Horses : Spanish Mustang

Origin

United States of America

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Australian Status

International Status

Unknown

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Uses

Riding, driving.

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Breed Traits

A good temperament. Courageous, as befitting what was once a war horse. Strong, hardy, well-formed hooves, a legacy of wild days. Bond strongly to their owner. Slow maturing, hence a horse that will last a long time if treated properly. Good doers, do not need rich feed in fact are better with low quality feed as they process food efficiently. Loyal. Hardy. Brave.  Old and rare colour and marking genes.

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History

Although once free roaming, there have been none in the wild for several generations now. It's believed they descend from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish, in colonial days. Columbus brought the first horses in 1493, leaving them on an island in the Caribbean to breed up. Horses were taken by the Spanish to South America and islands as such as Cuba. They used horses to colonise Mexico. From Spanish colonised Mexico horses came north with missionaries and Mexican farmers.

In a short time, horses were adopted and used by most First Nations people of North America, who became famous horse people. The Mexican farmers of North America were moved out by newer colonial arrivals from Europe. Many of the horses became feral, that is, mustangs, others remained with First Nations people. 

The foundation horses for the Registry came from Wyoming. The story of the Registry beginnings are highly romantic. A buckskin stallion, Monty, out of a Ute Reservation mare was a founding sire. He was captured in 1927. Later, in 1944 Monty took his mares and escaped, to spend their days in the wild in Nevada. Two of his sons remained behind to continue the line. No Spanish Mustangs remain in the wild now.

History in Australia

The breed was brought to Australia in 2009 by Willowvale Spanish Mustang stud. They imported top quality stock to found the stud. The American Registry dates from 1957 with some horses are recorded back to the 1930s.

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Breed Organisation

• Spanish Mustang Registry, America
• 2 studs in Australia at this time:
  • Willowvale Spanish Mustang , friendly and helpful. A good breed description is on their website
  • The Wild Horse Way Spanish Mustangs

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Australian Population

2020  2 stallions; 6 mares

2022  Numbers unknown

Photo Credit

Grey Feather, a beautiful imported Spanish Mustang mare. Photo kindly supplied by Kirsty Hagger of Willowvale Spanish Mustang, in Queensland.

Page by Janet Lane

(population updated 10/08/2020 by A.Y.)

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