Colonial Spanish Horses

Wow - I'm new here, and realize this is an old thread but as someone who has in the past and does own many various breeds of horses,
Quarter horses
Paints
Appaloosas
Standardbreds
Hackneys
Arabians
Belgians
Percherons
Half - friesians
BLM mustangs
Chincoteague ponies
Halflingers
Paso Finos
Saddlebreds
Numerous Grades and who knows what they really are's

And Spanish Mustangs

I am going to say this -- yes there are good horses in all breeds, and there are bad horses in all breeds (though most of the "bad" is due to lack of or mishandling) and what constitutes a good horse depends on what you are going to do with it.

But, I must say, Spanish Mustangs, in general do really have better feet than horses of most other breeds. I know a farrier personally who bought a spanish mustang because she started trimming for an SM breeder and was AMAZED at the difference in the feet.

And, my SM mare, can go all winter without work and get pulled out the pasture and go for a 14 mile ride with horses that have been worked some and be less winded and stressed, hardly even sweated up than the other horses. I have seen this firsthand. I have had some horses of other breeds that where tough also, a couple arabians, and lots of the halfingers also. But, my SM is a lot smoother riding than any of the arabs or the halfingers.

As for proof, I will post some below here

Anasazi,SMR#1313. Rojo, and Viento's sire. He was shown H/J, Dressage, however his real forte was Eventing! He qualified for the Northwest regional Junior Event Championship. There were 5oo entries and he finished 5th place in his division! He received Show Horse of the year twice, has his Conquistador of show. And he competed in Washington, Montana and California, all in large open shows! (Information sent to me by his owner, Anne-Marie Pinter)

In 2004 Geronimo's Warrior, owned and ridden by Don Funk, and bred on the Cayuse, WY, won the Jim Jones Stallion award for the 5th year running, and logged his 10000th mile with the AERC.

Chief Yellow Fox
Owned and Ridden by Kim Kingsley
Endurance Racing
1989 winnings include :
MNDRA Grand Champion Hwt. Endurance
UMECRA Grand Champion Hwt. Endurance
UMECRA High Mile Endurance Horse (1200 miles)
UMECRA High Point Endurance Horse and Stallion
AERC Midwest Region Hwt. Grand Champion
AERC Midwest Region Overall Grand Champion
AERC 2000 Mile Award Recipient
AERC Jim Jones Award Winner (1500 miles)
AERC Top Ten National Senior Mileage (1500 miles)
AERC Top Ten National 100 Miler Award
Kim wrote this about Chief Yellow Fox:
"Fox and I traveled to five different regions of the AERC to ride seven 100 milers, ten 50 milers but due to rider error, we did not finish them. All of this riding took place in six months and two weeks. Fox carried 247 pounds the entire season."
"We ended up Top Ten is six of the 100 milers and three of the 50 milers. One cannot forget that in order to get all these rides Fox had to be trailered about 15,000 miles, and trailering takes its toll after awhile."

Moon Spots
Owned and Ridden by Kim Kingsley
Endurance Racing
1988 winnings include :
UMECRA Competitive Rookie of the Year
UMESRA Top Ten Competitive Lwt.
UMECRA Competitive High Point Stallion
UMECRA 4th place Competitive Horse (700 miles)

(from the SSMA website below)
Golden War Star returned to win the 9
Miles, ridden by Josh Carlile of Hugo. He place in the AERC 50 mile and
The next day, won the 50 mile SSMA race. How is that for a test? Two 50
Milers back to back. A great record for Golden War Star and Gary Don
Stewart, but most of all for the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association

One month from the October 1986 race, anther opportunity came along
To prove the ability and stamina of these big hearted little horses. On
November 15, outside Catoosa, Oklahoma near Tulsa, a 17 mile race was
To be run. With a poster and monetary help from Dr. John Gray of Tulsa

( a prominent and aggressive Mustang breeder) and encouragement
From Gilbert Jones. My dad and brother in law, Earnest Carlile, we
Entered three horses in this race.

What kinds, breeds, and types of horses would enter a race for $7400.00
In prize money, a trip to Las Vegas and one to Hawaii? I'll tell you:
Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, Arabians, Appaloosas, Crossbreds, and
Spanish Mustangs. Our Mustangs were Gunsmoke, Bandito's Gold and
The half blood Dumpling. Also the #1 race horse in the Arabian Breed
Association was there. He was owned by Willie Nelson of Illinois and
Finished in 8th place with a time of 55 minutes and 16 seconds.

I have to mention a number of running Quarter Horse people were in
The race also and got to see first hand the ability of a Spanish Mustang.
Needless to say they were dumbfounded when we won the total $7400.00.

Josh's time on "Dumpling" was 47 minutes 15 seconds. Eddie's time on
Bandito's Gold was 52 minutes 55 seconds and Clifford's time on
Gunsmoke was 54 minutes and 28 seconds. Keep in mind these horses
Ran 50 and 100 miles one month earlier in 2 hours 46 minutes and 15
Hours and 47 minutes respectively. They were sound at the end of both
Races, running hard and could have traveled more miles (this fact was
Admitted by several of our competitors).

There is more that I will post later.

The tale of Mal de Ojo and Indio Blanco. In the early 1970s, two young adventurers named Nathan and Elly Foote started out of Argentina with the intention of riding across North and South America on their Argentine Criollos, a breed closely related to the Spanish mustang. Unfortunately at the Texas border two of their horses died in quarantine due to a faulty drug administered by the USDA. It might have been the end of the journey, but Gilbert Jones, a Spanish mustang breeder from Oklahoma stepped up and offer them two of his horses, Mal de Ojo and Indio Blanco. Right away the mustangs proved themselves to be as tough and loyal as the horses that they had lost, carrying their new owners from the Rio Grande all the way to Alaska. Elly Foote said that these tough adventurers spent their last years in the green pastures of Burns Lake, British Columbia, Canada. No doubt a well-earned reward.

Martha Grisham and Cholla Bay certainly racked up the miles between 1988 and 1991. The AERC listed them as completing 2,920 miles in 56 rides. That’s almost 1000 miles for three years running. Another AERC team of note is Dutch Pete and Steve Huffman. Together they have competed successfully in numerous 100 milers and came in between 13 and 14 hours in the 1990 Tallahala Marathon. The next year they placed 7th nationally in a series of endurance rides. The AERC lists them as accumulating 2,030 miles between 1988 and 2001.

In 1996, a tough black mare named Liona, owned by Karma Farms and Victoria E. Speir, was a national NATRC champion in Region IV, the first Spanish Mustang so honored. She was also 5th in the national in the open heavy weight division. This mare currently has well over 1000 NATRC competition miles.

Emmett Brislawn, son of the founder of the Spanish Mustang Registry, entered his 16 year old stallion, Yellow Fox (SMR 3) in the Bitterroot Ride in 1966. Coming out of retirement where he had spent the past years on the Cayuse Ranch with his herd of mares, this Cheyenne bred buckskin stallion won championships for Heavyweight, All Around Horse and Best Out of State Horse, carrying over 200 pounds.

Anne-Marie Pinter of California, on her gelding Montana, competed in and finished the Tevis twice, once when he was 11, once when he was 19.

Choctaw Cowboy
South Dakota State 2002 Team Penning Horse of the Year (this was competing against a lot of high dollar QH's)

That is very interesting, and I enjoyed it allot.

The bit about Chotaw Cowboy winning is very cool, In horse of the horse contest, I always think part of it how good the rider is in the compation, their retalationship and several other factors. But, it is still a great story.