History and Origin of the Spanish Mustang

Origin in Spain

Spanish Mustang bloodlines trace back to the first horses brought to America by the Spanish conquistadors in the 1500's and 1600's. Spain, already world famous for her superior horses, had spent hundreds of years perfecting her horses by careful and selective breeding. They were second to none. The Spanish Mustang is descended from Andalusian, North African Barb, Jennet and the native Spanish Sorraia horse. The best horses in Spain, the Andalusians, were raised in Andalusia and were predominantly Arabian-Barb blood. Most of the horses exported to the new world were from Andalusia.

Spanish Conquistadors and Explorations

"Next to God, we owed our victory to our horses"

After a gruesome voyage across the Atlantic, an ordeal that only the hardiest could survive, the first horses arrived in Santo Domingo in 1493. A great many died or were killed during the expeditions and just how many, if any escaped to the wild is not known. If several did escape, the number is so small that it is insignificant in the distribution of the Spanish horse.

The survival and distribution of Spanish horses did not really begin until Onate established a settlement in 1598 near what is today Sante Fe. This was the first and most important distribution center for the Spanish horses.

The Indian Becomes Horsed

..."New Mexico was the initial base of supply for the Horse Tribes"

The Indians began acquiring horses around 1600. Contrary to popular belief, the Indians got their first horses from the Spaniards, not from the wild stock. Wild horses did not exist until after the Indian was horsed.

As the Indians' desire to own and ride the "medicine dogs" grew, they organized successful raiding parties. As the raiding continued, the Spaniard's horse guard weakened. The Apache and other southwestern tribes were soon well mounted, though for some time the Apache ate or traded most of the horses he stole.

The number of wild horses grew as more of the tribes became horsed. During the constant barter and theft of horses that took place many horses found themselves completely free of human bonds. Thus the wild ones got their beginning.

The horse completely revolutionized and changed the Indians way of life. Mounted on swift steeds the Indian became a most formidable foe and thundered into greatness in the eyes of history. All tribes became more mobile. Obtaining food became easier, war was turned into a game and transportation was greatly assisted. The horse determined wealth, prestige, glory, and honor and was used as a medium of barter and exchange.

Adversity brought out the values of the Indian pony. He would grow fat where others would starve. He would endure work that would cause other horses to drop. The Indian and his pony could travel further, faster, and longer, with less food, water, and rest than an other people or horse of the Americas. The cavalry on picked, grain fed horses, could not overtake the Indian on his "scrub" pony. The Spanish Mustang is one reason why the Indian stood so long in the fight, against overwhelming odds, to save his homeland.

A general description of the Indian pony is scarcely 14 hands tall, rather light in build, good legs, short strong back, full barrel, sharp nervous ears, and bright, intelligent eyes. The Indian preferred the colorful horses (the roans, paints, appaloosies, whites, paper faced and stocking-legged ones) while the Spaniards liked the solid colored ones.

The tribes that are noted for their horse culture and superior, well-bred horses are the Cayuse, Nez Perce, Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations, the Pawnee, and Shoshone. These tribes probably learned selective breeding, line breeding and inbreeding from the Spaniards. The inbreeding skills used by the Chickasaw and Choctaws to develop their strain of horse still remains a mystery.

The Indian came to their zenith in ownership and use of horses just as westward moving white man were about to unhorse them forever.

Coming of American Horses and White Man

"Bigness was taken for superiority"

In 1835 American horses were introduced into the West. The American horses, though not a breed or any fixed type, were bigger than the Spanish horse, i.e. Indian horse and Mustang. To most Americans bigness had long been a synonym for superiority but the Spanish Mustang served as living proof which was the best. Indians, mountain men, cavalry and cowboys mounted on horses of Spanish blood continually outran and outlasted those riding other types of horses. The men of the past lived not only on their horses, but by their horses and the horses they rode had to be tough. There was none tougher or more gamey than the Spanish Mustang. This horse could take the abuse and punishment dished out in the process of western civilization.

The Spanish horse, the true mustang, reached their peak in 1848. They literally blackened the prairies. Texas, the main center for Mustang increase, had about a million Mustangs. Another million were scattered throughout the West. For fifty years, 1837 to 1887, the Spanish mustang held its own. After 1887, slaughter, castration by man, and cross breeding caused the Spanish horse to become few in numbers. By 1920 they faced extinction.

The Mustang and the Westward Movement

"No other horse breed played a more important part in building America than the Spanish Mustang!"

The legend the Mustang wove is one that will never be forgotten in the West. The Spanish Mustang----the horse that carried the American frontier westward, across prairies and deserts, over mountain passes, from Indian camp to frontier town---proudly and justly claims the title "The Horse With a Heritage". The Spanish Mustang was the original wild horse, the first Indian pony, and cowpony. He played the part of pack horse, cavalry mount, team horse, plow horse, kid pony, faithful friend, and his blood ran strong in pony express horses.

Whether wild or captive, the Spanish Mustang went down in history and received the glory and romance that could only be his. He helped build this country and though almost bred out of existence and forgotten, the Spanish Mustang will live on. He is saved but can not live today as he did yesterday. The past takes with it all that belongs to it and when it took the free grass, it also took the wild, free Spanish Mustang. The mustang that ran before the days of fences, the blazing eyed, proud drinker of freedom, the monarch of the West is gone. Their spirit is in the land now and their sons and daughters live under the protection of the few people who are trying to preserve them for posterity.

The Spanish Mustang Today

Known for their toughness and endurance, today's Spanish Mustangs are competing with other breeds in endurance and competitive riding. They are well represented nationally in these fields and in recent years have received national acclaim for their achievements. Particularly well suited for long distances of 100 miles per day and/or multi-day rides of 250 miles overall, the Spanish Mustang demonstrates the stamina, strength and durability inherited from his Spanish ancestors.