Colonial Spanish Horse

Colonial Spanish Horse

File:Wild Spanish Colonial Mustangs.jpg Banker horses, a well-known Colonial Spanish Horse

Equus ferus caballus

The Colonial Spanish horse is the name for a group of horse breeds descended from the original Iberian horse stock brought from Spain to the Americas. The ancestral type from which these horses descend was known as the jennet or the Barb. The term encompasses many strains or breeds now found primarily in North America. The status of the Colonial Spanish Horse is considered threatened. The horses are registered by several entities.

The Colonial Spanish Horse is not to be confused with the modern Spanish Mustang, a breed derived from the first concerted effort of Colonial Spanish Horses in the United States to preserve a number of threatened breeds. Colonial Spanish Horse type and DNA exist in some Mustangs, but there has been considerable crossbreeding in many of the feral horse herds. For that reason, the true Spanish type is rare in feral herds. But where such animals have been found, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other agencies attempt to blood-type and preserve them.

Small groups of horses of Colonial Spanish Horse type have been located in various groups of ranch-bred, mission, and Native American horses, mostly among those in private ownership.

Modern horses

The wide array of horses considered to be near-pure descendants of original Spanish stock carry a variety of names. Though many are described as horse breeds, genecists debate whether some of the North American horses are separate breeds or multiple strains of a single large breed. They include the following:

• North America:
  • Spanish Mustang
  • Galiceno (Mexico)
• Mustangs considered to be Colonial Spanish strains:
  • Kiger Mustang
  • Pryor Mountain Mustang
  • Sulphur Mustang
  • Cerbat Mustang
• Other USA horses proposed to have direct Colonial Spanish influence:
  • Banker horse (eastern USA, Corolla and Shackleford Islands)
  • Carolina Marsh Tacky
  • Chickasaw horse
  • Choctaw horse
  • Chincoteague pony (Assateague horse) - dubious, but widely asserted
  • Florida Cracker Horse
  • Gila Bend Mustang
  • Wilbur-Cruce Mission horse
  • Santa-Cruz Island Horses
• Caribbean, Central America, South America:
  • Abaco Barb
  • Argentine Criollo
  • Brazilian Criollo
  • Campolina
  • Chilean Criollo
  • Chilote
  • Mangalarga
  • Mangalarga Marchador
  • Pantaneiro
  • Paso Fino
  • Peruvian Paso
  • Venezuelan Spanish

DNA analysis has been used to identify horses of Spanish type. One of the lead researchers in this area has been Dr. Gus Cothran of Texas A&M University. Some breeders and horse associations use it to trace the connections among the breeds, but preservation programs urge caution, noting that some horses of Spanish type may not carry the expected Iberian blood types. Conversely, some horses that lack Spanish type, such as certain strains of the American Quarter Horse, may have DNA markers but not the proper phenotype. For that reason, DNA data is used in conjunction with an analysis of Spanish phenotype.