Cherokee Spanish Mustangs
If you are looking for information on Cherokee Spanish Mustangs, there is a long history behind the Spanish Mustang horses. First of all, the Spanish brought this horse to the North American Continent many years ago when they first came upon the continent for exploration in the 15 and 1600’s. After having introduced the Spanish Mustang to the North American Indians, the horse bred at a rapid pace throughout the United States. The Cherokee Spanish Mustang is also known as the sturdy and iron-willed horse that transported the Cherokee across the trail of tears during the Indian Removal from the Eastern part of the United States to Oklahoma.
Many years ago, five tribes of American Indians began a breeding program that enhanced the strength and endurance of this well-known breed of horse, and today experts continue to breed the Native American Indian Pony, which is historically known to have been bred by the five tribes, the Choctaw, the Cree, the Seminole, the Chickasaw, and the Cherokee, keeping them from becoming extinct. All five breeds are all represented in Oklahoma, and the Cherokee Spanish Mustang was interbred with larger horses by the Army after the Cherokee were transported across country to Oklahoma on the horse. Therefore, the Cherokee Spanish Mustang is considered, through this interbreeding process, to be a wild horse.
In the 1970’s, there were approximately 1000 of the Cherokee Spanish Mustangs, or American Indian Pony, due to the near extinction of the original Colonial Spanish Mustang during the American Indian War, and now, at the present time, there are only around 100 of the Cherokee Spanish Mustangs still alive.
