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{{Short description|American breed of horse}}
{{Infobox horse breed
|name= Spanish Mustang
|image= Gypsypasturepic1.jpg
|image_caption= Spanish Mustang mare
|features = Compact, sturdy, [[Iberian horse|Spanish]] type
|altname=
|nickname=
|country= Developed in the [[Americas]] from [[foundation bloodstock]] tracing to [[Spain]]
|group1=
|std1= }}

The '''Spanish Mustang''' is an American [[horse breed]] descended from horses brought from [[Spain]] during the early conquest of the Americas. They are classified within the larger grouping of the [[Colonial Spanish horse]], a type that today is rare in Spain.<ref name=Conquistador>{{ cite web | last=Sponenberg | first=D. Phillip | title=North American Colonial Spanish Horse Part I, History and Type |website=Conquistador Magazine | url=http://www.conquistador.com/breeds/mustang.asp | access-date=June 5, 2006}}</ref> By the early 20th century, most of the once-vast herds of [[mustang]]s that had descended from the Spanish horses had been greatly reduced in size. Seeing that these horses were on the brink of extinction, some horseman began making efforts to find and preserve the remaining "Spanish Mustangs" drawing stock from feral and Native American herds, as well as ranch stock. The breed was one of the first to be part of a concerted preservation effort for horses of Spanish [[phenotype]], and a [[breed registry]] was founded in 1957.

The Spanish Mustang as a modern [[domestication of the horse|domesticated]] breed differs from the [[feral horse|feral]] free-roaming [[Mustang (horse)|mustang]].<ref name=history>{{cite web| title=History of the Spanish Mustang | url=http://www.spanishmustang.org/about.htm | website=Spanish Mustang Registry | access-date=August 25, 2015}}</ref> The latter animals are descended from both Spanish horses and other domesticated horses escaped or released from various sources; many run wild in [[List of BLM Herd Management Areas|Herd Management Areas]] (HMAs) of the western United States, currently managed by the [[Bureau of Land Management]] (BLM). Some feral herds also exist in Canada. [[DNA]] studies indicate that Spanish breeding and type does still exist in some feral Mustang herds, including those on the Cerbat HMA (near Kingman, Arizona),<ref name="BLM Cerbat">{{cite web|title=Cerbat Herd Area|url=http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/whb/hmas/cerbat.print.html|website=Bureau of Land Management|access-date=30 May 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601235943/http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/whb/hmas/cerbat.print.html|archive-date=1 June 2015}}</ref> Pryor Mountain HMA (Montana),<ref name=MontanaBLM>{{cite web|title=Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range|url=http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/billings_field_office/wildhorses.html|website=Bureau of Land Management|access-date=1 June 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616062833/http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/billings_field_office/wildhorses.html|archive-date=16 June 2015}}</ref> Sulphur HMA (Utah),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanspanishsulphur.org/GusCothran.html|title=GusCothran|work=americanspanishsulphur.org|access-date=28 August 2015}}</ref> and Kiger HMA (Oregon).<ref name=Sponenberg2011>{{cite web|title=North American Colonial Spanish Horse Update July 2011 |last=Sponenberg|first=D. Philip |url=http://www.centerforamericasfirsthorse.org/north-american-colonial-spanish-horse.html|access-date=August 16, 2015}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|Mustang#History}}
The Colonial Spanish Horse developed from animals first brought from the [[Iberian peninsula]] to the Americas during the conquest and establishment of the Spanish colony of [[New Spain]] in what today is Mexico.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frontiernet.net/~RanchoTamarisque/SponenbergFrame.htm|title=Sponenberg Reports|work=frontiernet.net|access-date=28 August 2015}}</ref> As the conquest of Mexico progressed during the 16th century, horse herds spread north and crossed the [[Rio Grande]]. Over the next one hundred years, horses in the Americas were stolen and traded by the [[Apache]], [[Comanche]], and later the [[Ute tribe|Utes]] and [[Shoshone]] to various tribes across the [[Great Plains]] and Rocky Mountains.<ref name=SIHorseTrading>{{cite web|title=Horse Trading Among Nations |url=http://www.nmai.si.edu/exhibitions/horsenation/trading.html|website=A Song for the Horse Nation|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date= June 14, 2015}}</ref>

On the brink of extinction in the early part of this century,<ref name=IMH /> the Spanish Mustang is one of the first breeds developed from a planned conservation program to save the descendants of these Spanish horses.<ref name=Sponenberg2011/> This effort is mostly attributed to Robert E. Brislawn of Oshoto, Wyoming, and his brother Ferdinand L. Brislawn of Gusher, Utah.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ryden|first=Hope|title=America's Last Wild Horses | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bE-iL3YtmlkC |publisher= Lyons and Burford| location=Guilford |date=2005 |orig-year=1990 |ISBN=1592288731 |page=29}}</ref> Credit for the preservation effort also goes to Gilbert Jones and Ilo Belsky.<ref>{{cite web | title= Southwest Spanish Mustang Association |url=http://www.southwestspanishmustangassociation.com/index.html |access-date=August 25, 2015}}</ref> They gathered horses from feral [[Mustang]] herds, Native American herds and ranch stock from throughout the west, chosen because they had a [[phenotype]] that indicates Spanish ancestry.<ref name="SMF">{{cite web | title=Spanish Mustang: The History, The Romance | url=http://www.spanishmustangfoundation.org/resources.html | website=Spanish Mustang Foundation | access-date=August 23, 2015}}</ref> Two full brothers, Buckshot and Ute, were among the first foundation stallions, sired by a buckskin stallion named Monty and out of Ute Reservation blood on the dam's side. Monty, captured in 1927 in Utah, escaped back to the wild in 1944, taking his mares with him. He was never recaptured.<ref name=IMH /><ref name="SMF"/> Ultimately, the Brislawns and Lawrence P. Richards formed a [[breed registry|registry]], the Spanish Mustang Registry, incorporated in 1957. Due to assorted differences of opinion on what horses to accept into the registry, Jones formed the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association in 1977, and other offshoot registries formed later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.horseoftheamericas.com/uploads/3/1/3/7/3137829/preservation_of_the_colonial_spanish_horse_patterson.pdf|author=Patterson, Gretchen|title=The Preservation of the Colonial Spanish Horse|website=Horse of the Americas| access-date=August 27, 2015}}</ref> A 2006 study found that the Spanish Mustang, as well as horses from the Sulphur Springs and Kiger HMAs have DNA [[haplotype]]s that indicate origin from horses of the [[Iberian peninsula]].<ref name=Luis>{{cite journal|last1=Luis|first1=Cristina|last2=Bastos-Silveira|first2=Cristiane|last3=Cothran|first3=E. Gus|last4=Oom|first4=Maria do Mar|title=Iberian Origins of New World Horse Breeds|journal=Journal of Heredity|date=17 February 2006|volume=97|issue=2|pages=107–113|doi=10.1093/jhered/esj020|pmid=16489143|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Characteristics==
[[File:SpanishMustang.jpg|thumbnail|Spanish Mustang]]
Spanish Mustang stands from {{hands|13.2|to|15}} in height, with horses over 15 hands not favored. They weigh between {{convert|650|and|1100|lb}}. They are smooth muscled with short backs, rounded rumps and low-set tails. The [[Back (horse)|coupling]] is strong and horses are to be well balanced and smoothly built with an "uphill" build. The girth is deep, with a well laid back shoulder and fairly pronounced withers. They possess a straight or concave facial profile and wide foreheads. Necks are fairly well crested in mares and geldings and heavily crested in mature stallions. Chests are moderately narrow but well-defined. Chestnuts are small or missing altogether, particularly on the rear legs. Ergots are small or absent. Feet are round and hard and legs are to be of correct [[horse conformation|conformation]], though hind legs may be set under a bit. Cannons are short and bone is rounded. Some individuals are [[ambling|gaited]], with a range of different footfalls accepted. Paddling or winging out are not a fault unless there is interference or it is caused by a lack of straightness in the leg.<ref name=RegChar>{{cite web|title=Spanish Mustang Registry (Smr) Breed Description And Characteristics|url=http://www.spanishmustang.org/characteristics.htm|website=Spanish Mustang Registry|access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref>

Spanish Mustangs exist in many [[Equine coat color|colors]], due to the wide range of colors in their Spanish ancestors. They are commonly found in [[bay (horse)|bay]], [[chestnut (coat)|chestnut]], [[black (horse)|black]] and [[gray (horse)|gray]]. Other colors seen less commonly include the [[Appaloosa]] and [[paint horse|paint]] patterns and solid colors such as [[grullo|grulla]], [[buckskin (horse)|buckskin]], [[palomino]], [[cremello]], [[isabelline (colour)|isabella]], [[roan (horse)|roan]] and [[perlino]].<ref name=IMH/>

Spanish Mustangs are known for their stamina and hardiness. The breed is known for its long-distance ability, and is ridden by some [[endurance riding|endurance riders]].<ref name=IMH>{{cite web|title=Spanish Mustang|url=http://imh.org/exhibits/online/spanish-mustang|website=International Museum of the Horse|access-date=23 August 2015}}</ref> The Spanish Mustang is also used to compete in a variety of [[English riding|English]] and [[Western riding]] events.<ref name=history />

==See also==
* [[Sorraia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* Sponenberg, Dan Phillip. ''Equine Color Genetics'', 2nd edition, Ames, Iowa : Iowa State Press, 2003.

==External links==
*[http://www.spanishmustang.org/ Spanish Mustang Registry]
*[http://www.southwestspanishmustangassociation.com/ Southwest Spanish Mustang Association]
*[http://www.spanishbarb.com/ Spanish Barb Horse Association]
*[http://www.originalhorses.org/ "Painter Barbs"]
*[http://www.indianhorse.com/ American Indian Horse Registry]

{{Horse breeds of Canada and the United States}}

[[Category:Horse breeds]]
[[Category:Horse breeds originating in the United States]]

Spanish Mustang - Revision history

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