The Mustang Horse

When asked if he could name the most significant animal on the American continent, Frank Hopkins, arguably the greatest horseman and winner of over 400 endurance rides ranging from 50 miles to over 3,000 miles, all on mustangs, replied: "The Mustang is the most significant animal in America. " Many would have to agree.
The Mustang was responsible for settling the West. Small in stature, big in heart, this little horse carried explorers through unchartered territory most times carrying a quarter of their weight on their backs.
Frank Hopkins, who participated in more endurance races than any other man in history spending over 60 years in the saddle, said that the Mustang has the qualities to make the ideal saddle horse. What are these qualities?
Well, first he said endurance. The mustang can keep going day in and day out. Frank quoted General George Cook: " ... if troops can't overtake a band of Indians in two hours, its better to give up the chase because they'll never in this green world catch them. Those wiry ponies of theirs can go ninety miles without food or water. They wear out all the cavalry horses we have on the frontier.
The second quality he listed was intelligence. "You can't beat Mustang intelligence in the entire equine race." The Mustang has had to fend for itself for generations. No body was going to look after them so they had to figure out how to survive and that took superior intelligence. The ones who are here survived through the evolutionary process of the survival of the fittest.
The third quality he mentions is economy. The Mustang can live where a stall fed animal would starve. The Mustang has learned how to pick his own food from the country and can live where a cow would starve. A Mustang knows how to take such good care of himself that he is always ready to go.
When Frank was listing qualities that made the Mustang superior to other horses, he failed to mention their feet. It is well know that due to the years they spend traveling 10-25 miles a day in the high desert country and the mountainous terrain, they have developed very tough hoof walls and soles. Terrain that would cause a domestic horse to pull up lame, hardly is noticed by the Mustang.
So why are so many people intent on destroying this exceptional horse? It is a long and complicated story that we will touch on in our next posting