...and on the eighth day God created the horse in perfect image, to romp, graze, gallop, play and make manure wherever it darn well pleases, in divine grace.
America may boast of two types of wild horses, the Mustang and the Assateague Pony. The Mustang runs free in the High Plains and desert of the American West and the Assateague Pony makes its home off the coast of Virginia and Maryland.
The Assateague, along with their sister ponies, the Chincoteague, are rounded up annually, receive veterinary care and are adopted out. Their population is monitored and controlled. The Bureau of Land Management also adopts Mustangs to qualified individuals.
The term Mustang most likely comes from a Spanish word “mesteno,” coming from mesta, meaning an association of stock raisers or grazers. (1) During the thirteenth-century in Spain, mestas were organizations of sheep owners. The stray sheep were called mestenos or “belonging to the mesta.”
The Spanish verb mostrar means “to show” or exhibit. Some etymologists say that Mustang comes from the word mestengo, a later form of mostrenco coming from mostrar. When the sheep went astray, they were sometimes referred to as mostrencos and they were “shown” in public to give an owner the chance to claim them.(2)
A disputing theory by wild-horse authority J. Frank Dobie, dictates that English-speaking people in the American south-west did not know the word mostrenco. Dobie’s theory is that the introduction of the word Mustang only dates to the early nineteenth century. (3) Still another theory holds that the name derives from the word “mesteth,” which means “band or herd of wild horses.” (4)
They are indeed the wild horses of America and they are descended from the horses taken to the New World by Spanish conquistadores in the sixteenth century. Spanish colonizers moved north from Mexico into Texas, and the Indian tribes with whom they came in contact had their first experiences with horses.
At first, the Indians ate the horses they captured from the settlers for food. In time they realized the value of the horse as a vehicle, and they then learned how to ride and handle them.
At the end of the seventeenth century, some of the tribes were stealing horses from the Spaniards and began using them in mounted raids against the invaders, thus acquiring more and more horses.
The horses then began to spread out among other tribes in a northerly direction, usually by theft or trade. Some of the horses escaped during skirmishes between Spaniards and Indians, and began to run wild.
Some horses were intentionally turned loose, perhaps because they needed rest or were lame, with their owners intending to catch them later. These horses were domesticated, but they simply wandered off. Loose horses joined together to form wild herds, which did quite well out in the wide open Great Plains.
By the end of the eighteenth century, early nineteenth century there were vast numbers of wild horses roaming the plains. One estimate puts the number at two million.
As the centuries moved on, horses of various breed and type mixed together. There is evidence of a stock-type that may have mixed in with the existing range horses, possibly coming from early coach or artillery horses which had escaped during battles.
As civilization progressed westward, many Mustangs were killed or rounded up to be a work animal. Some were used for cross-breeding and large numbers of them were used as army remounts in the Boer War.
Still more have been killed for meat slaughter and pet food in the twentieth century.
In 1971, public pressure on the government led to an act giving protection to wild horses in the US and several ranges have been provided where they still live, although in much reduced numbers.
In 1973, the controversial “Adopt a Horse” program was started, and many people thought it helped to manage the large number of Mustangs. It has been considered that the breed standard of the Mustang is improving through the management of the BLM, by culling out the poorer grade stallions and allowing better conformed specimens to remain.
By the nature of their wild existence there is a wide variety of physical characteristics in the Mustang, and many of them still show signs of the original Spanish horses.
As a loose guide, Mustangs will often have a Roman nose and a Spanish type head, with a short neck. They have a general upright shoulder, flat withers, short back, and poorly conformed, but strong legs. (4)
As with any wild animal, their temperament is rebellious, but with experienced handling they become tame and are good riding and trail horses. The height ranges from 14hh to 15hh, they may be of any color and are considered a warmblood..
And so it goes with another Horsin’ Around with Roseanne in the Community News. Everyone always scrambles around this time of year looking for hay stashes to fill their barns for the upcoming winter. Luckily, pastures are still green and we can turn out our buddies out to graze.
The cooler temperatures are nice, the Greenheads are gone, and the horses can eat in peace.
Show season is winding up and local horse people are saddling up for an Autumn ride.
Be safe on your jaunt while listening to the immortal words of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, “ Happy Trails to You.”
1,2,4: “The Encyclopedia of Horses and Ponies,” by Tamsin Pickeral
3: “The Book of Horses and Horse Care,” by Judith Draper