Committee approves bill to recognize Marsh Tacky horse, adds Pineywoods cattle as heritage breeds

Representative Cameron presented HB 466 on behalf of the Livestock Conservancy of Georgia, explaining the Marsh Tacky horse was brought to the Southeast by the Spanish centuries ago, is a small breed used historically in farming and war, and has dwindled to under 2,000 animals. "We're trying to bring attention to this breed...so we can make sure that these don't go away completely," Cameron said.

Members discussed adding Pineywoods cattle language to the bill so Representative Howard's separate measure would not need to cross over. The sponsors worked with legislative council to correct code-section references and renumber subsections (discussed changes to 50-3-96 and 50-3-97) so the horse and cattle language would fall in the appropriate code sections.

Representative Cameron and the committee noted the designation is intended as recognition and preservation, not to change production rules. After technical corrections and agreement to the inserted language, the committee voted to pass HB 466 as amended.

Committee members made informal remarks about the breeds' size and history during the discussion; the transcript includes light-hearted comments about riding small horses. The committee advanced the bill for further consideration.