SPANISH MUSTANGS of the caribbean, need help

Colonial Spanish Horses A.K.A. Spanish Mustangs
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A History of Decline



Colonial Spanish Horses are rarely referred to by this name. The usual term that is used is Spanish Mustang. The term Mustang generally carries with it the connotation of feral horse, and this is somewhat unfortunate since many of these horses have never had a feral background. The important part of the background of these horses is that they are Spanish. These are descendants of the horses that were brought to the New World by the Conquistadors, and include some feral, some rancher, some mission, and some Native American strains.



The Spanish Colonial Horse is the remnant of the once vast population of horses in the USA. The ancestors of these horses were instrumental in the Conquistadors ability to conquer the native civilizations. The source of the original horses was Spain, and this was at a time when the Spanish horse was being widely used for improvement of horse breeding throughout Europe. The Spanish horse of the time of the conquest had a major impact on most European light horse types (this was before breeds were developed, so type is a more accurate word). The Spanish horse itself then became rare, and was supplanted as the commonly used improver of indigenous types by the Thoroughbred and Arabian. These three (Spanish, Thoroughbred, and Arabian) are responsible for the general worldwide erosion of genetic variability in horse breeds. The Spanish type subsequently became rare and is now itself in need of conservation. The horse currently in Spain is distinct, through centuries of divergent selection, from the Colonial Spanish Horse. The result is that the New World remnants are very important to overall conservation since the New World varieties are closer in type to the historic horse of the Golden Age of Spain than are the current horses in Iberia.



The original horses brought to America from Spain were relatively unselected. These first came to the Caribbean islands, where populations were increased before export to the mainland. In the case of North America the most common source of horses was Mexico as even the populations in the southeastern USA were imported from Mexico rather than the Caribbean. The North American horses ultimately came from this somewhat non-selected base. South American horses, in contrast, tended to originally derive about half from the Caribbean horses and half from direct imports of highly selected horses from Spain. These later imports changed the average type of the horses in South America. This difference in founder strains is one reason for the current differences in the North American and South American horses today. Other differences were fostered by different selection goals in South America. Both factors resulted in related but different types of horses.



At one time (about 1700 AD) the purely Spanish horse occurred in an arch that stretched from the Carolinas to Florida, west through Tennessee, and then throughout all of the western mountains and Great Plains. In the northeast and central east, the colonists were from northwestern Europe, and their type of European horses were more common than the Colonial Spanish type. Even in these non-Spanish areas, the Colonial Spanish Horse was highly valued and did contribute to the overall mix of American horses. Due to their wide geographic distribution as pure populations as well as their contribution to other crossbred types, the Colonial Spanish Horses were the most common of all horses throughout North America at that time, and were widely used for riding as well as draft. In addition to being the common mount of the native tribes (some of whom measured wealth by the number of horses owned) and the white colonists, immense herds of feral animals that descended from escaped or strayed animals existed.



The Colonial Spanish horse became to be generally considered as too small for cavalry use by the whites, and was slowly supplanted by taller and heavier types from the northeast as an integral part of white expansion in North America. In the final stages, this process was rapid, and was made even more so by the extermination of the horse herds of the Native Americans during the final stages of their subjection in the late 1800's. The close association of the Spanish Horse with both Native American and Mexican cultures and peoples also caused the popularity of these horses to diminish in contrast to the more highly favored larger horses of the dominant Anglo derived culture, whose horses tended to have breeding predominantly of Northern European types. The decline of the Colonial Spanish horse resulted in only a handful of animals left of the once vast herds.



This handful has founded the present breed, and therefore are the horse of interest when considering the history of the present day North American Spanish Mustang.



What is not considered is the Caribbean Horses. To this day, the Caribbean still has isolated herds of the original spanish horses roaming the Islands. Neither North America nor South America have these pure Spanish herds. When Don Gaspar Troche imported stock from Puerto Rico for his horse business in Mexico, he became the leading horse Trader in North America.



All this tells us, is that it is most likely that even the Mexican horses that made it north into the U.S were descendants of Caribbean Horses, atleast in part.



Which brings this question up: If all agree that the Spanish horse breed needs to be preserved. Why do so many refuse to accept that the Islands of the Caribbean are the best place to find said Animals?



With the Puerto Rican economic status and high poverty rates what they are. It has been a blessing and a curse for the breed. Since many people are just to poor to import stock from other areas of the world it has kept the herds isolated preventing the mixing with other breeds.



However, the poor living standards for humans has made even worse living standards for the Horses. Even animals that are claimed by owners are not cared for correctly, seldom if ever checked by a VET. Poorly trained, mistreated, abused and even tied to trees and starved to death.



The People with means to care for animals Keep Paso Fino breeds (which were selectively bred from these horses) and an even smaller group have Thoroughbreds. Although these are very rare and usually only near Race tracks. Again kept by people of means they are cared for and not exposed to the so-called lesser horses of the island.



Then you have the Outer Islands such as Vieques. On these smaller islands, they do not even have the remote outside chance of even seeing another horse breed much less have the chance to mix with them.





What these horses need is to be recognized for what they are. The last of a dieing breed. The people of the Caribbean need to know what they have is something special and should be well cared for. To know that these animals many consider a lesser mans horse, are too many, more valuable than the Paso Fino their rich uncle owns and brags about.

An animal to be truly proud to own and care for, the descendants of the animals that made the NEW WORLD POSSIBLE.



At present, the Caribbean has a registry to help promote and track the breed, keep records of ownership and a studbook for breeding and pedigree purposes. They are an open registry and will accept any horse that meets the standard description. In the future, they also hope to fund a Spanish Mustang preserve. A range of land where the unwanted or invasive horse herds can be relocated too and protected, rather than killed and left to decompose in a field. Also providing at the location Training on general care and maintenance of equine and promotion of good horsemanship skills in a partnership approach. Directed toward the youth, with weekend horsemanship camps

If interested in the breed, a full Breed description, RANGE LAND and youth camp information please contact:



New World Spanish Mustang Registry,

Hc 10 BOX 7950,

Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico 00637

Or

New_World_Spanish_Mustang_Reg@yahoo.com