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 WILD HEART MUSTANGS™
e-zine First Issue - January 2016 

FEATURE ARTICLES

In each issue of the Wild Heart Mustangs™  e-magazine , we'll bring you feature articles by staff or guest writers  that will help you learn more, and better understand, the wild mustang, mules and donkeys. For the launch of the e-zine, we bring you 2 articles by senior editor (and founder) Mary A. Lainhart. 
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FEATURE ARTICLES
by Mary A. Lainhart

A Short History of the
AMERICAN WILD MUSTANG

Spanish Conquistadors reached Mexico from 1518-1522, bringing with them Iberian horses (including the Sorraia) which were small, rugged, quick, sure-footed horses. Later the Spanish explored California (1532-1536) and Florida (1513, 1539-1542), each time bringing more of their treasured mounts. Some of the Spanish horses were released, some escaped and others were traded to Native Americans. These Iberian horses would become the original foundation stock of all American breed horses to follow - mustangs, pasos, morgan, American saddlebred and American quarter horse, to name a few. 

These photographs show some of the characteristics of the Sorraia horse that are still seen in mustangs today. Genetic testing also confirms the ancestry of American wild mustangs.
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Leg striping, also known as zebra stripes
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Dorsal Stripe
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Coloration and zebra stripes
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Illustration of the Sorraia horse
by Rose Thorn Stables
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The arrival of horses in North America
The Spanish enslaved the Native Americans.  These slaves and other workers learned about horses from working on the Spanish ranches. They learned equine skills such as breeding, training, riding, packing and care. Some slaves escaped, taking horses with them. Others had the skills to capture free roaming horses and trained them.  When used for trade, the horses spread to other tribes. 

Horses gained value as they opened new possibilities for Native Americans. They allowed men to hunt buffalo more productively than ever before, travel farther, and make devastating raids against other tribes. They relieved women of duties like lugging possessions from camp to camp. They tipped the balance, in population growth and territorial expansion, between hunting tribes and farming tribes, favoring the former. They also replaced the only previously domesticated animal in North America, the dog. Horses became prized as wealth. As such, they were stolen in raids, used for trading and captured in the wild.

By the 1600’s horses had spread northward via developing Spanish missions. After 1680, the Pueblo Indians forced the Spanish out of New Mexico. Many horses were left behind. The Pueblos took the abandoned horses and used them, raising large herds of horses as well as selling them and trading them to other tribes. They also taught other Indian tribes how to ride and raise horses. Horses began spreading across North America. But in the late 1830’s, the relative peace that Native Americans had enjoyed for centuries was shattered.

We’ll continue this story in the next chapter of History of the American Mustangs…


DONKEYS, BURROS, ASSES & MULES...
WHAT THE HECK IS THE DIFFERENCE?

With so many varieties, it’s all too easy to confuse a donkey with a burro, ass, mule, or horse. So what the heck is the difference?
 
DONKEYS
Equus asinus is the scientific name of the donkey, burro or ass. It is a domesticated member of the horse family, Equidae. The wild ancestor of the donkey is the African wild ass (Equus africanus asinus) which evolved to thrive on arid, scrubby land. The ass has been used as a working animal for at least 5000-6000 years. The terms donkey, burro and ass are just different names used to describe the same animal.

The American Donkey & Mule Society (ADMS) describes the donkey as follows:  “The equine family is comprised of donkeys, horses, zebras and mules. Donkeys, zebras and mules all differ somewhat from horses in confirmation. The most noticeable difference is of course the ears. Donkey’s ears are MUCH longer in proportion to their size than a horse’s. The necks are characteristically straighter in the long-ears (donkeys), and most donkeys and all zebras lack a true wither. The croup and rump are also a different shape in the donkey and its hybrids, lacking the double-curve muscle haunch. The back is straighter due to the lack of withers.” The bones of donkey are dense and hard.

The mane and tail in the donkey are coarse. The mane is stiff and upright, rarely laying over, and the tail is more like a cow’s, covered with short body hair for most of the length, and ending in a tasseled switch (broom tail). Donkeys do not have a true forelock, although sometimes the mane grows long enough to comb down between the ears toward the eyes. Because the mane is stiff and sometimes flyaway, many donkeys, and their hybrids wear their manes clipped short or shaved close to the neck.

Equus asinus hooves are narrow oval and upright, unlike the horse’s hoof. They’re upstanding, and made for rock and mountain climbing. They are tough and elastic, non-chipping and can grow to long lengths when the animal is on soft ground and the hooves are left untrimmed.

Long ears and unique vocal qualities are the most widely known characteristics of donkeys. The donkey’s voice is a raspy, brassy bray, the characteristic “Aw-EE, Aw-EE” sound.

Donkeys can be used just like horses under saddle and in harness. They also make wonderful guard animals – taking care of entire a herd of cattle, sheep or goats – the natural aversion to predators will inspire the donkey to severely discourage any canine attacks on the herd. 

Donkeys have a very strong inherent desire for self-preservation. They avoid putting themselves at risk or in harm’s way. Their abundance of common sense coupled with this self-preservation has been mistaken for centuries as stubbornness. When treated with patience, kindness and understanding, they are willing partners. If they are treated with force and abuse, they are not likely to comply with your wishes. Donkeys do not forget how they have been treated and by whom.  They’re more intelligent than horses; therefore, many times the training techniques for donkeys are different than those for horses.  
They also have a strong affinity for human interaction.

Donkeys characteristically get by on less food than a horse of similar size, and need a lower protein content in their feed.  Generally speaking, a mule or donkey can carry more weight than a horse because of their unique muscle structure.  Gestation is 12 months for a donkey, whereas the gestation period for a horse is 11 months.
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MULES - Josey (on the left) is a Quarter Horse Mule; Clover (on the right) is a Missouri Fox Trotter Mule
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Sweet Potato is a Welsh Cob Mule (6 mos old in this picture) whose sire was a Standard Jack Donkey (see photo above).
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Wild Burros - Custer National Park, SD
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Donkey
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Standard Jack Donkey
MULES
​
Mules are the hybrid cross of a male donkey (jack) and a female horse (mare). Meredith Hodges, (renowned trainer of donkey, mules, horses and other equine hybrids) describes mules as “most often demonstrating the best traits of each parent, he possesses what we call hybrid vigor. The mule inherits from the donkey his incredible strength, intelligence, patience, perseverance, endurance and surefootedness from the jack and his equine beauty, athletic ability and speed from the horse."

Hodges adds that the mule “has more endurance by far than the horse, and is more resistant to parasites and disease, requires less feed for good health, has tougher hooves than the horse, and an incredible sense of self-preservation that keeps them safe, and which is often mistaken for stubbornness.  The horse has a flight reflex when startled and the donkey has a freeze reflex; mules can exhibit both the freeze and flight reflexes depending on their own unique personalities and the situation at hand.”

Because mules are hybrids they are sterile. The donkey has 64 chromosomes, the horse 62.  The result is the mule which has 63 chromosomes and cannot reproduce.  Although there has been some extremely rare documentations of mules that have had offspring, this is not the norm.

Like the donkey, the mule also has a unique voice – which starts off as the donkey’s bray and ends with the horse's whinny.
 
Donkeys, mules, horses all come in a variety of sizes, from miniatures to mammoth. Likewise, they come in a variety of colors and markings. Donkeys, mules and horses should all be wormed, have veterinary care and farrier care for their well-being.


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Welsh Cob (like Sweet Potato's mother)

Do you have suggestions, questions, or resources to share?  We'd love to hear from you, so send us a message.
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