The Constant Need For Education

I am very pleased with my vet. She is exceedingly intelligent and a great diagnostician. I am in no way criticizing her when I use her as an illustration. It is just that she is the perfect illustration of how little the public, and even equine professionals, know about Spanish mustangs.

Yesterday she was out taking a look at Ice, the 1/2 Spanish mustang colt shown above. In discussing his conformation she mentioned that he was narrow in the front end. I explained that that is an important trait in Colonial Spanish Horses. The narrow chest is part of the package that gives these horses their tremendous endurance. On countless occasions I have had to explain that,"No, the Corollas are not lame. They are gaited in a gait that few have ever seen." One Spanish mustang breeder was advised that his horses have neurological damage and joint problems. They had neither. The vet had simply never been exposed to horses that have the flexibility and range of joint motion that is regularly found in Spanish mustangs.

Unfortunately, many Spanish mustang owners do not fully understand what the natural appearance of these horses is. These horses are "spine high." A flat backed mustang is too heavy in most cases and a gutter backed mustang is likely to be very seriously over weight, regardless of what the body condition scale, which works fine for modern breeds, indicates. No, the hips are not too thin. "Rafter Hips" are another important part of the package that produces horses that have machine like endurance. No, that rounded muzzle does not "make him look like an old cartoon nag." That ram's head nose is one of the typical profiles found among pure Spanish horses.

All of this would be only a minor irritant were it not for but one thing. The efforts to preserve the various strains of Colonial Spanish horses are in the hands of a very few breeders, supporters and promoters of these great horses. Every time a mustang breeder tries to "improve" these horses we risk loosing the traits that make these horses worth saving. The saddest part is that when people speak of improving the horses, in reality, they mean to change a feature so that it more resembles a modern breed.

If one likes modern breeds then that is what one should get. One can obtain a quarter horse very cheaply these days. They have been bred and improved to the point that they are prized in slaughter houses around the world.