By reading the daily logs kept by the first explorers to reach the Americas we know that with each new group of explorers and settlers numerous horses were either set free or lost en-route to their destination. This is the first written mustang horse information available to us today. From it we can gather that herds of horses were formed from these escapees and the wild horse population was born.
Native Americans were eager to bring the horses into their lives and quickly turned them into the main source of transportation for the tribes. Tribal members used them for hunting, for waging wars and for general transport for the tribe to new hunting areas. Another use soon arose as the horses became valuable for trading with other tribes.
The Native American tribes were the first to selectively breed horses to emphasize their strong points. The tribes who were the most active in breeding were the Comanche and the Shoshoni. They focused on size, strength, and speed. The first completely American horse is the Appaloosa and it was bred by the Nez Perce tribe. This breed is still highly sought after by horsemen today.
By the early nineteen hundreds there were over two million free range horses and burros in the Americas. The military viewed them as a free resource to be caught and trained for use by troops. Later they would be rounded up and slaughtered for their use as pet food. They were hunted from airplanes and poisoned by the thousands.
In the 1950s the Wild Horse Annie Act was passed and gave some protection to the animals. They could no longer be hunted by motor vehicles. They received very little protection from that point until in the 1970s when the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed. This new legislation was designed to protect any remaining herds from being hunted or harassed by all people.
This new law gave complete control of the animals to the Bureau of Land Management. They were to protect them and control the size of the herds on public lands. The largest herds can be found in Nevada high desert areas where they forage on plants that are not digestible to cattle. You will also find some herds in several North Western states that border Canada.
There is controversy over what these horses should be called. Some feel they should be designated as feral animals because they are descendants of domesticated animals that escaped their owners centuries ago. Most casual observers call them wild horses because that is what they are. Calling them feral opens them up to laws regarding exotic animals that threaten the resources of native animals. There is also a faction that says that because the bones of the first prehistoric horses were found in the Americas these animals should be considered native and wild.
The mustang horse information gathered by our Bureau of Land Management must be reported to their Washington agencies. To control the number of horses they have arranged adoptions for over three hundred thousand of them. That is, to some, a good start.
Native Americans were eager to bring the horses into their lives and quickly turned them into the main source of transportation for the tribes. Tribal members used them for hunting, for waging wars and for general transport for the tribe to new hunting areas. Another use soon arose as the horses became valuable for trading with other tribes.
The Native American tribes were the first to selectively breed horses to emphasize their strong points. The tribes who were the most active in breeding were the Comanche and the Shoshoni. They focused on size, strength, and speed. The first completely American horse is the Appaloosa and it was bred by the Nez Perce tribe. This breed is still highly sought after by horsemen today.
By the early nineteen hundreds there were over two million free range horses and burros in the Americas. The military viewed them as a free resource to be caught and trained for use by troops. Later they would be rounded up and slaughtered for their use as pet food. They were hunted from airplanes and poisoned by the thousands.
In the 1950s the Wild Horse Annie Act was passed and gave some protection to the animals. They could no longer be hunted by motor vehicles. They received very little protection from that point until in the 1970s when the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was passed. This new legislation was designed to protect any remaining herds from being hunted or harassed by all people.
This new law gave complete control of the animals to the Bureau of Land Management. They were to protect them and control the size of the herds on public lands. The largest herds can be found in Nevada high desert areas where they forage on plants that are not digestible to cattle. You will also find some herds in several North Western states that border Canada.
There is controversy over what these horses should be called. Some feel they should be designated as feral animals because they are descendants of domesticated animals that escaped their owners centuries ago. Most casual observers call them wild horses because that is what they are. Calling them feral opens them up to laws regarding exotic animals that threaten the resources of native animals. There is also a faction that says that because the bones of the first prehistoric horses were found in the Americas these animals should be considered native and wild.
The mustang horse information gathered by our Bureau of Land Management must be reported to their Washington agencies. To control the number of horses they have arranged adoptions for over three hundred thousand of them. That is, to some, a good start.
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