![]() ![]() By 1936, the English 'mustang' had been loaned back into Spanish as mustango. The OED states that the origin of mostrenco is "obscure" but notes the Portuguese: mostrengo is attested from the 15th century. The name of the Mesta derived ultimately from the Latin: mixta, lit.'mixed', referring to the common ownership of the guild's animals by multiple parties. Mesteño referred originally to beasts of uncertain ownership distributed by the powerful transhumant merino sheep ranchers' guild in medieval Spain, called the Mesta ( Honrado Concejo de la Mesta, 'Honorable Council of the Mesta'). Mostrenco was used since the 13th century, while mestengo is attested from the late 15th. Both words referred to livestock defined as 'wild, having no master'. English lexicographer John Minsheu glossed both words together as 'strayer' in his dictionary of 1599. ![]() Īccording to the Oxford English Dictionary ( OED), the English word mustang was likely borrowed from two essentially synonymous Spanish words, mestengo (or mesteño) and mostrenco. Additional debate centers on the question of whether mustangs-and horses in general-are a native species or an introduced invasive species in the lands they inhabit.Īlthough free-roaming Mustangs are called "wild" horses, they descend from feral domesticated horses. There are inadequate numbers of adopters, so many once free-roaming horses now live in temporary and long-term holding areas with concerns that the animals may be sold for horse meat. The most common method of population management used is rounding up excess population and offering them to adoption by private individuals. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).Ĭontroversy surrounds the sharing of land and resources by mustangs with the livestock of the ranching industry, and also with the methods by which the BLM manages their population numbers. The free-roaming horse population is managed and protected by the U.S. In 1971, the United States Congress recognized that "wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, which continue to contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people". Some free-roaming horses are relatively unchanged from the original Spanish stock, most strongly represented in the most isolated populations. The original mustangs were Colonial Spanish horses, but many other breeds and types of horses contributed to the modern mustang, now resulting in varying phenotypes. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once- domesticated animals, they are actually feral horses. The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. ![]()
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