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well-formed, with trim and clean limbs. They are quick, active and spirited..." (U,195) The greater number were from thirteen to thirteen and one-half hands high, showing generally good points in the forequarters. Some of them reached fifteen hands in height, however. (K,52) They evidenced "small heads, full bold and lustrous eyes, wide nostrils, small ears, delicate withers, well-set shoulders" and flat cannon bones. (K,53) One interesting characteris-tic of the Spanish Mustang is that, like the horse of the Pampas, he often has five lumbar vertebrae rather than the usual six. (.S.138) This indicates a high infusion of Barb blood in his background, as the possession of five lumbar vertebrae is a Barb characteristic. (S,138) However, this trait is not alone indicative of Spanish parentage in a wild horse, nor do all horses of Spanish blood carry this trait. (It is often strongly asserted that the "Bronco or original Spanish mustang possessed six vertebrae in the lumbar region. (G,163) The truth of this statement can be easily ascertained by recalling the historically documented varied background of the Spanish horse.) The best of the California mustangs were to be found in the San Joaquin Valley, and in tens of thousands. The great numbers of wild horses there in the last half of the nineteenth century were due in part to the compassion or greed of the California ranchers. During the drought of 1831-1832, the govern-ment ordered all surplus horses killed in order to save forage for the cattle. Many coastal ranchers deposited their spare stock in the San Joaquin Valley rather than obeying this order. Johnnie Walker described these horses as having high heads, sleek coats, and short backs, in all colors of the rainbow. They were small, good-looking, tough and fiery, weighing only six or seven hundred pounds in the wild. (G,165) Some of them that survived the wholesale slaughter and capture could still be found on the Carriso Plains as late as 1910. (E,40-41) The wild Spanish horses lived and traveled in their familiar herds or bands, led by the mare with the most forceful personality and driven by the stallion, just as in the old ranchero days. A stallion was able to hold a band to-gether only during his prime; he was constantly tested by younger stallions, and when his assertive power waned he was replaced by one of them. (K,96-97) According to Johnnie Walker (G,165), the mustangs of the San Joaquin Valley were not inbred. He observed for years that the stallions always ran the yearlings out of their bands each spring to make room for the new foals. These yearlings roamed together until gathered by a stallion without a band, at which time he drove off the young stallions, to wander until their times came to gather bands of their own. The single stallions usually traveled in small groups together for company and were known as "dog soldiers." It is often asserted that the Spanish horse "degenerated" in the wild through inbreeding. Mr. Walker*s observations and those of others lend themselves to the conclusion that in their heyday, with an abundance of both horses and range, the Spanish horses did not inbreed, later, however, when with the rapid dwindling of their numbers and range in certain areas it became necessary to inbreed or not to breed at all, these hardy lovers of life opted to inbreed rather than to commit generic suicide. As J. Frank Dobie so succinctly put it, "Until the white man interfered, mustang stock did not degenerate any more than deer, antelopes, buffaloes and other wild beasts left to themselves degenerate." (U,139) It might also be well to remember that if inbreeding invariably caused rapid degeneration in size, the American Thoroughbred should Evidently the two most highly populated areas, full of tens of thousands of wild horses, were the South and Staked Plains of Texas (K,71) and the San Joaquin Valley of California—wild horse paradise. (G»165; E,40-41) In good horse country, that with good grass, fresh water, and miles of open space, the Spanish horse thrived, multiplied, and spread. In less hospitable regions he endured rather than thrived, but endure he did and with a will. No matter what his environment and what his adaptation to it, the wild Spanish horse was no longer the same horse brought from Spain by the con-quistadores and colonists, he became the American Spanish Mustang. The majority of Spanish horses became a little smaller in size and a little rougher in appearance, with outstanding individual contradictions to this general rule of course. The Spanish horse was the result of centuries of careful selective breeding, and it would be ludicrous to expect any man-made breed to maintain itself indefinitely in the wild. Nature took those traits from the varied background of the Spanish horse that would enable it to live in harmony with its environment, to exist with maximum efficiency and joy and in such numbers as the environment would allow, and developed these traits to the exclusion of others. This process may have resulted in a horse less pleasing and useful to some men (hence the reason for "man-made" breeds) but infinitely pleasing and useful to the horse himself. There are numerous accounts of large American horses, usually stallions, escaping from American ranches and trail remudas, from wagon trains and Indian raids on American settlements. (K,52, 71) These horses were many times found in the company of "wild" Spanish horses, often enough to make it plau-sible to believe that there was indeed mixed blood in the wild horse bands, perhaps increasing with the density of Anglo and other non-Spanish settlements and therefore with time. This mixture would be more noticeable in some areas than in others, depending of course upon the equine history of each locale. The numbers of American horses at the height of the wild horse days would have been negligible compared with the tens of thousands of Spanish horses, however, it did increase considerably in effect with time and the closing of the range. The Spanish Mustang and the White Man When an excellent wild Spanish horse was captured, the only way to keep him in this condition was to gentle him with a care, kindness, and patience rarely practiced by horse-catchers of that time. If "gentle broke" in this manner, the horse was likely to become a one-man horse, and many Spanish horses were converted into valuable cow ponies by this method and with little other training. (U,i97) If treated roughly, however, the horse could easily be converted into an "outlaw," even a killer, or a spiritless nag. The Mexican border pony under the white man's saddle retained the working traits of the horse ridden by the Spanish vaquero in New Spain 200 years earlier, even though his appearance had changed. Regardless of their slight decrease in size, the prevalent saying along the border and in Mexico was "Praise the tall, but saddle the small" (U,59), a case of one well-adapted creature recognizing another, it would appear. These horses were considered the best cow horses in the world by their riders. They were grass-fed, good rustlers and thrifty, well-muscled and strong, and could be counted on to look

out for themselves and their riders to a ripe old age. They seemed to know the cow business from the inside out by instinct, were highly cooperative and handled easily. They were tough, even-tempered, and knew how to save themselves. (D,4-7; R,17-18) The most famous enterprise starring the intrepid Spanish mustang was of course the Pony Express. It was founded in 1859 by Russel Majors and Waddell Company to carry the oilskin-wrapped mail from St. Joseph, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, some 2,000 miles covered in the regular ten-day run. The horses used were "California mustangs," the best light-weight horses available. (Aa,13)(This may have been so because the non-mustang blood crossed over the mustang mares there was Spanish, not Thoroughbred or draft as in other parts of the country. (Ff,33)) They were tough, wiry, game to the core, and never seemed to tire. They were kept in top condition by the RM6W Com-pany men, and could travel all out at top speed over rough terrain for over ten miles at a stretch. (Aa,13) The Indians eventually stole so many of these fine horses that RM6W was forced to shut down to replenish their stock, and upon reopening transferred the enterprise over to Wells Fargo and Company. At one time these horses were cheaper than the proverbial dime a dozen; they were literally free for the taking. In keeping with the Americans' strange conviction that something plentiful and free is inferior to something that costs a great deal of money, especially if it be bigger, of less use and higher upkeep, there opened up a whole new lucrative market—the demand for the half mustang. This was usually obtained by crossing "blooded" stallions over Spanish mares, yielding a horse with the size that the Americans thought they needed and with many of the fine qualities of the Spanish horse. The horse raisers used the Spanish mares for breeding half mustangs and gelded the Spanish stallions for ranch work; that coupled with the wholesale slaughter of the wild Spanish horses by the cattle industry over the big-money grass of the open range, the government's policy of "breeding up" or destroying the Indian horse, and a larger and larger percentage of American blood in the rapidly dwindling numbers of wild Spanish horses left, soon spelled the prac-tical demise of the Spanish horse in North America. (K,53; U,196: G,165; E,40-41) .The heyday of the Spanish mustang in North America may be long over, but the effects of his blood are evident still. Spanish blood contributed to many American breeds; Morgan, Saddlebred, Standardbred, American Thoroughbred, and Quarter Horse (P,176-179; D,7-8; G,167; U,58), and of course the color breeds—Appaloosa, Paint, Buckskin, and Palomino. The most outstanding quality left to the remaining Spanish mustangs today is their endurance, their "bottom." (M,30-32) Other breeds may be faster, can pull more weight, can jump higher, can sustain artificial gaits more readily, but the top quality Spanish mustang can outlast them all in long and rugged distances. The stories are legion in the last century or so to support this assertion. Frank Hopkins, who won more than 400 endurance rides in his lifetime, won the yearly 3,000 mile Arabian endurance race in 68 days, 33 hours before the second place horse came in, in 1890. The horses had to live off the land. Hopkins won on a paint Spanish mustang. Hidalgo, that he had raised from Pine Ridge Sioux Reservation stock. (A) In 1908 was held a 600-mile endurance race from Evanston, Wyoming, to Denver, Colorado, won as a tie by a brown Spanish mustang (or "bronco" as they were then called in that part of the country, (Ee,17)) and a little strawberry roan Spanish mustang. Twenty-five horses were entered--13 broncos averaging 897 pounds and carrying an average of 184 pounds, and 12 "blooded" horses (six were full-bloods, six were half-bloods) averaging 955 pounds and carrying an average of 184 pounds. The first four places and place numbers six and ten (Little Minnie, a diminutive 722-pound bronco carrying 208 pounds!) were broncos, and the strawberry roan won the condition prize. Place number five was a half-bronco, half-blooded. The most pertinent observation was that the broncs fell back slowly, then they rested and recuperated and moved ahead again. When the "blooded" horses gave out, however, it was all at once and completely. (Ee,57) This quality, as well as the Spanish mustang's other fine qualities of even temperament, willingness, and natural impulsion, are spoiled by civilization as we know it. Horse owning today is a luxury, and the Spanish horse, for centuries fed on grass and worked very hard, does not thrive on the inactive overfed life. According to Colonel Dodge in his The Hunting Grounds of the Great West, the Spanish horse, accustomed to hard work, inclement weather and rustling up his own rations, undergoes a change when stabled, shod, and fed up on grain. "He either becomes morose, ill-tempered, hard to manage and dangerous, or he degenerates into a fat, lazy, short-winded cob." (M,32) "The greatest enemies of the horse are repose and fat," goes an old Arab saying.(U,59) Those of us concerned with preserving the remaining Spanish mustangs may take that saying as a warning in our efforts. After surviving slaughter, castration, and cross-breeding, the remnants of the Spanish horse on the North American continent may succumb to "the Good Life."

The Spanish Mustang Registry, Inc.

The Spanish Mustang Registry, Inc., was founded June 14, 1957, at Sundance, Wyoming, in Crook County, as a nonprofit corporation to preserve remnants of the Spanish Mustang on this continent. Foundation stock was gathered from wild bunches, from Crow, Cheyenne, Shoshoni, and Ute Indian herds, from New Mexico and Arizona, as well as from certain private breeders. The two founda-tion stallions were full brothers out of a sorrel Ute Indian mare foaled about 1935, and sired by a feral buckskin stallion captured as a three-year-old in 1929 in the Book Cliffs of Emery County, Utah, by mustanger of 40 years experience, Monty Holbrook. SMR No. 1, Buckshot, stood thirteen and one-half hands high, weighed 800 pounds, with a heart girth of sixty-six inches, a short back, and sound feet, joints, and legs. He was a dark line-backed grullo with zebra-striped legs. SMR No# 2, Ute, was an orange dun with a dorsal stripe and a cross over his withers, white face and feet, and with grey in his mane and tail. A few foundation mares were found on the Crow reservation in Montana in 1925, two Spanish mares were obtained from New Mexico, and one came from old Mexico, Up to the present time approximately one thousand Spanish Mustangs have been registered, although many of the earlier individuals are now deceased.

As have had all life forms, the Spanish Mustang has had a rich and varied past. From his origins among the first furry warm-blooded animals scurrying beneath the tread of the giant reptiles to the most useful and beautiful friend to man, has been a long and interesting road. The Spanish Mustang Registry, Inc., was formed to preserve and perpetuate one of the results of this fascinating journey of life, to provide for the "future history" of the redoubtable Spanish Mustang.

 

 

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Pageant Press, 1960. ———————————— Daumas, General E. The Horses of the Sahara. (1850) Austin: The Univer-sity of Texas Press, 1968. —————— De Alba, Jorge. "The Livestock Industry of Mexico: Part 2 - Historical

Sketch." The Cattleman, March 1943. Derring, DavIiT. The American Cow Pony. N.Y.: D. Van Nostrand Co.. Inc..

1962. ———————————— Dobie, J. Frank. The Mustangs. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1934. Dobie, J. Frank, ed. Mustangs and Cow Horses. Dallas: Southern Methodist

Institute Bureau o^ American Ethnology Bulletin 159, 1^5^————— Gay, Carl W. "Barb and Turk Horse." The U.S. Light'Horse^Bn'lletin.

The Department of Agriculture, 19157"——— ———————— Goodall, Daphne Machin. Horses of the World. N.Y.: Macmillan Company, 1965. Graham, Robert Cunningham. GaucKos o^ the Pampas and Their Horses,

Westholm Publishers, 1963. ————————— Gunning, I. C. The Prehistoric People of Eastern Oklahoma and Their

Culture, Eastern Oklahoma Historical Society. (1972)—— —— ——— Haines, Francis. The Buffalo. T.Y. Crowell, 1970. Hartung, A. M. "THe~Barb." The Cattleman, September 1948. Howard, Hildegarde, and Stock, Chester. "The Ascent of the Horse."

The Cattleman, September 1946. Howard, Robert West. The Horse in America. Chicago and N.Y.: Follet

Publishing Company, 196^ Hutchinson, W. H. "Pastoral California." Western Horseman. Johnson, John J. "The Excellence of the Spanish Horse." The Cattleman,

September 1944. —— —————— "Knights of the Whip." Smith, Wallace. Garden of the Sun. Fresno,

California: Max Hardison A-l Printers, 1939.———— —— Licart, First Lieutenant, 7th Spahis. "The Barb Horse." The Cavalry

Journal, 1929. The Western Horseman. —————— Osborne, Walter PTThe^Treasury of Horses. Ridge Press, 1966. "Pony Express and the Old West: Mounted Postmen Eighty Years Ago."

The Cattleman, December 1943. Roe, Frank Gilbert. The Indian and the Horse. Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1955. Rojas, A. R. Bits, Bitting and the Spanish Horse. Goleta, California:

Kimberly Press, Inc., 1970. Shaefer, Jack, The Great Endurance Horse Race: 600 Miles on a Single

Press Sheffy, Lester Fields. The Spanish Horse of the Great Plains. Western Horseman, August-September 1950.

                                                    * Photos of old Spanish breeds*

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