Mustang Horses

Mustangs horses are usually referred to as wild horses, but the more appropriate term for them is feral horses. The Spanish mustang is a descendant of the horses brought to the Americas by the early Spaniards. On his second voyage to the New World, Columbus brought a number of Spanish horses, as the breed was considered to be the finest horses in the world. Despite some myths, they come in all sizes, shapes and colors. Mustangs can range in size of between 13 and 16 hands. These horses were not as big as other horses, but they were very sturdy and strong animals.

Diet of the Horse: Make sure that you do not give the Wild Mustangs any oats before you begin working them. In all honesty, you should not even give them too much alfalfa at first. The reason for this is that in their natural environment, most truly wild mustangs do not enjoy a diet overly rich in proteins. Giving a wild horse nothing but timothy hay or even alfalfa too rich in proteins will cause the horse to suffer from colic and suffer unnecessarily. A good blend of alfalfa with a little straw is often the best diet for your wild mustang ... at least until it gets used to eating well.

Conservation: Once upon a time there were millions of wild mustang horses roaming the Western plains. Today there are fewer than 50,000 wild horses roaming. Despite government regulations designed to protect them, due to limited resources, their numbers continue to decline. In 1971 the Wild and Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed by Congress to preserve wild mustangs, but it has had little effect. Despite the fact that these horses have survived through hundreds of years of harsh winter, having a very high birth rate, and few natural predators, their numbers continue to decline.