History of the Wild Mustangs / Fun Facts

Image copyright The Cloud Foundation

The Breed's Origin:
Mustangs are not native to North America.  They are descended from horses brought to North America by Spanish explorers around 500 years ago. There are fossils of earlier horse-like animals in North America, but they died out from unknown causes (most likely from over-hunting or environmental changes.) The Mustang breed originated in America, as you will see, but the horse species is not a native species to North America. Because the Mustangs’ ancestors were domestic, the breed is feral, not wild. A truly wild horse is a horse whose ancestors were always wild. Today, the only truly wild horse breed is the Przewalski's Horse, (and that's debatable considering that the majority of them live in zoos.) Because every Mustang that comes off the range today was born and bred in the wild, even if its ancestors were escaped domestic horses, most organizations, including the BLM, more correctly refer to Mustangs as "free roaming," not simply "feral."

Spanish horses / Mustangs' ancestors
Art by Winfield Coleman

The name "Mustang" comes from the Spanish word mesteño, meaning stray or wild. When horses first escaped their Spanish owners, they formed herds and began breeding to adapt to their new climate. The Native Americans rode Mustangs on buffalo hunts and bred them to keep up with and maneuver a herd of stampeding bison. Over time, the Native Americans helped Mustangs develop their own unique characteristics. The Native Americans became the Mustangs’ first human breeders.Many still retained the features of their Spanish ancestors, hence the Spanish Mustang.

Art by C. M. Russel

Mustangs in North America / The Cowboy Era:

Unlike most introduced species, the Mustangs lived comfortably on the land alongside the present wildlife. Their numbers were kept in check by natural predators such as cougars, wolves, and coyotes. As they were similar to the moose, elk, and deer already native to the area, they adapted well to their new climate.

When American colonists began moving into the Mustangs’ territory, some of their horses escaped and joined the Mustangs, enriching the herds and creating more diversity. The Mustangs absorbed these new traits. Because of all the diverse breeds that joined to make the Mustang, the Mustang is a real “melting pot," with many different characteristics. Due to the rough climate of the range where they lived, they grew thick coats, strong bones and strong hooves. Some Mustangs looked more like draft horses than warm bloods.

American colonists caught and tamed Mustangs. Mustangs were the favorite horses in the Pony Express, and as the colonists found they had an innate “cow sense”, Mustangs became some of the favorite horses of cowboys.

During this time, Mustangs were bred by Americans to create many well-known breeds that exist today, such as the Quarter Horse, which was bred by crossing Mustangs with imported Thoroughbreds, the Palomino Horse, the Nokota and the Kiger Mustang, and also the Paint Horse and the Appaloosa Horse, both of which have their origins in Native American breeding. Spotted horses were considered sacred by many Native American tribes. The Appaloosa was bred by a tribe near the Palouse River (hence its name) in order to be a "buffalo runner."

By 1900, over a million Mustangs roamed the American West. As more and more white men arrived, they needed more space, so they began removing the Mustangs. Mustangs were hunted for sport, and airplane pilots flushed them out of mountains and rounded them up to ship them off as meat. Mustangs became popular “bucking broncos” in rodeos.

Wild Horse Annie:

Velma Johnston: Wild Horse Annie

Velma B. Johnston, also known as “Wild Horse Annie”, was heartbroken by what she saw happening. Annie battled legally for protection of the horses. She revealed the truth about the cruel roundups, and even the innocent domestic horses gathered up in the process. She was such a powerful advocate that congress was besieged with more mail than any other subject besides the Vietnam War. Kids wrote in, pleading. Letters even poured in from other countries. As momentum gathered, Annie was threatened and received death threats.



Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971:
But in the end, the act was passed. In 1971, without a single dissenting vote, an unprecedented public outcry moved Congress to unanimously pass 

President Richard M. Nixon signs the Wild Horse and Burro Act
Photo from blm.gov

the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, granting federal protection to America's wild horses and burros as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West ....that .... contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people." source: Wild Horse and Burro Act. Also, about that same time, Mustangs were officially recognized as a breed of horse, with all the genetic distinction that comes with that. They were no longer a "mongrel horse," no longer just a conglomeration of genes from other breeds. They were their own breed, the Mustang breed. They gained their own section in the official breed directories, stud books, and Mustang Associations were created where people could register their Mustangs, if the said Mustangs were purely of Mustang descent. Mustang breeders began popping up around the country, and many of these organizations still exist today.


The Bureau of Land Management was the chief opponent of the Wild Horse and Burro Act, but in spite of that, they were given control over protecting wild Mustangs on the lands they were found in at that time. Sadly, today they are continually finding ways to remove Mustangs with any means they feel are necessary. The Mustang population has been halved since the Wild Horse and Burro Act was passed, and there is strong evidence that the abuse the BLM forces Mustangs to endure during roundups is exactly what the Act was passed to prevent.






The Modern Mustang Breed:

Today, most Mustangs are small, hardy little horses with little to no breed standard. They have thick coats and they come in a wide variety of colors. Many Mustangs are small enough to be considered ponies, while some look more like draft horses. Because their hooves and bones are so strong, most Mustangs today don’t need to be shod! While Mustangs are fast for their size, they’re obviously not as fast as more selectively-bred, larger horses. They do, however, have a lot of endurance and can withstand much more drastic climate changes than most domestic breeds can. They may not be as “pretty” as domestic breeds, but they’re special in their own ways.

Photo copyright DB Young

Horses are prey animals by nature, so when something startles them, they will almost always choose to run. They react – often very quickly – and think later. They can see all around except directly in front of their heads, directly behind them, and around their feet. When they hear, smell, see, or sense something and don’t know what it is, their reaction is to flee it before it can hurt them. As is expected of wild horses, the fight-or-flight instinct is even stronger in Mustangs.

Life in a Mustang Herd:

Photo from The Cloud Foundation

Today, wild Mustangs live in family groups called herds or bands. A horse’s herd is his life. Being alone in the wild could be deadly for a horse. A horse’s urge to be close to other horses is called his “herd instinct”. Domestic horses have this instinct as well. A horse has two main desires in his life: to survive and to reproduce. A herd enables him to do both.

Band stallions are the daddies of their herds
and can often be quite gentle.
Photo copyright The Cloud Foundation

Each herd usually consists of a band stallion and his mares. He often has a lead or "boss" mare, who is sort of “second in command”, keeping the herd together and safe while the lead stallion fends off other stallions, searches for mares, wanders off, etc. The lead mare is often the one who dictates where and when the herd should move to find food and water. The band stallion is usually the father of all the foals in the herd. Occasionally, a mare may already be pregnant when she joins a herd, and the stallion generally lets her keep her foal. However, like humans, unfortunately, some stallions are not above infanticide and abortion. Most horses are pro-life, however. The stallion is the herd’s ruler, and he chooses which horses join the herd and which horses don’t. Band stallions can be very brave and have been known to defend their herds to the death.

When a colt (a young male horse) in a herd matures, his father will typically throw him out of the herd. While this may seem harsh, it actually helps to prevent inbreeding by keeping the colt from breeding with his sisters.

Bachelor stallions at a watering hole
Image from The Cloud Foundation and PBS Nature

These ejected boys run off to form “bachelor bands” with other young stallions. They raid passing herds, hoping to steal a mare or two. If a bachelor stallion succeeds in stealing a mare, he leaves the bachelor band and starts his own band. Keeping his first mare long enough to have a foal can be difficult, though. Most bachelor stallions have their mares stolen by an older stallion soon after they've managed to claim her.

Most herds spend their days grazing, stopping at water sources, and avoiding danger. They typically visit water sources in the mornings and at night, when there are fewer predators around. It’s rare that all of the horses in a herd will sleep at the same time. They usually take turns, with some sleeping while others keep watch. Most foals are born at night as well, since there are fewer predators.

Two Mustang foals playing
Photo copyright The Cloud Foundation

It’s important for new foals to learn to walk and run quickly so they can keep up with the herd. Foals are targets for predators, especially cougars. Cougars kill and eat almost half of the foals born each year.

Winter can be very harsh in Mustang territory, but the Mustangs know how to survive. Their fuzzy winter coats grow so thick that newly-fallen snow can stay on their backs without melting. Mustangs know that grass is sometimes still green near the base of the stem, and they know to lick minerals out of the ground by digging and licking.

Mustangs lick minerals out of the ground
Photo copyright The Cloud Foundation

Mustangs break the surface ice in rivers and lakes to drink. By breaking the ice, they allow smaller animals such as gazelle, rabbits, foxes, mule deer, coyotes, and even domestic sheep to drink as well.

Mustangs in winter snow
Photo copyright Carol Walker

However, winter is the time that the weak members in the herds die off. Foals must be strong to survive these dangerous months. It's not uncommon for a very harsh winter to kill off all of the old, very young, and/or weak members of a herd.

Mustangs will eat mouthfuls of snow to keep hydrated during the winter.
Photo copyright The Cloud Foundation