![](http://img.geocaching.com/cache/log/a18d5ab7-277b-40b6-a911-3f27c0a09d8d.jpg)
Proud Member of
![](http://img.geocaching.com/cache/eba503d8-26c0-4629-93fa-df8868e01007.jpg)
Click Here to join the Fredericksburg Geocachers
A Mustang is a free-roaming feral horse of the North American west
that first descended from horses brought to the Americas by the
Spanish.[1] The name "Mustang" is also popular for high-performance
products and sports mascots.
In 1971, the United States Congress recognized Mustangs as
“living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West,
which continue to contribute to the diversity of life forms within
the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.” Today,
Mustang herds vary in the degree to which they can be traced to
original Iberian horses. Some contain a greater genetic mixture of
ranch stock and more recent breed releases, others are relatively
unchanged from the original Iberian stock, most strongly
represented in the most isolated populations.
Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses but, since all
free-roaming horses in America descended from horses that were
originally domesticated, the more correct term is feral horses. [2]
Today, the only true wild horse is the Przewalski's Horse, native
to Mongolia.
The English word "mustang" comes from the Mexican Spanish word
mestengo, derived from Spanish mesteño, meaning "stray" or "feral
animal". The Spanish word in turn may possibly originate from the
Latin expression animalia mixta (mixed beasts), referring to beasts
of uncertain ownership, which were distributed in shepherd
councils, known as mestas in medieval Spain.[3] A mestengo was any
animal distributed in those councils, and by extension any feral
animal.
Horses lived in North America in prehistoric times, but died out
at the end of the last ice age around 10-12,000 years ago, possibly
due to climate change or the impact of newly-arrived human
hunters.[4] Horses returned to the Americas by the Conquistadors,
beginning when Columbus imported horses from Spain to the West
Indies on his second voyage in 1493.[5] They returned to the
mainland with the arrival of Cortés in 1519.[6]
The first Mustangs descended from Iberian horses brought to
Mexico and Florida. Most of these horses were of Andalusian,
Arabian and Barb ancestry. Some of these horses escaped or were
stolen by Native Americans, and rapidly spread throughout western
North America.
Native Americans quickly adopted the horse as a primary means of
transportation. Interestingly, in light of the horse's prehistoric
existence in the Americas, many Indian myths and stories about the
arrival of horses claimed that "the grass remembered" them.[7]
Horses replaced the dog as a travois puller and greatly improved
success in battles, trade, and hunts, particularly buffalo hunts.
Many tribes bred their horses carefully to improve them for their
purposes. Among the most capable horse-breeding people of North
America were the Comanche, the Shoshoni, and the Nez Perce. The
latter in particular became master horse breeders, and developed
one of the first truly American breeds: the Appaloosa. Most other
tribes did not practice extensive amounts of selective breeding,
though they sought out desirable horses through capture, trade and
theft; plus quickly traded away or otherwise eliminated those with
undesirable traits.
Starting in the colonial era and continuing with the westward
expansion of the 1800s, horses belonging to explorers, traders and
settlers that escaped or were purposely released joined the gene
pool of Spanish-descended herds. It was also common practice for
western ranchers to release their horses to locate forage for
themselves in the winter and then recapture them, as well as any
additional mustangs, in the spring. Some ranchers also attempted to
"improve" wild herds by shooting the dominant stallions and
replacing them with pedigreed animals.
In some modern mustang herds there is still clear influence of
other domesticated horses being added to feral herds. Some herds
show clear influence of Thoroughbred or other light racehorse-type
stallions being turned into the wild herds, a process that also led
in part to the creation of the American Quarter Horse. Others show
the addition of heavy draft horse breeding, where farm horses were
turned into wild herds in the wake of the Dawes Act, in a misguided
attempt to create workhorses and force Indian people to become
farmers. Other, more isolated herds, retain a strong influence of
original Spanish stock.
By 1900 North America had an estimated two million free-roaming
horses.[1] Since 1900, the mustang population has been reduced
drastically. Mustangs were viewed as a resource that could be
captured and used or sold (especially for military use) or
slaughtered for food, especially pet food. The controversial
practice of mustanging was dramatized in the John Huston film The
Misfits, and the abuses linked to certain capture methods,
including hunting from airplanes and poisoning, led to the first
federal wild free-roaming horse protection law in
1959.
Protection was increased further by
the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971[9].
The Bureau of Land Management is tasked with protecting,
managing, and controlling wild horses and burros under the
authority of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to
ensure that healthy herds thrive on healthy rangelands and as
multiple-use mission under the 1976 Federal Land Policy and
Management Act.
Today, free-roaming horses have disappeared from 6 states and,
according to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), their remaining
population is fewer than 25,000, with more than half of them in
Nevada, with other significant populations in Montana, and Oregon.
[10] A few hundred free-roaming horses survive in Alberta and
British Columbia.
1) a b J. Frank Dobie, The Mustangs, Boston:Little, Brown and
Company, seventh printing, 1952. LC no. 52-6802
2) The American Museum of Natural History When Is a Wild Horse
Actually a Feral Horse?
3) Websters Third International Dictionary Unabridged
4) "Ice Age Horses May Have Been Killed Off by Humans" National
Geographic News, May 1, 2006.
5) Bennett, Deb. Conquerors: The Roots of New World
Horsemanship.Amigo Publications, 1998, pp. 150 ISBN
0-9658533-0-6
6) Henry, Marguerite and Wesley Dennis. All About Horses. Random
House, 1962. ASIN: B000MAJIB0
7) "Seeds of Change." Corpus Christi Museum, Science and History
educational resources. Accessed June 1, 2007 at
http://www.ccmuseumedres.com/tour.php?action=details&record=37
8) Wild Horse Annie Act
9) Text of Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971
10) National Summary, FY2007