INTRODUCTION TO SPANISH MUSTANGS

DESCENDANTS OF THE COLONIAL SPANISH HORSE 

Spanish Mustang, Barb, Spanish Barb, Colonial Spanish Horse, Indian Pony

The Descendants of the Colonial Spanish Horse is dedicated to Robin Ell Doughman, the horseman who had my heart for over fifty years.

“To comprehend the stallions that bore conquistadores across the Americas, I had to go back to mares beside black tents in Arabian deserts. Before I could release myself with the runner of aboriginal wildness, I had to trace the Age of Horse Culture that he brought not only to Western tribes but to white men who took their ranges. My chief pleasure has been in telling the tales, legendary as well as factual, of Mustangs and of rides on horses of the Mustang breed—but historical business had to come before pleasure.” (“The Spanish Mustang and the Long Way Home”) -- J. Frank Dobie

When considering the progression in time of the Spanish Mustang, the people connected to them, the locations, and the range of times, iconic images of survival come to mind. It is in tandem with the formation of this country. 

I’ve been following several Spanish Mustang breeders regarding contemporary issues about the horses. My interest is perked by their knowledge. There are many topics to explore. These individuals are resources, for the most part untapped. The information they hold could be preserved and projected for learning on podcasts and Zoom or Google Meet discussions featuring some of these individuals if they were willing. These discussions and forms of commentary could accompany the history of the strains that I’m starting. I see the website as a vehicle for information and commentary from people associated with the strains. This combined history can be stored digitally in an archive that would be available for people now and in the future. Combining the information about the different strains together opens an interesting perspective.   

What is most important and interesting are the strains or particular herds like the feral strains that went into the Brislawn lines, horses from the Little Book Cliffs area of Utah they got from Monty and Sadie Holbrook. There are details to be told that could increase the understanding and conservation of the breed. There is plenty of history that could be used to define and promote the Spanish Mustang. The Sulfur and the Cerbat herds are known for their purity and they both are covered separately. The Kiger horses in Oregon and the Pryor Mountain herd along the Crow and Shoshone migration routes in Wyoming will be sections. Information regarding the Native strains can be compared to the rancher strains like Belsky’s horses in Nebraska, Gilbert Jones’ horses in Medicine Springs, Oklahoma, the historic pure strain bred by the Wilbur-Cruce family, Juan Sepulveda and Father Kino’s mission horses in the Northern Sonora region of Mexico, all sources of high-quality horses since 1700. In New Mexico the Romero-McKinley herd, where some of the ancestors of my horse, Cicatriz, that were bred in this prominent rancher strain. The Gonzales Marques, and Romero families in Rio Arriba County and Doroteo and Virginia Baca of Baca Chica Farm have been responsible for saving unique strains of the Colonial Spanish Horse. The historic Elkins ranch on Mount Taylor also maintains Colonial Spanish horses. Each one of these herds has a story that needs to be told and preserved for the next generation of equestrians. 

The stories about these strains and bands of horses are compelling. The stories about their human partners who were charmed by them are colorful and enchanting. This is a comprehensive project that isn’t static on a webpage. The website is set up so information can be easily added and updated so the site is current. This information can be accessible to learners of different ages. With remote learning in schools we can interface regarding the information we have. This is an excellent way to promote the education mission of the Spanish Mustang Foundation.

My goal is to find the stories, add them to this webpage, connecting them to the strain they belong to, find the threads between the people and the strains and see what it all looks like standing together creating a broad view of the significance of these horses. The horses I had in my lifetime were connected to the Romero-McKinley and the Brislawn herds. They are part of my identity. They changed my life. 

So many of these strains are interconnected like the early Book Cliffs and the herds the Brislawn’s were building. The Holbrook and the Brislawn families were joined through the marriage in 1960 of Colleen Brislawn to Robert Lee Holbrook, the next generation of the families. The Baca Barb type and the Belsky ponies, the people involved with the Cerbat horse and the Wilbur-Cruce line had connections. For now my goal is to develop sections using the same format for each strain describing the horse and telling its stories. If you have information and stories you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’d like to connect your information to what I already have, especially historically significant photos that should be archived.  

HISTORY

The Spanish Colonial Horse is descended from breeds from the Iberian Peninsula, Europe, North Africa, and Asia, including the Andalusian, Barb, Portuguese Sorraia, Lusitano, Marismeno, Jennet, and Central Asian breeds.

The most detailed history of the Spanish Horse that I’ve read is the one Gretchen Patterson takes us through, going all the way back to the different breeds and strains used to establish the horse that was brought to the Americas beginning in 1493. Her thesis, The Preservation of the Colonial Spanish Horse and Robert E. Brislawn, Sr. is an exceptional read in its entirety. See the link in the link list below.

She tells us in her thesis that in 1621 the ‘no ride’ law prohibiting Indigenous Americans from riding horses was reversed. This is the moment when Native American tribes started to become horse nations. Pueblo natives learned the art of horsemanship and it spread to other tribes starting with the Apache. After 1671 the Comanche, Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa, Shoshone, Sioux, and Ute tribes had the horse, usually capturing them in raids, but there were horses that escaped from the mission herds into the wilderness where they became feral and covered the mountains and plains from Argentina to Canada with numbers in the hundreds of thousands. Native tribes evolved and changed due to the introduction of the horse into their lives and culture.

They were war horses. They were small, strong, lightweight, easy to maneuver, and intelligent with their own will to survive. The European immigrants in North America weren’t interested in that kind of horse. Hundreds of thousands of them were moving in feral herds across the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountains. The Northern Europeans settling and making farms wanted large draft horses for the work clearing the land of trees and building farms developing this section of the continent into one like the one they left. J. Frank Dobie said he estimated there were over a million feral horses of the Spanish type in Texas, alone. 

As the transformation of the continent continued, cattle ranches started to pop up on the western prairies. Consider the enormous land grab by President James Knox Polk after the Mexican War that ended in 1848. His dream to establish the United States from “sea to shining sea” was realized. Ranching spread across the plains, and the small, athletic, easily maneuvered horse was seen as valuable again. Where would the early cowboys have been without all those captured Spanish broncos? The cowboys made these horses their herding partners and relied on them. Other horses were introduced, and the Colonial Spanish Horse was bred to them, contributing to ranch breeds. Some of the Spanish horses remained in isolated places contributing to their own pure strains that are rare and important to preserve. 

A broad story unfolds, revealing herds like the Wilbur-Cruce strain. In the 1990s, on an isolated ranch in Arizona, a small strain of ranch horses had been tucked away for 113 years. When first observed by leading equine geneticists, they said it was like taking a step back through history and seeing the Colonial Spanish Horse as it was in its original form. Each of these strains has an origin, a history, sometimes there are people associated with those strains. There are valuable stories that should be written and photographs that should be scanned. They should all be digitally preserved in an accessible place for future generations of equestrians. Those iconic horsemen and women who scrambled to preserve these horses in the 1950s are taking or have already taken their last rides. 

Frank Hopkins, a long-distance and endurance rider born in 1865, used Spanish Mustangs to win. The film, Hildago, about a Spanish horse and a long-distance race won by Frank Hopkins chronicles his relationship with the Colonial Spanish Horse.

“You can’t beat mustang intelligence in the entire equine race. These animals have had to shift for themselves for generations. They had to work out their own destiny or be destroyed. Those that survived are animals of superior intelligence.” Frank T Hopkins

Experts describing the temperament of these horses say they have a desire to bond with humans and are affectionate and interactive, eager to learn and communicate. Those humans wanting that interaction must learn their form of communication. Once the rider knows the body language and signals, a bonded partnership is established.

When Spanish horses were brought to this continent, it was a time when the color of African hands as they came out of the earthen pits dripping indigo dye made them the color of midnight, an image invoked by Santa Fe writer, Belinda Edwards. Four hundred years ago in Nigeria, along the western shoreline of Africa, black hands mixed ash, indigo, and salt in earthen pits and dyed fabric that dark blue-grey color. It was the time of earthen Indigo fabric pits filled by hands made of midnight.

It was also the time of European exploration and conquest. Humans and horses were captured, bred, bought, and sold to serve. Well-established Indigenous societies were destroyed. The philosophy of conquest had been a part of human civilization from the start. Armies in service to kings and emperors were powerful and relentless. Entire continents with established civilized societies were claimed upon the arrival of ships by Europeans.

Four hundred years ago, Spanish horses came to the outer banks of the eastern seaboard of North America. The outer banks are barrier islands that protect the coastline from the ocean. At this time, the first African slaves arrived on slave ships crossing the Atlantic. The first horses were brought on similar ships for the European mines in Peru. The Spanish conquistadors and other Europeans landed their ships, unloaded their livestock, and supplies, and established settlements. They proceeded to capture native children as slaves. Eventually, the intruders were attacked and expelled. They left the horses free to fend for themselves. They survived. There was water, but little of it fit to drink. Instinctively the horses dug for fresh water, sometimes four feet deep.

Columbus brought horses to the New World in 1493, 530 years ago. Hispaniola in the Caribbean was settled, and from there, the exploration by Hernán Cortés and others moved like a tidal wave through what is now Mexico, Central, and South America. Exploration and conquest extended north in a quest for the mythical Cities of Gold. As occurred with eastern Native tribes, the Pueblo Revolt against Spanish conquest in 1680 sent the defeated Europeans south to El Paso, but it was only for twelve years. When they fled, they left the horses and livestock behind. Native raiding parties had also put horses in the hands of southern tribes long before the Spanish fled to El Paso. It was the same along the mid-Atlantic eastern shore.

It was 425 years ago, in March 1598, that Juan de Oñate’s expedition to what is now Santa Fe began. It crossed the Rio Grande south of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez in late April. The horses in Oñate’s military column were arriving in what is now the southwestern portion of the United States at the same time. Comparable events occurred on the eastern seaboard.

Oñate was born in New Spain. His father was a Basque conquistador and silver baron. His maternal line included Jewish origin ‘New Christians,’ conversos, and former Jews. He married the granddaughter of Hernán Cortés and the great-granddaughter of the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma Xocoyotzin. Oñate was well-rooted in power.

CONFORMATION

From: Mustang and Mindfulness Study Guide – R and C Doughman 2010; Spanish Mustang Foundation, Inc., with the Spanish Mustang Registry as a resource. 

Size:

  • 13.2 – 15 hands tall - between 650 and 1,100 pounds

Body:

  • Well balanced and proportioned, smooth muscled with smooth strong hindquarters, short backs, low set tail

  • Well defined neck and withers

  • Narrow and muscular chest

      • Wide straight or concave forehead and straight or convex nose – medium to short ears, notched or curved towards each other.

  • Necks are fairly well crested in mares and geldings and heavily crested in mature stallions with chests being narrow but deep.

Feet and Legs:           

  • Chestnuts are small or missing, particularly on rear legs with ergots are small or absent

  • Round, thick walled, hard hooves – underfoot concave so not easily injured

  • Straight legs, upper foreleg long, broad joints and short cannons

  • Front legs meet the chest in an “A” shape - not straight across

Gait:  

  • Long stride - frequently with a relaxed, easy gait.

  • Some laterally gaited – “paso” gait with less knee movement – all gaits accepted as long as they are smooth and rhythmic

Coat Color:

  • Varied because they are descended from the early Spanish horses that were of many colors and patterns, including dun, grulla, buckskin, overo and sabino paints and appaloosa, as well as bay, chestnut, black and white.

  • Primitive markings – dorsal stripes, zebra-like barring on legs and shoulders, dark faces and brindled patterns

Temperament: 

  • The mentality of a Spanish Mustang is not the same as ‘domesticated’ horses. They have a desire to bond with humans and are affectionate, interactive, and eager to learn and communicate. Their innate sense of self-preservation traces back to their survival as feral horses. They are highly intelligent. As Emmett Brislawn said, “These horses’ll think. They’ll scare you they’ll think. They’re uncanny if you get around em and watch em and get to using em. These horses can think.”

Link for conformation of Spanish Barb: http://www.centerforamericasfirsthorse.org/spanish-barb-conformation.html 

Dave Reynolds shows what he feels are the most important things to look for to identify Spanish Mustang Type: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-du2LiS2Iw

Conformation and type: https://www.spanishbarb.com/type-conformation

SPANISH MUSTANGS – COLONIAL SPANISH HORSE STRAINS

“These are the historic horses who won the west: Mounts of Native Americans, Lewis and Clark, Mexican Banditos, the Pony Express and countless others who depended on their strong back and hardy nature. The original Nez Perce Appaloosa was a Spanish Mustang, and the Quarter Horse got his cow sense from this remarkable breed whose courage was born in the bullrings of Spain. The Spanish Mustang had lost none of this legendary brio; the Spanish horse left a legacy in the tough, beautiful and hardy descendant who now called America home. (“The Spanish Mustang- Horse Breed - Pony Breed - Horse Breeding ...”) They were now on the brink of extinction.”  -- Jane Greenwood, Secretary SMR

On his website Robert Painter stated Barb horses were war horses. “Originally the Barb was a war horse and as such needed stamina, endurance, and hardiness. It still has those traits and so is an excellent mountain and endurance horse. Its narrow body and short back enable it to turn quickly and maneuver narrow trails. (“Q&A.HTML - ruralnetwork.net”) This, combined with strong bones and tough feet result in a fine riding and pack animal, especially in rough or mountainous areas. It is athletic and has been used very successfully for cattle work. Its high equine intelligence tends it to many areas of accomplishment.” --- Robert Painter

Three iconic herds (Brislawn, Painter, Wilbur-Cruce) added up to approximately four hundred horses when those herds were disbursed, each one an important genetic resource, all connected to a particular family for a lifetime, two for multiple generations. We have an opportunity to be effective in preserving what remains so that these horses can be a part of the next generation of equestrians. Three thousand Colonial Spanish Horses are known to exist. They are classified as being a rare breed and having critical numbers to preserve the breed.

In the 1950s ranchers who had homesteaded large sections of land were still able to breed and raise horses and cattle. We’ve seen the expansive old horse ranches disappear one right after the other. The long-term drought has caused the prairies to fail to produce enough grass to support the herds in the same way people were able to a hundred years ago. Predictions for the future indicate more drought and foul weather for the old ways, as iconic and beautiful as they were. We can still save the strains and the breed. These horses are survivors, but these numbers are critical. 

STRAINS AND TYPES

GROUP 1

RANCH STRAINS

  • BACA

  • BELSKY

  • BOOK CLIFFS – MONTE AND SADIE HOLBROOK

  • BRISLAWN FAMILY - CAYUSE RANCH

  • CERBAT

  • MEDICINE SPRINGS – GILBERT JONES

  • PAINTER BARBS – LOUISE AND ROBERT PAINTER

  • ROMERO – MCKINLEY

  • SULPHUR

  • WILBUR - CRUCE

GROUP 2

MID-ATLANTIC STRAINS

  • CHINCOTEAGUE/ASSATOGUE

  • BANKER HORSES

  • COROLLA

  • OCRACOKE

  • SHACKLEFORD

  • RACHEL CARSON SITE

  • CAROLINA MARSH TACKY

  • CUMBERLAND ISLAND

  • FLORIDA CRACKER

GROUP 3

OTHER STRAINS IN THE US

  • GALICENO (US)

  • SPRRAIA (US)

  • KIGER

  • PRYOR MOUNTAIN

  • SANTA CRUZ ISLAND, CA

GROUP 4

NATIVE STRAINS

  • AMERICAN INDIAN HORSE

  • APACHE

  • ARAPAHO

  • ARICARA

  • BLACKFEET

  • CHEYENNE

  • CHICKASAW

  • CHOCTAW

  • COMANCHE

  • CROW

  • LAKOTA

  • NAKOTA

  • NAVAJO

  • NEZ PERCE

  • OJIBWE

  • PUEBLO

  • SHOSHONE

  • UTE

GROUP 5

STRAINS OUTSIDE US BORDERS

  • MEXICO

  • CANADA

  • CENTRAL AMERICA

  • SOUTH AMERICA

  • CARIBBEAN

  • GALICENO

  • PORTUGAL

  • SORRAIA

  • EUROPE

  • ELSEWHERE

MAPS, LINKS, AND READING LIST

MAP SHOWING LOCATIONS OF HERDS IN THE US

  • COMING SOON – MAP OF THE USA THAT WILL BE MARKED WITH HERD LOCATIONS

LINKS

READING LIST

  • Spanish Mustangs and Hard Times, 8-14-2014, Mable “Dipper” Brislawn

  • Spanish Mustang – Spanish Mustang North America; Breed Organization Information; SMR

  • The Way of an Irish Horseman; Neil UiBreaslain (Oh-Breeze-Lane) wrote Bob’s Biography

  • The Mustangs; J Frank Dobie

  • Santo Domingo; the Medicine Hat Pony; Margaurite Henry

  • A Beautiful, Cruel Country, (University of Arizona Press), written by Eva Wilbur-Cruce, the elderly granddaughter of the homesteader of this Ranch. (“The Wilbur-Cruce Horses | Spanish Barb Horses”)

RESOURCES

  • United States Census Reports

©2022 Connie Doughman