Mustang's History

Could you imagine if there weren’t any horses in the Americas? Hernando Cortez brought horses ashore in Mexico in 1519, and later other Spanish Conquistadors, adventurers and missionaries followed with their horses. These were strong, healthy Spanish horses, mostly crossbreeds between Andalusians, Arabians, Barbs and Jennet horses. Surviving the harsh trip across the sea proved that they were healthy, strong, horses with a great amount of stamina. Afterwards, the spread over North America and the Native Americans didn’t have much of a defense from the gun-carrying newcomers on their horses.

Ultimately, the Native Americans became very adept at stealing the settlers’ horses. In the beginning, the animals were eaten or set free, but the Native Americans soon realized that they were valuable riding animals. Spotted horses were especially popular, probably because of their natural camouflage colors. The Native Americans eventually became horse experts, and some tribes even started actual horse breeding farms.

The horses that were set free or fled lived in herds in the wild. In the mid-19th century, there were more than two million horses in America, but by the end of the century this number had decreased. Farms and possessions had spread over the country, and the territory that was available for wild horses had rapidly shrunk. At the same time, many wild horses were killed: they were a threat to farmers because they ate the harvest, and in addition they provided cheap meat for the animal feed industry.

Today, the Mustang is a protected animal. There are only about 50,000 left and many herds are so small that they suffer from inbreeding.