The Santa Cruz Island Horse is a threatened strain of the Spanish Mustang. It is named after the Island of Santa Cruz from which it originated.

The feral horse of Santa Cruz:
During the 18th and the 19th centuries, the Island of Santa Cruz served as a location for herding sheep and cattle. Ranchers at the time brought Spanish horses to the island, kept them in semi-feral conditions, and used them when needed for agricultural work, herding, riding, and even as stunt horses in movies during the early 20th century.

In 1980, before leaving the island for good, ranchers set their horses loose, and the Santa Cruz Island Horse became fully feral.

An ambling horse of Spanish heritage:
In the 1990s, the horses were removed from Santa Cruz Island to a sanctuary where efforts were (and are still being) made to conserve the strain. Some even consider this strain a heritage breed, being a pure descendant of the Spanish horses which were originally brought to the Americas by the Spanish conquistadores.

The Spanish heritage of the Santa Cruz Island Horses is reflected by their conformation and their ability to amble, which are similar to the conformation and ambling gaits of other Spanish breeds.

The Santa Cruz Island Horse today:
Today, Santa Cruz Island Horses are bred in California in small numbers. These smart and agile horses are used primarily for Western trail riding, Western dressage, and for recreational riding.

Conformation:
There is no official conformation standard for the Santa Cruz Island Horse, but it is constantly described as a smaller version of the Peruvian Paso. Santa Cruz Island Horses have a straight or slightly convex profile, a fine muzzle, an arched neck of a high set, a short back, and a rounded croup.

The mane and tail are medium or long in length and their hair is either straight or wavy.

Performance metrics:
The following are the: range, average, (SD), and MOE of performance metrics of ordered Santa Cruz Island Horses in Horse Isle (not bred ones). In rare cases, horses might have metrics outside of the range. Breeders can produce horses that are beyond this range.

Speed: 14.4-15.6, 15.0 (0.3), 0.06.
Sprint: 45-56, 50 (3), 0.5.

Accel: 0.90-1.09, 0.99 (0.04), 0.01.
Decel: 0.82-0.99, 0.90 (0.04), 0.01.

Jump: 5.08-5.31, 5.20 (0.05), 0.01.
Pull: 1.64-2.25, 1.93 (0.14), 0.03.

Turning: 47.76-62.20, 54.81 (2.82), 0.55.
Reverse: 2.5-3.1, 2.8 (0.1), 0.03.

Stamina: 46.66-50.88, 48.67 (0.96), 0.19.
Reaction: 0.66-0.77, 0.72 (0.02), 0.00.

Coats & Height:
Colors: chestnut, palomino, and cremello.
* real SCIHs also come in buckskin, but not so in Horse Isle to prevent ay coats.

Additionals: flaxen, rabicano, roan, grey mane & tail.

Height*: 13.3hh to 15.1hh.
*most Santa Cruz Island Horses stand between 14hh and 14.2hh.