The Mustang Horse
The mustang horse is a very popular horse and due to its unique place in history, is acknowledged by many as a symbolic representation of the historic and cowboy energy of the Old wild west.
But Mustangs are usually called 'wild' horses, the more appropriate name is 'feral' horses as all free-roaming horses established in The u.s. are bred from horses that were first domestic animals shipped over to Mexico and the u.s. by the spanish conquistadors.
Mostly, these early horses were of Andalusian or Arab breeding stock, but had amongst them a wide variety of colours and many breeds and types.
Some of these brave horses escaped captivity or were stolen by indigenous peoples, and quickly spread through the whole country.
The Appaloosa
Appaloosas classically display a leopard spotted skin, pale sclera (the bit of the eye close to the cornea) and vertically striped hooves.
The breed history of this popular horse is only partly recognized. There is evidence that spotted horses were living in many nation-states in Asia, and historians have found cave paintings which are as old as to 18000BC illustrating spotty horses that could well be be the origins of the appaloosa we know today. It is quite possible that the spotted pattern was originally a form of camouflage, similar to the striped pattern on a zebra.
The contemporary Appaloosa is descended from horses brought to Mexico and the u.s. by spanish conquistadors. These were passed on to the Nez perce tribe, who skillfully bred them into the marvelous horses that we admire at the present time.
The horse was first called the "Palouse horse", but gradually its name has changed into the present-day interpretation, "Appaloosa".
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