Georgia CommonsHB 466: State symbols; marsh tacky horse as official Georgia heritage horse breed; designate
Enrolled version, the latest LegiScan holds · Last action May 5, 2026 · Passed
The text as LegiScan holds it, read from the PDF the legislature publishes with its margin line numbers, running heads, and page footers removed. Line breaks are joined into paragraphs here; no word is changed.
Underlined words are what the bill adds to current law and struck-through words are what it removes, as the printed bill shows them.
House Bill 466 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives Cameron of the 1st, Williams of the 168th, Stephens of the 164th, Petrea of the 166th, and Reeves of the 99th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to other state symbols, so as to designate the marsh tacky horse as the official Georgia heritage horse breed; to designate the pineywoods cattle as the official Georgia heritage cattle breed; to provide legislative findings and declarations; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
The General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) The presence of the marsh tacky horse in Georgia can be traced back to the 1500s;
(2) The marsh tacky horse has been used by every culture and class of people that encountered it, including Indigenous nations, like the Seminoles, the Creek, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, and the Cherokee; European settlers; and the Maroon and Gullah communities;
(3) General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion utilized marsh tacky horses to navigate through rough, swampy terrain during guerilla campaigns against the British;
(4) The marsh tacky horse was the predominant stock horse in the southeastern United States up to the 1930s;
(5) During the Great Depression and Dust Bowl eras, larger cattle were brought in from the West requiring larger horses causing the marsh tacky horse to fall out of use;
(6) The marsh tacky horse is listed as "critical" under the endangered categories by the Livestock Conservancy;
(7) There are less than 2,000 marsh tacky horses in existence;
(8) Despite the number of marsh tacky horses remaining, they are still used in hunting wild game and herding cattle; and
(9) Establishing the marsh tacky horse as the official Georgia heritage horse breed is necessary to fully recognize the importance of the breed and its contributions to Georgia history.
SECTION 2.
Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to other state symbols, is amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"50-3-96.
The marsh tacky horse is designated as the official Georgia heritage horse breed."
SECTION 3.
Said article is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"50-3-97.
The pineywoods cattle is designated as the official Georgia heritage cattle breed."
SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.