The American Mustang

Dun Kiger mustang Mare, photo courtesy Canyon Creek Kigers. Click here for more Mustang Horse Photos.

Description:

The mustang is a feral horse found in the united states of America. They are also sometimes known as American feral horses, BLM (Bureau of Land Management) horses, or Range horses. The mustang gets its name from the Spanish word mesteño, meaning wild or stray. Being feral, mustangs are very tough and hardy. They have good strong bones and feet, and are usually stocky and well muscled. However, because they are bred in the wild and not for any specific purpose their physical builds vary more than those of domestic horses.

History : Mustangs are of Spanish origin, descending from the Andalusian, Barb, and Arabian breeds. These horses were brought to north America by Spanish explorers. Wherever the Spanish settled, their horses followed. These animals were allowed to roam free and were easily stolen by the native Americans. The mustang horses soon became the Native Americans' best friend. These horses bred up and became the foundation of the modern mustang. Today however, mustangs have interbred with a variety of other horse breeds, from Thoroughbreds to Drafts, which is what gives them their wide range of color, conformation, and size.

In the mid 1800's during the great draught in California 40,000 horses were killed by angry ranchers because the horses were eating their pastures. In the 1930's these horses were sold for animal consumption. However, since 1971 the mustangs have been protected by the BLM and are no longer slaughtered. Recent law about the management of mustangs has caused much controversy in the horse world, because of the BLM's herd round-ups which decrease herd sizes to less than viable numbers, and the practices around selling the excess horses.

Many mustangs are identified by the HMA (Herd Management Area) that they come from. For example, Kiger mustangs are a specific subset of the breed that comes from the Kiger range in Oregon, and are well known for their Spanish blood, as arethe Sulpher Springs Mustangs from Sulpher Springs, Utah.

Colors: Because mustangs have been interbred with many other breeds of horses they have a tremendous of variety in color ranging from solid chestnut to appaloosa patterns. Colors range from herd to herd, but may be anything from solid black, chestnut, and bay to palomino, cremello, buckskin, dun, silver dapple, spotted, roan, pinto, etc. is possible.

Height: 13 to 16 hands but they are more commonly 15hh or below.

Uses: Besides running wild, these horses can be adopted out to the public and make excellent trail horses. They are also sometimes used as rodeo and gaming horses.

Other Mustang Articles:

America's Native Horses
Research paper and argument essay that mustangs should be reclassified as native wildlife.

Mustang Horse Photos
Pictures of Kiger Mustangs, Sulpher Springs Mustangs, and other wild mustangs.