The Mustang

The Mustang descends from Spanish stock that was introduced to the American continent by the conquistadors in the 16th century. The word "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 United States.

Today the Mustang population is much more reduced than when they were first introduced to the Americas in the 16th century. Some still survive I wild horse refuges in the western states. At the beginning of the 20th century there were an estimated one million wild horses. However, organized killing to supply pet food and human consumption had reduced that 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 1960's, 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 Breeder's Association, was formed in 1972 with the aim of restoring the true Spanish Barb horse. It set up a breed standard based on the documented descriptions made between the 15th and 18th 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 conductive to their original character. There are also numerous 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 all involved in legislative work, research, and fieldwork.

There can be no overall description on the Mustang; in the vast area it inhabits even the least adulterated strains will vary according to the perception of those attempting selective breeding. Nonetheless, the Mustang breeder Robert Brislawn was definite about the type of horse he wanted to preserve in Wyoming. He looked for a small horse of about 14 hands, short in the back, low in the withers, with a low, sloping croup, and weighing about 800 pounds. In fact, after a study of skeletal remains, Brislawn believed that the horse, which he called a "primitive Barb", should have 17 ribs and 5 lumbar vertebrae like the Arabian horse, rather than the 18 ribs and 6 vertebrae characteristic of other breeds. Colors range from roan to grulla to dun and buckskin. Mane, tail, and lower legs are black, ears are small and rimmed with black hair, and the head is small and neat.

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