The Real Mustang Story
The Real Mustang Story
~ Chris Boles
In the early 1800s, the West had great numbers of feral Mustangs. The countless raids on the French, Spanish and British in the East, Northeast and South allowed many horses to escape. Other examples existed where horses found freedom.
A ship that went aground in the Carolinas allowed the horses in the ship’s hold, excellent swimmers, to go ashore. Battles among the Europeans, and in-fighting among the colonists also allowed some horses to flee.The French Indian War brought in some of the earliest horses. The battles of the British, French, and the colonist with the natives resulted in more horses set free.
Many of the Spanish ships carried horses. To make room for Native American slaves to be returned to Spain, Spanish horses were left behind. In effect, they traded the horses’ freedom for the enslavement of Natives.
Though the French were the first to bring horses to North America, the Spanish brought more horses of different types: from the gated, fluid racing horses to the fancy, strong Andalusian breeds. Each of these breeds mixed with the existing mustangs already present, and contributed to the creation of the rugged, roaming Feral animals the Natives later honored.
These horses roaming free carried the genetics of the ‘gypsy paints,’ the European Andalusians, the pacing strains, as well as the stronger bones of the carriage horses. What beauty has come from the genetic mating of the different breeds. And there is mastery in Nature’s mystery. Some color breeds can lie dormant, but appear in the following generation. Some coats skip a generation to appear. As an example: two golden palominos do not produce a golden offspring, but one palomino mated to a Sorrel with flaxen mane and tail most often will produce the desired color.
The genetic traits of the escaped horses, mated in a natural state with wild
horses, produced harder hooves, shorter and stronger backs, and a bone density that far exceeded the weaker limbs of the thoroughbred. These horses often found their way into herds with combative stallions, again producing changes.
The mustang adapted to its environment by growing long manes and tails. They grew a thick coat of hair, which allowed the horse to withstand the elements and protect its body from insect bites. Resourcefulness meant survival in the harsh conditions the horses found themselves in. These horses learned to be alert to the dangers posed by wolves, cougars and bears. Mustangs often traveled up to fifty miles in search of water. The stallions did not lead the herds; the favored lead mare did. Stallions brought up the rear, biting the slower horses and pushing the foals to keep them running.
When a stallion took over another stud’s herd, he would often rape the pregnant mares, trying to get them to abort their foals. The new stallion intuitively wanted his genetics, not the former stallion’s, in the herd.
It is a proven fact that every American breed on Turtle Island is linked to the same origins as the Mustang. The plantation owners bred the American Saddle Bred, the Tennessee Walker, the Missouri Fox Trotter, as well as the Carolina Tacky Horse. They also bred the American Quarter Horse, which carries the bloodlines of the Native/Chickasaw pony, as well as the Steel Dust mares, the largest breed world-wide today. The Paint Horse carries a great deal of Quarter Horse blood, and the Pinto carries other breeds within its bloodline, most notably Arabian, Morgan and the gaited horses but it also holds the descendants from the Mustang.
The Mustang is the origin of all of the horses on Turtle Island. Each breed contributed something special. Gait, rhythm, spots, color patterns, or speed – all were directly blood-lined sourced to the Mustang, the breed that moved the Tribal Nations. The East Coast became the starting point of the return of horses to Turtle Island, hundreds of years ago.
Settlers on the first wagon trains reported seeing as many as fifty mares with one stallion. They also observed battles of stallions over mares. With each passing year, as the movement west became a steady stream of whites encroaching upon Native lands, the population of the Mustang herds declined. Herds that once numbered fifty mares became herds of ten, and then declined further to eight, until today, perhaps only five.
The white man, as always, used a gun to solve his issues, even with the mustangs. The goal was to nick the top of the horses’ necks, just behind the ears, to knock the animals down, where halters and ropes could then be attached to the downed animals. However, the whites’ shots often missed their mark, killing the horse. The whites would chase the Mustangs, hunting down pregnant mares ready to foal, since the laboring mares were easier to capture. It was common for soldiers, when slaughtering the tribes, to slaughter their horses if it suited their purpose.
A Story of One Family’s Survival
There is a story of a family in Texas with five children who were half native (the mother had been bought from a French trader). These children learned to ride well. One young girl was so accomplished that she even helped keep her family fed by selling Mustangs. She would ride her horse right to her selection of a pregnant mare and jump onto its back. Her pony would head for his home corral. The young girl rode out the mare until it could run no longer, at which time the girl’s brothers would arrive with ropes to tie the mare and bring her to their small ranch. The foals were a bonus, and the mare would be trained by the time the foal came.
The Capture of Wild Horses – Their Way, Our Way
The white man had one method for corralling horses. Flour was dribbled onto the ground by whites, marking a line to a holding pen, and the wild horses would not cross it, but could be chased down the line and into the pen. This was the most humane method of catching horses by the whites.
Native Americans went about the capture of wild horses differently. The Natives would build brush catch pens in box canyons to hold the captured horses. They would stay with the horses in the gentle art of presence. The horses would hear the Natives sing songs, give voice and chatter to the horses in a gentle way, until the horses felt no fear. Often a Native held only one horse at a time in this way, and as a herd animal, the horse would need the companionship. This method created a bond between man and horse.
Bonding
The craft and art of gentling a wild horse was nearly over when the animal’s fear was gone. When the fear was replaced with trust, the animal bonded in a connection. The horse accepted the human being as a co-herd being, and at that point the acceptance was complete. The horse was willing to walk beside or even follow the human. Fear became absent, but trust found its beginning.
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