The History and Future of Mustang Horses

2130 Words5 Pages

The History and Future of Mustang Horses

I can remember being a little kid and listening to stories my Grandpa and Great Grandpa told about the mustangs that used to be around the Black Canyon. They used to tell stories about when they would put their mares out with the mustangs during the winter to get bred. Then they would go out in the spring and catch their mares. They told stories of the times they had to chase the mustangs from the fields during the winter so the cattle could eat. They told of when they would go and capture the colts from the herd to keep for themselves. I can even remember the last one they ever had. He was at least 25 years old when I saw him. The last I knew of the mustangs Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rounded the herd up and that is all I ever heard.

The name Mustang comes from the Spanish word "mesteno" or "monstenco", meaning wild or stray. Most mustangs descended from Arabian and Barb horses brought by the Spanish around 1519. Other breeds were brought in later by settlers.

The first horses were forced to hang in slings under the deck of ships all the way across the sea to the New World. The explorers brought only the toughest and best horses to the New World. They were bringing so many horses that soon the Spanish Government restricted how many horses could be brought to the New World. There were already enough horses in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santa Domings to start breeding farms. Soon after the farms were established, they started on the main land, and that is where the mustangs got their start.

These were the horses that changed the lives of the Native Americans living in or near the Great Plains. By the middle of the nineteenth century there were an estimated two million wild horses in the United States. Herds of wild horses from the eastern United States were forced west by civilization and eventually crossed the Mississippi River and joined the western herds.

The large herds of horses did not pose a particular problem until the western United States became settled and cattle and other grazing animals were added to the native range. The arid lands of the west could not support large population of grazing animals, so it became policy to shoot Mustangs.

More about The History and Future of Mustang Horses

Open Document