During the early colonial days and going through the westward expansion, horses that escaped from their owners or were purposely set free became part of the mustang reproductive family. Some ranchers also would allow their horses to roam free during the winter to basically fend for themselves, food wise, and then recapture them in the spring. Other ranchers attempted to improve the breeding of local mustang herds by killing off the dominant male in the herd and replacing him with males with a pedigree.
In many parts of the country the wild mustangs are kept in preserves as part of the 1971 federal protection law, but they can be found in the southwest roaming free on open plains. The term wild may not be completely accurate, however as all horses in North America are descended from animals which were originally domesticated and trained by humans. The correct term for this type animal would be feral as they are wild with domesticated ancestors.
Until the early 16th century horses were extinct in North America, brought to this country by the Spanish Conquistadors in the early 1500’s. When the Pueblo Indians learned to tame and ride horses, they passed this lesson to other Indians and when they revolted against Spanish rule in 1680, the Spanish left thousands of horses behind as they fled.
While the Indians could have rounded up the wild horses and trained them, they found it easier to raid the Spanish fort and steal their horses. To combat this, Spain shipped thousands of the animals to North America, flooding the country with new rides in hopes the Indians would then go after the wild ones and leave their horses alone.
Labels: Mustang Horse
