and for the good of the island. However few of these people had much of a clue about the horses or their island habitat. Those favouring management or removal of the Sable horses frequently suggested that the island is a brutal and hostile environment which causes much suffering. However, Barbara explained that isolation and natural selection have had beneficial effects, “…the Sable Island horses have been spared many killing epidemics and they show none of the catastrophic genetic anomalies that man and his interfering has visited upon some breeds and types by breeding for quick profit, fashion and greed”. Barbara conducted extensive research in the Nova Scotia Archives, and corresponded with experts in England, Europe and the USA. In the 1950s she became a Research Associate with the Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax. Her book The Horses of Sable Island was published in 1980, with a second edition issued by Pottersfield Press in 1995. Of Barbara’s Sable research, historian Lyall Campbell writes, “Barbara Christie aimed to trace the origin and development of the Sable Island horse. Since the breed was not endemic to the Island, she needed to find an off-island source for it. The direct possibilities were Europe, and French and English North America. So she explored Sable Island history, with the focus always on horses in the story. A diligent researcher, she gathered a fund of facts. But Barbara was a writer, not an academic historian. She wanted to communicate the results of her research to the general public. She accepted the responsibility of interpreting facts in the light of her deepening knowledge of the subject. That subject included expertise about breeds of horses. One result of her endeavours is a unique book, The Horses of Sable Island. The title is revealing. It shows what the book is about, without "tarting up" to lure a wider readership. In the text, Barbara shows an appreciation of some of the characters in the Sable story. Her book has human interest appeal. As does her message. In tracing the centuries-old past of the Sable horse, she makes the case for its right to an open-ended future. Barbara's writing shows a serious approach. She gives reasoned arguments to support most of her speculation. She avoids the temptation to add colour to her text by exploiting the usual Sable myths and extravagances (pirates, murders, sharks, etc.). She does not inject herself into the text to demonstrate her sensitivity to the wonders of Sable. In general, she displays respect for the people we encounter in the book and sophistication in judging the motives of some actors in the story. As a writer in the same field, I find the very existence of her book impressive. Like many Sable residents throughout the island's history, Barbara was a pioneer. And who knows how many young Bluenose hopefuls were inspired by her example to pursue their own dreams about writing by seeing her book in stores or libraries?” Barbara Christie has retired and no longer maintains correspondence with the network of experts and enthusiasts sharing her interest and expertise in the histories of various horse populations. Through her writings and public talks, Barbara encouraged an appreciation for the history of the Sable Island horses—“animals for whom time has stood still”—and in doing so also provided better understanding of the island’s role in the maritime and settlement history of Nova Scotia.

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