Horse

HORSE

HORSE. The horse in America dates at least from the single-hoofed Equus caballus that emerged in Pleistocene times, about 1 million years ago. Ancestors of the modern horse began a westward migration from North America across the land bridge between the north coast of Alaska and that of Siberia. Some paleontologists suspect that the horse disappeared in America not more than, and possibly less than, 10,000 years ago.

The horse was reintroduced into the Western Hemisphere with the voyages of discovery by Christopher Columbus for Spain at the end of the fifteenth century. These Spanish steeds, derived from Moorish stock, first landed in the Caribbean in November 1493. The Spanish horses acclimated rapidly and within twenty years formed the chief supply for the Spanish mainland expeditions. Other European explorers brought horses to eastern and western parts of the New World in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. English colonists imported European horses. In the British colonies as a whole, horses were valued for riding, hunting, and racing.

The adoption of the horse by Native Americans, after the initial impact, increased rapidly and proved a major implement of change for the nomadic Plains tribes. By 1660, Indians had learned the value of horses and had begun to use them. During the next forty years the horse spread into the plains and mountains with great rapidity. In 1805 and 1806 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark noted the use of horses by Indians. With horses, the Kiowa ranged more than 1,000 miles in a summer. Some eastern forest tribes, once partially agricultural, moved out into the grassland with acquired horses and turned to hunting. The equestrian tribes were often at war with one another and raided white settlements to steal more horses.

Horses were crucial for transportation and inland migration prior to the development of the railroad. Extractive industries, manufacturers, and city distributive systems were all dependent on horsepower. The stagecoach was the first inland interregional utility, and the post rider opened communication with outlying settlements. Horses drew canal boats and railcars and served hunters, trappers, and miners. Cow horses carried cowboys on long cattle drives, herding livestock. The night horse was used to stand guard. Cavalry mounts and supply teams were adjuncts of military organizations and campaigning on every front. Approximately 1,500,000 horses and mules died during the Civil War (1861–1865).

The twentieth-century revolution worked by the internal combustion engine resulted in a displacement of horses for power and transportation. Tractor-drawn corn planters could plant an average of seventy acres of corn, compared to a horse-drawn average of only sixteen acres. From about 26 million farm horses and mules in the United States in 1920, the number declined to slightly more than 3 million horses and mules on farms in 1960.

American Breeds

American horse breeders carefully selected breeding stock and monitored pedigrees in an attempt to cultivate desired characteristics. Sometimes especially swift or capable horses were produced by chance. Superb horses were occasionally discovered and of unknown parentage. These animals were retained as studs or broodmares in the hopes that their talents or physical attributes would be transmitted to offspring. As a result, breeds unique to the United States were developed, especially in the twentieth century, to meet performance needs. Breed associations were formed to preserve genetic records and promote specific types of horses.

The American Quarter Horse is the first horse breed distinctive to the United States. Descended from a mixture of American breeds and imported bloodstock during the colonial period, Quarter Horses are exceptionally sturdy, muscular, versatile, and fast. They accompanied Americans from Atlantic colonies to the western frontier, where they were valued for their cow sense. Cattlemen, including those at the famous King Ranch in Kingsville, Texas, developed outstanding lines of Quarter Horses. One of the King Ranch Quarter Horses, Wimpy, was named grand champion stallion at the 1941 Fort Worth Exposition. The American Quarter Horse Association, founded in 1940, assigned Wimpy its first registration number, and he became a leading foundation sire. Quarter Horses fill many roles. The All-American Futurity at Ruidoso Downs, New Mexico, distributes a $2 million purse to Quarter Horses that sprint 440 yards. The American Quarter Horse Heritage Center and Museum at Amarillo, Texas, preserves this breed's history.

Justin Morgan's horse Figure, foaled in Massachusetts in 1793, founded a line notable not only for speed but also for light draft. Rhode Island developed one of the most distinctive and noted types of the period in the Narragansett pacer, a fast, easy-gaited saddle horse, but one not suited for driving or draft purposes. The stylishly moving American Saddlebred represents a mixture of Narragansett Pacer, Arabian, Standardbred, and Thoroughbred ancestors. Established in 1891, The American Saddle Horse Breeder's Association (later renamed American Saddlebred Horse Association) was the first American breed association, and Denmark was designated the main foundation sire.

Tennessee Walking Horses represent a conglomeration of breeds which produced a gaited horse that is renowned for its running walk. This breed is based on the line of foundation sire Allan F-1. The Racking Horse has a comfortable, natural four-beat gait which southern planters valued. Ozark settlers bred the Missouri Fox Trotter, which had a sliding gait that eased travel in hilly areas.

Most modern Appaloosas are related to the horses bred by the Nez Perce Indians. These spotted horses often

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also have Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred, and Arabian ancestry. Joker B. and Colida were two of the Appaloosa Horse Club's outstanding foundation stallions after that association was formed in 1938. The Pony of the Americas (POA) was created by crossing an Appaloosa mare and a Shetland pony stallion. The resulting foal, Black Hand, became the POA foundation sire, establishing a breed especially for children to ride and show.

The American Cream Draft Horse is the sole draft breed created in the United States. Representatives of this breed are descended from a pink-skinned, cream-colored Iowa mare named Old Granny. After mechanization resulted in the slaughter of many draft horses, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy cited the American Cream Draft Horse as an endangered breed.

Horse Culture

By the beginning of the twenty-first century, 6.9 million horses were living in the United States and were used by 1.9 million horse owners for recreational or commercial purposes. Approximately one-half of American horses are kept for their owners to enjoy and ride for pleasure. About one-third of horses are used primarily for shows and competitions. An estimated 725,000 horses race or are used as broodmares and studs on racehorse farms. Slightly more than one million horses fill working roles such as agricultural laborers and police mounts. Others are used as rodeo stock or for polo teams.

Although horses are found throughout the United States, Kentucky's Bluegrass region is specifically identified with equines. The center of American horse racing activity, Kentucky is home to major racing stables and tracks. The Kentucky Horse Park and the International Museum of the Horse were established at Lexington, Kentucky, in 1978 to educate people about horses and to host significant equine-related artistic, cultural, and sporting events. This thousand-acre site includes the Hall of Champions and the grave of the famous racehorse Man o' War. The museum is the world's largest equestrian museum and examines the history of human-horse interactions, providing online access to exhibits via the Internet. The daily Parade of Breeds highlights representatives of distinctive American horse breeds.

Pony, 4-H, and local riding clubs offer opportunities for equestrians to learn about horses. Riders barrel race at rodeos. Equestrians also compete at such prestigious events as the National Horse Show, held annually at Madison Square Garden in New York since 1883. Members of the United States Equestrian Team participate in international equestrian sporting events including the Olympics.

Legislation and Statistics

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was organized in 1866 to protest horse abuse. During the late nineteenth century, George T. Angell established similar humane groups in Massachusetts to protect horses. Congress passed the Horse Protection Act (HPA) in 1970, then amended it in 1976 with further revisions in 1983 to provide legal measures to prevent abusive treatment of horses. Specifically, the HPA forbids people from soring horses. This procedure involves application of stimulants, such as chemical pastes or sharp chains, to make a horse step higher or perform more spectacularly than normal in order to win competitions or earn higher prices at sales. After receiving training and being licensed by a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)–approved horse agency, a Designated Qualified Person (DQP) monitors horses at shows and auctions to inspect, detect, and bar any animals that have been sored.

The HPA declares that soring of horses for exhibitions or sales as well as the interstate transportation of sored animals to horse shows is prohibited. People convicted of soring horses are usually prevented from participating in future shows and sales for a specific time period, occasionally being disqualified for life, fined as much as $5,000, and sometimes sentenced to as much as a two-year prison term. State and local governments often prosecute people for committing acts that violate regional animal welfare legislation.

In 1996, the American Horse Council Foundation, created in 1969, commissioned a study to evaluate how the horse industry impacts the U.S. economy. The study determined that the American horse industry contributes annually $25.3 billion of goods and services to the national economy and pays taxes totaling $1.9 billion. The horse industry provides more income to the gross domestic product than such significant industries as furniture and tobacco manufacturing, motion picture production, and railroad transportation.

Throughout the United States, breeding, training, and boarding stables, horse show arenas, racetracks, and auction barns hire workers for various tasks, ranging from grooms and stable hands to jockeys and stable managers. At least 7.1 million people participate in some aspect of the horse industry. More Americans are employed by the horse industry than work in media broadcasting, railroad, or tobacco, coal, and petroleum manufacturing positions. Millions more are active as spectators at equine events.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

American Horse Council Home page at: http://www.horsecouncil.org/

American Quarter Horse Association. Home page at http://www.aqha.com.

Appaloosa Horse Club. Home page at http://www.appaloosa.com.

Kentucky Horse Park and the International Museum of the Horse. Home page at http://www.imh.org.

Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders' and Exhibitors' Association. Home page at http://www.twhbea.com.

Cypher, John. Bob Kleberg and the King Ranch: A Worldwide Sea of Grass. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1995.

Denhardt, Robert M. The Quarter Running Horse: America's Oldest Breed. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979.

Edwards, Elwyn Hartley. The Encyclopedia of the Horse. Photography by Bob Langrish and Kit Houghton. Foreword by Sharon Ralls Lemon. London and New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1994.

Gray, Bob. Great Horses of the Past. Houston: Cordovan Corp., 1967.

Hillenbrand, Laura. Seabiscuit: An American Legend. New York: Random House, 2001.

Horse Industry Directory. Washington, D.C.: Published annually by the American Horse Council in cooperation with American Horse Publications, 1976–.

Mellin, Jeanne. The Complete Morgan Horse. Lexington, Mass.: S. Greene Press, 1986.

Ward, Kathleen Rauschl. The American Horse: From Conquistadors to the 21st Century. Belleville, Mich.: Maple Yard Publications, 1991.

Zeh, Lucy. Etched in Stone: Thoroughbred Memorials. Lexington, Ky.: Blood-Horse, 2000.

Tom Fulton

Elizabeth D. Schafer

See also Horse Racing and Showing ; Indians and the Horse ; Mule ; Mustangs ; Pony Express ; Rodeos .