An interesting serendipitous find lends credence to the legend of the Chincoteague ponies, that they swam ashore from a Spanish ship that sank around 1500 and survived on the barrier island. That theory had competed with the idea that the English had brought them in the 1600s. A graduate student studying the domestication of cows found horse DNA mixed in with his finds, and its analysis revealed it is closer to the Chincoteague ponies than anything else. Fun for the children's literature fans, as the dramatic swimming pony was favored in Misty of Chincoteague, a Newbery Honor Book.
The DNA doesn't prove a thing about swimming and shipwrecks versus just being dropped off for later, but it does support the Iberian claim.
Chance favors the prepared mind.
I'm glad to hear that about the book, which I just sent to my young niece on her birthday. She has been learning to ride.
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