Mustang

Origin
United States

History
Mustang is a corruption of „mestena", meaning a group or herd of horses, and is used to refer to the wild or semi-wild horses that used to roam in great numbers in the western states.
The Mustang is the descendant of Spanish horses that formed feral herds after the Spanish conquests in the 16^th century.
At the beginning of the 20^th century there were an estimated one million wild horses. However, organized killing to supply pet food and meat food for human consumption had reduced the number so drastically by 1970 that the Mustang was protected by law as an endangered species. Anxious to conserve the wild horse heritage, enthusiasts established a variety of societies to preserve, improve and promote Mustang stock.
The first Mustang support group was the Spanish Mustang Registry, founded by Robert Brislawn, a Mustang breeder, in 1957. It aimed to preserve the purest possible strains of early Spanish horses of both Barb and Andalusian type. Then, in the 1960s, the American Mustang Association was formed to preserve and promote the Mustang through registration and an intelligent breeding program. A third organization, the Spanish Barb Breeders´Association, was formed in 1972 with the aim of restoring the true Spanish Barb horse. It set up a breed standard based on documented descriptions made between the 15^th and 18^th centuries, and encouraged highly selective breeding. All these societies seek to preserve strains, or related strains, of horses that have in effect been lost in the Old World and now survive in environments that have been conducive to their original character. There are also several welfare groups, including the International Society for the Protection of the Mustang and Burros, the Wild Horse Organized Assistance, the National Mustang Group, and the National Wild Horse Association, which are involved in legislative work, research, and fieldwork.

Description

• Head:
  small and neat; ears are small and rimmed with black hair
• Conformation:
  there can be no overall description of the Mustang; in the vast area it inhabits even the least adulterated strains will vary according to the perception of those attempting selective breeding.
• Average height:
  14 to 15 h.h.
• Color:
  range from roan or „grulla" (slate-blue to mouse-brown) to dun and buckskin. Mane, tail and lower legs are black
• Temperament:
  several writers have reported the Mustang to be rebellious and intractable, giving the impression that these horses cannot be gentled or made useful. On the contrary, the Mustang is easily gentled by experienced handlers and usually becomes as tractable as any horse raised in the barnyard.
• Today:
  the Mustang population is now much reduced, but some still survive in wild horse refuges in the western states. The American Mustang is an animal that has been forged in the furnace of nature, where only the strong and fit survive. Such a horse, once gentled and trustful of its handler, is usually an excellent mount to use for endurance trials. Many horses that were formely feral horses under the management of the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) are now excellent, dependable riding horses.