#the exact origin of mustangs (spanish? native american? cowboy/settler? modern? all of them?) is beyond the scope of this post

[caesarsaladinn]

I've been posting a lot about mustangs lately, but I realize I never defined the term:

a mustang is a member of a landrace horse breed that lives on federally protected land in the American West. they're often called "wild horses," but they're technically feral; they're descended from animals that escaped from captivity over the generations, and while they're pretty genetically diverse, on the whole they tend to be medium-sized, smart, and hardy. with few natural predators, these feral horses are overpopulated by the tens of thousands, so to protect the land, the government occasionally rounds some of them up and auctions them off to private owners.

they start at $125 a head, which is absurdly low for a horse--the only catch is that 1) they've never been checked by a vet, so you don't know what problems they might be harboring, and 2) they've never been handled by humans, so you have to put in a lot of work to make them friendly and rideable. most of them have the potential to become great horses, especially for western-style riding, but you never quite know what you're adopting. a guy I know bought a stunning black horse for $400 (a steal!!), but even after six months of training, it's so skittish that he can barely touch it. maybe six more months will fix that, and maybe not. that's the gamble.

among farmers and horse enthusiasts, mustangs are fairly polarizing, because some people see them as pests who ruin their grazing land, while others see them as a symbol of the west, the cowboy, and the wild frontier spirit, who deserve to be kept wild and free. to be clear, they're "wildlife" in the same way that a feral cat is "wildlife," but, well, it's a debate nevertheless.

the best part is, they're auctioned online! you can browse some of the available horses here.