Description of the Mustang Horse

On the territory of America and Eurasia, you can meet an animal, with only one look at which associations are born on the theme of freedom, wildness and rampant. We think about all this when we have a Mustang horse in front of us. Wild horses Mustangs combine beauty and power. It is believed that such a horse is a descendant of a thoroughbred horse from France and Spain.

breed

Mustang

Difference from domestic horses

Mustangs are wild horses, they are strikingly different from domestic horses, although in appearance they have common features with their predecessors. French and Spanish blood mixed while walking migration process, there were meetings with both ponies and heavy horse horses This suggests that the horses passed through strict natural selection, as a result of which wild Mustangs have far more than one breed advantage today. One of the main ones is that they are much faster than domestic equids. Due to this quality, Mustang horses can easily and quickly leave from predators, which are full of in the wild, as well as from hunters that they are being killed. The ancestors of the heavy trucks presented another clear advantage: these horses are very hardy and strong.

If you list the qualities of Mustang horses that make them different from domestic horses, it will be as follows:

• strength;
• stamina;
• speed;
• picky;
• strong immunity.

All these features could only appear as a result of natural selection.

But every phenomenon has two sides: this horse has obvious shortcomings, including unbridledness and love of freedom rebellion. Mustang, unlike a domestic horse, will not take on any rider. He will submit only to the one who will win his respect. But if the rider managed to arouse love for himself, the handsome prairie will serve him faithfully to the grave. Legends go about fidelity and loyalty of this breed.

External characteristics

Despite their power and speed, the horses of Mutanga are not very large. Wild horses are more likely to be in the middle weight category: up to 400 kg or even less. Growth at the withers is also not very high: only 1.5 m. The bone is not heavy. Just because of such a graceful build, wild American horses are capable of developing tremendous speed.

Speaking of color, it is most often piebald, red or bay. A little less likely to meet a black Mustang horse. The quality factor of these beautiful horses is conveyed even by the photo. In wild conditions, a black and white mustang is found in pairs, which looks very beautiful.

This breed lives in a herd. The family cell of the Mustang horses necessarily has an alpha male and a main female. The main male performs protective functions in the pack, he protects the herd from enemy attacks as long as necessary, costs his death.He is strong, and he has to prove it in every battle. The alpha male is not the youngest male in the herd. As a rule, he is at least 6 years old. By this age, the horse already has enough skills and life experience, which allows to qualitatively protect the herd. All other horses in the pack obey the older male.

If the main male is absent, then the main female takes over the reins. Its purpose is to divert young horses from a dangerous situation. Interestingly, the alpha female is not necessarily the strongest in the herd. There is no competition among horses in the herd. Life experience and fertility are much more appreciated than strength in an alpha female.

If a herd is in a dangerous situation, the herd can line up with a square shape: it forms a circle in the center of which is a female with foals. The horses withstand the perimeter of such a defensive position, they turn to the enemies with croup. Thus, they still have the opportunity to use their hind hooves, which, with the right blows, bring the enemy a guaranteed death.

What Mustangs eat

The Mustang wild horses menu consists mainly of grass and shrubs. I must say that in the diet this breed is not picky. The places where they live usually do not differ in the diversity of vegetation; there are also very few sources of water there.

Any representative of the Mustang wild horse breed can walk a decent amount of time to get to a source of water and food. Such horses are accustomed to do without food for several days.

How to breed

Mustangs mating period is spring and the very beginning of summer. Males by this time look after themselves the best females. In order for the horse to get into the mating just the horse that he looked after himself, he has to fight with other males. Such competitions can be very fierce. As a result, only the strongest horses gain access to the fertilization of the largest number of females. Such breeding dictates natural selection in the wild prairies of the west, which leads to the fact that the genes of horses are only improving.

Pregnancy in horses lasts 11 months. After this period of time, usually one foal is born. It happens that two are born, but this is rare An exception: In addition, if there are two babies, their immunity is usually weaker, which means they have less chance of survival. the horse’s birth begins, it leaves the herd, specifically looking for a safe place.

A foal is born defenseless and weak in the wild, in this he is similar to domestic foals. But as soon as he was born, in front of him there is an important task: to reach the udder, that is, to the source of milk, and for this he needs to gather strength and stand on his feet. Mother feed the foal for 6 months.

Content at home is problematic, because by the nature of these wild horses can not stand unfreedom, they are used to exist in nature. May attempt to return to the wild.

So, the Mustang breed is a variety of beautiful, freedom-loving and strong horses living in the wild, and therefore requiring isolation.