Often overcomplicated, the Spanish Mustang simply refers to the small, gamey horse that the Spanish brought to the Americas in the 1500s. These horses, used by Spanish conquistadors, eventually became wild herds, which were most often captured and propagated by Indigenous peoples. This continued until the westward expansion of the English Colonies that would eventually form the United States.
We are starting with, arguably, the last of the famed warhorses of Northern Africa, the Middle East, and the Portugal region—horses that Spain brought across the seas. This was a deadly trip for many horses, and those that made it were culled for their great health and will to live. These horses were then used in the conquering of a new land. By 1700, they were widely distributed across what is now the Southeastern and Southwestern United States, and they quickly spread northward.
Living an undomesticated life is incredibly difficult in a new country, further culling those that lacked hardiness. Over time, many of these horses were claimed by Native peoples, who saw them as truly sacred. Their level of respect for these animals is illustrated in the songs, stories, and ceremonies that permeate their cultures. These horses were not seen as beasts of burden but as friends in the journey of life.
When you work with these horses, you see this is true. Contrast that with both Spanish and English livestock husbandry, which dictated that horses were beasts of burden to be conquered and dominated. Native populations did not pamper their horses. They rode long and hard and lacked luxuries like bagged grain, cultivated grass, or metal shoes to protect the horses from rocky terrain—features the Spaniards had access to. The horses that survived became the seed stock for what we now call the “Indian Pony.”
The Indian Pony and the Spanish Mustang are, literally, the same thing, though the Mustang evolved more in nature while the Pony was more intentionally bred. Both populations weave and swerve back and forth between these two scenarios to varying degrees. However, significant changes in these horses’ lineage began in the mid-1800s, when it became U.S. government policy to eradicate the Pony from Indigenous populations in order to weaken them.
It’s important to remember that these horses represented the last of the famed warhorse blood in the world. They were incredibly adept at evading the English plow horses, which were bred for uniformity, size, and docility—traits highly valued by the Western mentality. It’s easy to see that this policy of erasure has not changed much since the inception of the United States and is still rampant today.
In the early 1900s, a handful of horsemen across the country noticed that the famed little Spanish pony was all but lost in its original state. By the 1920s, many claimed they were gone entirely. However, through diligent work and outreach, small pockets of horses with old bloodlines were discovered, close to their original form. By the mid-1900s, a group of horse enthusiasts had collected about 50 of these horses. It was a slow start—but still a start—and it became the foundation for the Registry that was established in 1957.
The group was extremely selective about the horses incorporated into the project. Some argue their standards were either too strict or too loose. Neither criticism is entirely valid; they simply did the best they could.
Wild Horses and the Federal Government
By the 1960s, the United States faced what it called a “wild horse population problem.” Both wild horse and burro advocates, as well as ranchers who needed forage for their livestock, pushed for action. It fell to the federal government to address the issue, since most of these horses lived on federal lands.
The first move the government made was to start calling all wild horses “Mustangs.” You see this term appear in print starting in the mid-1960s. Previously, the term Mustang was reserved for the small Spanish horse that few people wanted. This rebranding was done to appeal to the public, leveraging the mystique and lore of wild horses to garner sympathy from voters and pass legislation protecting them. Fair enough, I guess.
By the early 1970s, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was put in charge of managing wild horse herds. They saw the success of the Brislawns and others in preserving the Spanish pony, but by this time, the government had thoroughly mixed up all federally managed herds. This was done to avoid inbreeding and to homogenize the “American Mustang” as part of a branding strategy pushed heavily by wild horse and burro advocates.
Despite this, people remained interested in the Spanish Mustang Registry project horses. In 1969, the Spanish Mustang Registry Annual Meeting hosted 500 enthusiasts and preservationists! To capitalize on this interest, the BLM designated the Kiger Mountain horses as their “Spanish Mustang” herd.
I read an article—possibly from 1968—written by volunteers from what is now the ASPCA. In it, they stated that the horse herd population was being reduced from 100 to 10, but there was no mention of those horses being of Spanish origin. In 1977, they brought in 11 horses deemed “Spanish enough” to replenish the herd. There is no documentation stating where these horses came from, though some speculate they may have been from domestic populations. Grainy black-and-white photos of these horses in corrals make it impossible to assess their type or quality.
What puzzles me is why they didn’t promote the Sulfur horses of Utah. There is no debate about the legitimacy of that herd. The Sulfur herd is thoroughly documented as a unique Spanish Mustang population, dating back as far as white settlement in the area.
Modern-Day Spanish Mustangs
Now, I must clarify: I don’t think there is a single horse today, whether in or out of the Spanish Mustang project, that is 100% pure old Spanish blood. It’s just not possible. Perhaps if efforts had started in the 1880s or earlier, we could have maintained purity from that time. But the project realistically began in the 1920s.
True, some horses today can be traced back to the Trail of Tears in the mid-1800s or to Llano Estacado stock and various tribal horses from that era. However, it would be naïve to think Spanish horses had zero outside influence by the early-to-mid 1900s. What we can say definitively is that the horses gathered for the project were the best they could find at the time.
At Paha Ponies Spanish Mustangs, we concentrate our efforts on preserving horses collected no later than 1970. I think about the genetic dilution that could happen and applaud those who worked tirelessly for decades to retain the purest old horses they could—horses from a time long forgotten and intentionally erased.
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