In the next bit I will be talking a lot about our mustang Salvalje (sal-val-hay; spanish for wild horse). He's approximately 2-3 years old, and was caught about a year ago from the Ghost area...
So far he's coming along very nicely with groundwork, loading, bathing, etc and I'm just getting to the good stuff: saddling, the bosal, and ultimately riding. Stay tuned.

Canada's Last Wild Horses

by R.M.Alison

Abstract:

Horses originally evolved in North
America, and proto-horses were present in Canada in Pleistocene times. About
8000 years ago, horses inexplicably vanished from the Americas, but not before
some had wandered to Asia via the Bering Land Bridge. Horse evolution continued
in Eurasia, and in the 1500's, Spaniards reintroduced Iberian barb descendents
to Mexico.

Escapees formed herds of wild horses
which, within 150 years, numbered in the millions, mostly Andaluz Spanish
Mustangs. By 1800, millions of these horses occurred in western Canada. Numbers
have declined acutely in the past decade.

Only about 200 remain in the wild at
present, down from 2000 two decades ago. Genetic testing shows direct Spanish
mustang ancestry.

Wild horses are unprotected by
Canadian provincial or federal law, and killing them is not illegal. Without
protection, survival seems doubtful. The gene pool is already at a critical
low. The few horses that remain are a vital genetic reservoir of a stock so
important in the legacy of

the Canadian West.

Key words: wild horses, Spanish
mustangs, declined acutely, genetic testing, protection

Introduction:

Horses originally evolved in North
America. Eocene eohippus forms occurred some 50 million years ago, a
fundamental 4-toed mammal from which all subsequent horses derived. Equus
caballus, the modern horse, evolved through orohippus, merychippus, hipparian
and other stages, and representation of some of these early stages are known to
have occurred in Canada as far north as the Yukon Territory dating to
Pleistocene times about 1.2 million years ago (Jopling et.al.1981), with
continuous occupation until at least 40,000 years ago (Harington 1977).
Palaentologists confirm the presence of Equuus species in Canada through the
Illinoin Glacial Stage (about 150,000 years ago), the Sangamon Interglacial (up
to 60,000 years ago) and throughout the Wisconsin Glacial Stage, which ended
about 10,000 years ago.

Preliminary evidence indicates
ancestral horses inexplicably went extinct in North America about 8,000 years
ago (Naylor,pers.comm.), and the most recent fossil Equus from Canada dates to
about 12,000 years ago (Harrington, pers. comm.). However, the compete
extirpation of ancestral horse stock in Canada has yet to be completely
confirmed and a bone found near

Sutherland, Saskatchewan, at the Riddell archaeological site suggests some horses
might have survived much later. The bone (Canadian Museum of Nature l-8581),
has been tentatively dated at about 2900 years ago. Another Equus sp. Bone,
found at Hemlock Park Farm, Frontenac County, Ontario, dates to about 900 years
ago. Exhaustive confirmation of both bones has yet to be completed, but if they
prove to be authentic, they comprise evidence that horses survived in

Canada into comparatively modern times.

Horse extinction in the Americas was
post-glacial and the main factor was horse overkill by early humans (Martin,
undated).

Pleistocene migration of ancestral
Equus stock from North America to Asia took place via the Bering Land Bridge
(op. cit.), and horse evolution ensued in Eurasia. Many domestic breeds
eventually took shape, one of which was the Spanish Andaluz mustang, derived
from Arabian-barb stock. In 1519, Spanish Conquistadors reintroduced horses to
the New World (Diaz,

1517-21). In addition the 15 mustangs brought by the Cortez Expedition, others were
imported from Spain by later Spanish homesteaders into Mexico and New Mexico.

Navajo raiders took mustangs from
Spanish colonists as early as 1606, and subsequent raiding and trading among
Natives resulted in widespread distribution. Horse culture pushed onto the
Great Plains via Commanche, Pawnee and Dakota herds. A Rocky Mountain presence
carried from Paiutes, Shoshonis and Crows to Blood and Blackfeet. In addition,
escapee mustangs thrived, and large free-ranging herds developed. By 1800,
there were several million wild mustangs in North America, about two million of
which occurred in Canada (Howlett, pers.comm.)

Anecdotal accounts confirm a
chronology for the penetration and establishment of resident herds of wild
horses in Canada. According to Alexander Henry (1809), by 1776 Assiniboines occupying
southern Manitoba and Saskatchewan had amassed large herds of mustangs which
were pastured untethered and unconfined on the prairie.

About 1790, Blackfeet, Bloods and
Piegans occupying southern Alberta are thought to have acquired mustangs from
the Shoshoni of the Colunbia River basin (Thompson 1850) through raiding. By
1809, extensive herds of wild horses occurred in the Kootenays, and local natives
regularly captured and domesticated some of them (op.cit.)

Thereafter, wild horses played a
dominant role in the evolution of Plains Indian cultures. Wild free-ranging
herds persisted, augmented by escapees from Native herds. Contemporary reports
suggest that wild horses were more plentiful than bison in Canada in much of
the 19th Century.

Spanish Andaluz Mustangs:

Colonial Spanish Andaluz mustangs
were comparatively small and rugged, weighing between 700 and 800 pounds.
Straight to concave foreheads are typical head features, and the nose is
convex. narrow deep chests predominate, and body muscling is long and tapering.
Pare individuals have five or six lumbar vertebrae, a good way to distinguish
these from other breeds

(Brislawn 1968).

Spanish mustangs come in a variety of
colours including black, bay, brown, chestnut, dun, buckskin, palomino, cream
and pinto (including tobiano, overo and calico types).

The Spanish Andaluz mustang is now
extinct in Spain, but its Iberian features have survived in Spanish colonial
horses which predominate in wild horse herds. Pure descendents therefore comprise
a genetic relic, a direct remnant of Conquistador times.

Most of Canada's surviving free-ranging
wild horses have never been scientifically scrutinized, but DNA testing of
several mustangs captured from wild horse herds in Alberta show genetic
patterns confirming direct descendance from ancestral Spanish mustang stock
(Howlett, pers.comm.). The so-called "Spanish mustang trail" from
Mexico terminated on the Canadian Prairies, and ancestors of Andaluz origin
presumably made their way to Canada as migrant wild horses, or as animals
traded among Native tribes. Although so far it is not possible to confirm all
current wild horses in western Canada have pure Andaluz ancestry, the fact that
some do is clear and irrefutable evidence that they are not merely escaped
domestics, but horses that predate European homesteading in the Canadian West.

The Iberian DNA pattern also occurs
in wild horses in Utah and Oregon.

Out of an estimated two million wild
horses in Canada in the 19th Century, only about 2000 remained by the 1970's.
Current population is approximately 200. About 100 occur in the Siffleur
Wilderness Area near Sundre in southern Alberta, fewer than 70 in the Chilcotin
Mountains, and a much smaller total number at other sites in Alberta, the
locations of which are kept secret to protect the horses (Howlett, pers.comm.)

Human greed foredoomed Canada's wild
horses. Although they were not systematically destroyed by any government
policy to hobble Plains Indians, as was ruthlessly perpetrated in the United
States, horses in Canada were rounded up for slaughter for use in the pet food
industry, fetched $400.-$500., and the resulting economic incentive was
compelling.

Government sponsored wild horse
roundups took place until 1976, when the practice was terminated. By then, only
trivial remnant numbers remained on the open range. Apart from those killed for
pet food, others were destroyed as nuisances or for bear bait. Some were shot
for sport. Wild horses encountered on private land are still unprotected by any
federal or provincial law.

A similar pattern of collapse in wild
horse populations took place in the United States, where numbers fell from more
than two million in 1900 to fewer than 15,000 at present.

In 1971, the United States put into
place Public Law 92-195, which protects wild horses from "capture,
branding, harassment, or death" because they "contribute to the
diversity of life forms." There is no comparable Canadian legislation,
federally nor provincially. A private members' bill to protect wild horses in
the 1970's was so dramatically amended that it failed utterly to help
free-ranging stock.

Wild horses in Canada are considered
escaped domestic animals, not wildlife. They are not contemplated for
protection under Canada's Species at Risk Act, and wildlife officials in
Alberta and British Columbia refuse to identify them as wildlife meriting protection
under various wildlife conservation laws. Their stigmatization as feral
escapees from farms and ranches, although of dubious foundation, robs them of
specific protection.

At the 100,000 acre Siffleur
Wilderness Area, public access is controlled by the Alberta governemnt. Natural
boundaries tend to confine wild horses to home ranges, and so long as they
remain in the wilderness area, they are comparatively safe, except from poaching.
But, those that wander outside have no protection whatsoever.

It has been estimated there are only
about 3,000 wild horses of Spanish mustang ancestry in North America, perhaps 100
in Canada (Howlett, pers.comm.). The Canadian population is especially
vulnerable owing to the smallness of its gene pool, scarcely sufficient to
ensure future viability. Any additional losses bear corresponding genetic
risks.

Discussion and Conclusions:

The original ancestors of all modern
horses arose and underwent preliminary evolution in North America. Although the
physical characteristics of the earliest Equus species might have been
dramatically different from those of Equus caballus, the fact remains that the
main lineage originated on the North American continent. Horses are therefore
indisputably native fauna, despite a multiplicity genotypic variations.

That Equus ancestors eventually died
out in North America (although as-yet unconfirmed evidence disprove that
hypothesis) does not obliterate their North American origin. Nor does subsequent
evolution elsewhere over a period of perhaps 8000 years make them
non-indigenous.

The precise mechanism by which
Canada's wild horses arrived and established themselves has yet to be determined.
Some might have penetrated into Canada by natural range expansion of free-ranging
mustangs from herds of wild horses in the United States. Others might be feral
escapees from Native horse herds gleaned from wild stock, or trading or
raiding, acquired from

Natives in the United States.

Some could have derived from stock
other than Spanish mustangs, larger animals brought to western Canada,
especially British Block Horses, intended for use on farms and ranches.

Inherent timidness of Canada's
surviving free-ranging wild horses, and preliminary genetic testing of some
individuals from wild herds, confirms these animals do not derive from escaped
domestic Block farm/ranch stock. Their shy behaviour is consistent with a long
history of sustained freedom, perhaps living in a wild state for several
hundred years. The term `feral' applies only insofar as to reflect a free-ranging
life subsequent to a preliminary period in captivity that is likely to have
dated to Spanish colonial times almost 500 years ago.

Genetic patterns in wild mustangs
from free-ranging Canadian herds confirm direct Iberian descent from an
historic bloodline long-since extinct in Europe. These animals therefore comprise
an important genetic reservoir of horse population critical to the Plains
Indian cultures, and is significant element of faunal biodiversity in the
Canadian West. It would seem

imprudent and disagreeable to allow the genotype to disappear through inadequate
protective strategies. Federal/Provincial remedial action should intercede
before the gene pool in Canada declines beyond an irretrievably low extreme.
Preservation of representative individual mustangs of pure ancestry in captivity
is not a suitable alternative to conservation of free-ranging animals.

An umbrella of protective legislation
in Canada aims to protect species whose numbers have fallen to levels as
critically low as is the case for wild mustangs. So far, governments have opted
for radical expedient of refusing to designate wild horses as `wildlife', owing
to a presumption of recent escape from captivity, a premise that fails under
close scrutiny.

Much inconsistency permeates Canadian
wildlife protection laws. Mute swans, which are not native to North America,
and occur in the wild as a result of recent escapes from captivity, are fully
protected under migratory Birds Convention Act and its regulations. So are
Canada geese raised in captivity and subsequently released into the wild, such
as the nucleic resident Canada goose population in southern Ontario. Many
upland game-bird species, including ring-necked pheasants and wild turkeys,
raised in captivity and later released into the wild are protected by
provincial law. Clearly, the circumstance of previous captivity does not
necessarily prelude classification as `wildlife'. In light of these prominent
examples, classification of Canada's wild mustangs as escaped domestic not
meriting wildlife status seems unwarranted and unjustifiable. Such a debatable
and delusive attitude on the parts of wildlife management officials deprives
free-ranging mustangs of protection vital to their survival.

It is recommended that these
mustangs, so pivotal in the heritage of the Canadian West, are a national
treasure and ought to be fully protected accordingly.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank Bruce Naylor,
Director of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaentology at Drumheller, Alberta and
Richard Harington, Curator of Quaternary Zoology Emeritus at the Canadian
Museum of Nature for their constructive comments on Equus occurrences in
Canada. Remarks by Steve Howlett, a wild Mustang specialist at Dugald, Manitoba
provided important

historical perspective.

Literature Cited:

Brislawn, R. 1968. Skeletal structure
of the Spanish Mustang

The Spanish mustang news. April-June

Diaz, B. 1521. The discovery and
conquest of Mexico A.P. Maudslay trans. Farrar, Straus, Cudahy,

New York.

Harington, R. 1977. Pleistocene
mammals of the Yukon

Territory. Ph.D Thesis University of

Alberta, Edmonton. 1060 pp.

Henry, A 1809. Travels and adventures
in Canada and the

Indian territories between the years 1760 and 1776. Repr. Hurtig, Edmonton,
1969. 347 pp.

Jopling, A.V., W.N. Irving and B.F.
Beebe. 1981. Stratigraphic, sedimentological and faunal

evidence for the occurrence of pre-Sangemonian artefacts in Northern Yukon.
Arctic 34(1): 3-33.

Martin, P. Nature of extinction and
causes. In pleistocene

ecology and biography of North America 200 geography. C.L. Nubbs (Ed.),

Washington. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Publication

51.

Thompson, D. 1850. David Thompson's
travels in western North

America, 1784-1812. V.G. Hopwood (Ed.). Macmillian, Toronto, 1971.

So you think you can Dance? My personal interactions with Jericho the Stallion

So we were just taking a quick drive up the trunk road from our house, just to see if there was any mustangs, elk or especially bears out scavenging through the campgrounds which were littered with garbage, spent shells & cartridges, and freshly used campfire sites. Imagine my surprise when this large stud was around the corner, literally just inside the park boundary!

He was very agitated, and very aggressive, coming at me to show me he means business. We went back and forth for about 20 minutes, until he relaxed to graze and I continued on my way after getting a couple great shots of his mares & yearling.

Ever get the feeling that you're being watched?

We were able to find a couple different mini-herds of 2-3 horses. Including this one grazing at the gravel pits...

ON THE RUN!!!

There was a huge difference in the horses' attitude towards me this time...they were extremely flighty and it was very very hard to gain their trust. Based on this and the fact that the herds had been broken into very small mini-herds, I am deducting that they endured a lot of harassment and chasing over the last couple weekends but ATV and OHV users that think its fun to chase and antagonize them. With all of the spent shells and cartridges in the many campsites and also in the gravel pits and staging areas, I worry that they were more than chased.

The Youth are Our Future

I lucked out and came upon a small familiar herd, and lo and behold the big mare had finally popped!

This beautiful baby was very curious and willing to approach, and gave me some wonderful shots. She was happily bouncing around, driving her brothers and sisters crazy with her antics.

Some from the wintertime, up by Ya ha Tinda...lol they were exploring one of the equestrian campsites...

A couple more pictures of my favorite herd.

I watched a documentary on Animal Planet tonight about these wild horses (the same ones!), and had to literally laugh out loud when Sustainable Resource Development had the gall to claim that there are more than 2000 of them.

I would estimate the number to be closer to 200.

More Pictures

Some more pictures, going from newest to oldest. I haven't been out there for almost two weeks. The area is notoriously busy over the long weekends with Off Highway Vehicles, ATVs, and random campers, and they all pass directly by my house on their way out to abuse the pristine wilderness.

I wondered all weekend if the horses were able to stay safely away from these intruders and their vehicles....

Here's some of my pictures from the last 8-9 months.... Yes, I do get that close... I just have a simple little digital camera, no telephoto lenses.

In fact, I can get so close that I often have to back up in order to get the picture :)

What will it take?

What will it take for the Government to recognize these horses as a legitimate breed/species of wild animal?

They share significant DNA & mitDNA links to other Iberian (Spanish) Mustangs found and recognized in different parts of North America. They obviously have a breed type.

Ok, so suppose some ranch or group of people released several thousand Spanish Horses a hundred years ago.... (even though you and I know they've been there for much longer, but lets just give the government the benefit of a doubt)

Doesn't the fact that they have survived and ADAPTED TO OUR NATURAL WILD LANDS AND ECOSYSTEMS WITH THE REST OF THE WILDLIFE earn them a spot among the deer, bears and elk? ELK, WHO WERE ALSO INTRODUCED AND ALLOWED TO ADAPT AND NATURALIZE INTO OUR ENVIRONMENT?

I have no time for those who argue that they bully the deer, elk, etc out of grazing and their natural ecosystems. I have yet to see a skinny or starving elk, deer, or moose out there among the "Wildies"...hmmm maybe its because they stick together and the horses help to protect them from hunters by alerting them and keeping them with the herd and away from danger.

I have come within 5-10 feet of a couple different herds and individual wild horses and have yet to experience a serious charge where I feet fearful for my life. They are prey animals and not predators, so I will not entertain anecdotes of studs attacking kids or people on ATVs.

I don't have any problem with a controlled humane capture, in which the horse is caught very young and branded so that it is unable to be sold as a meat horse. If some one is interested in training a mustang and experiencing one for themselves then I would count that as a +1 for public relations for the mustangs.

But these majestic animals have survived on their own devices for this long, and should not be caught just to be eaten or used as target practice or bear bait.

What's next? The Bald Eagle?

There was once another large prey animal that roamed free, which the government refused to protect. And now in order to see a "wild buffalo" you have to go to a show or wildlife park.

First Things First

Now, right off the bat.

One of the biggest controversies that arise from the discussion of wild horses in Alberta is the the validity of the term "wild".

Alberta SRD (Sustainable Resource Development), Fish & Wildlife, and the other aspects of the government that are asked to comment or begrudgingly answer questions surrounding their origins, care and future will deny, deny, deny the horses heritage and historical significance. They simply pass them off as stray livestock who either escaped or was dumped off in the wilderness to fend for themselves.

What a sad comment on the province's lack of pride in their heritage and history.

First of all, take a look at this herd:

Do they look like a mixed group of breeds?

They are all the same size. They are all the same colour type.

They all have the same physical characteristics.

I can recognize a Mustang whether domesticated or wild as easily as any Arabian, Tennessee Walking Horse, Morgan or Clydesdale.

They are a specific BREED of horse because they have a uniform genetic type. Yes, they probably are descended from a mixture of multiple breeds, but over a period that spans hundreds of years just like other breeds of horses.

I contend that the process of breed development was probably the most thorough and efficient of any horse breed in existance, based simply on the premise that if a generation or individual was weak, unhealthy, or otherwise unfit, it wouldn't survive to breed and contribute to the genetic pool.

DNA testing of caught mustangs show a largely significant amount of Spanish Mustang blood, in the same capacity of those horses caught in the BLM Mustang Program in the USA. While it is true that many horses of different breeds may have some spanish mustang blood, they do not have the same amount and type as the mustangs caught in North America.

So if Mustangs aren't a Breed, Can somebody please tell me what Breed these horses are?

Welcome

Welcome. This blog is dedicated to the discussion, research and otherwise note-comparison and reflection in regards to the wild horses of Alberta.

I decided to start blogging after amassing a huge amount of photos and data in the last year, and this seemed the most viable platform in which to share it.

Enjoy.