Haloka

aloka (Choctaw for sacred, beloved, and pictured on the left) was born at Return to Freedom on April 1, 2009. Haloka is a bay tobiano mare from the Choctaw native tribal line. Her dam (mother) is Metoaka’s Promise and her sire (father) is Chief Iktinike.

The Choctaw horses are Spanish horses that remain from the early colonial efforts of the Spaniards in North America. These horses are important as a genetic resource because they have become rare, and are one of the oldest strains of horses in North America. These horses have been pivotal in the conservation of Colonial Spanish horses in North America.

In 2005, Return to Freedom collaborated with screenwriter John Fusco and launched The Choctaw Horse Conservation Program. Dr. Philip Spoenenberg chose a band of seven mares from Blackjack Mountain to join Chief Iktinike in forming a foundation group to help preserve these rare horses in what he calls ‘a genetic rescue’.

The horses, with their more recent roots in Blackjack Mountain, Oklahoma, went to live at Red Road Farm in Vermont and, in 2008, Chief Iktinike and seven mares arrived at Return to Freedom in Central California.

Haloka, like all of Metoaka’s foals, is exceptionally friendly, colorful and easy with humans. She is comfortable with a domestic lifestyle yet has been educated by a herd of seven wise matriarchs with Iktinike as their watchful stallion.

Our Sponsor a Horse program is an automatic monthly donation program. It only takes a moment to sign up and your debit or credit card will be automatically billed each month. You can cancel at any time. Will you help Return to Freedom by sponsoring Haloka?