Wild horses of Sable Island.
The true story
A Boston clergyman, the Reverend Andrew Le Mercier, sent the first
horses to graze on the island in 1737.
Most of them were probably stolen by privateers and fishermen.
About 1760, Boston merchant and shipowner Thomas Hancock shipped 60
horses to Sable.
These horses survived and became wild.
Most of the time, there is plenty of food and fresh water on Sable. But in some seasons the horses must struggle to find nourishing plants or a source of drinking water.
The horses grow fat grazing on lush summer plants.
Summer fat is the key to surviving hard winters, because the dried
winter leaves of Marram are not very nourishing.
Mild winters the horses flourish.
1979 was a hard winter that killed off half the horses.
1960 Parliament under Prime Minister John Diefenbaker ruled that Sable's horses should be left alone.