Mustang Horse For Sale

Mustang horse are descendants of escaped, domestic Spanish horses that were brought to the Americas by Spanish explorers in the 16th century. The name is derived from the Spanish words “mestengo” and “mostrenco” — meaning “wild or masterless cattle,” according to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries.

Mustang Horse are not technically wild horses because they came from a domesticated population, and so the mustangs living in the wild are considered feral, according to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). They can be found roaming free across the western United States but are also kept by humans in captivity and ridden like other horses. Mustangs have muscular bodies and hard hooves, which makes them suitable for scouting and trail riding, according to Horse Canada, a government-run equine website.

Mustang Horse belong to the genus Equus, which evolved in North America about 4 million years ago, before spreading out to the rest of the world. The last truly wild horses of America died out about 10,000 years ago, likely due to climate change and interactions with humans, Live Science previously reported.

MUSTANG HORSE CHARACTERISTICS

Mustang Horse, which like other horses, are typically measured in hands, typically stand 14 to 15 hands tall. This measurement equals 56 inches to 60 inches (140 to 150 centimeters). They weigh around 800 pounds (360 kilograms), according to the America’s Mustang program.

Mustangs can be a wide variety of different colors and, according to Oklahoma State University, their coats show the entire range of colors found in all horses. Usually, they are bay, which is a reddish-brown, or sorrel, which is a chestnut color. They can also have a variety of patches, spots and stripes.

Most Mustang Horse can run, or gallop, at speeds of 25 to 30 mph (40 to 48 km/h), although a mustang has been recorded reaching 55 mph (88 km/h) over a short distance, according to Horse Canada.

WHERE DO MUSTANGS LIVE AND WHAT DO THEY EAT

Mustang Horse live in the grassland areas of the western U.S. and mostly eat grass and brush. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management oversees the “wild” horse and burro (donkey) populations, and allows them to run free on 26.9 million acres (10.9 million hectares) of public land. This range is split across 10 herd management areas in: Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana-Dakotas, New Mexico, Oregon-Washington, Utah and Wyoming. Feral horses also live on the Atlantic coast and on islands such as the Sable, Shackleford and Assateague Islands, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

LIFE IN THE HERD

Mustang horses live in groups called herds. A herd consists of one stallion, and around eight females and their young, though separate herds have been known to mix when they are in danger, according to the Humane Society. Each herd is led by a female horse, or mare, and a stallion that is over 6 years of age. In dangerous situations, the head mare will lead her herd to safety, and the stallion will stay and fight.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF MUSTANG horse

The original horses brought into North America by the Spanish have bred with other domestic horses over the years and so mustangs are typically a mixture of several different breeds. These breeds include draft (large horses bred to be working animals) and Thoroughbreds, according to National Geographic.

Mustang interbreeding varied between different populations and some are closer to their Spanish horse ancestors than others. For example, Kiger mustangs in Oregon live in small, isolated herds and their bloodline are largely descended from the early Spanish horses, which means they mixed less with other breeds, according to Oklahoma State University.