The California Vaquero Horse Association

What organization outside of the CVHA has given support and credibility to these horses and the information provided by the CVHA?

 

The California Vaquero Horse Association is working with the Equus Survival Trust (EST) in documenting bloodlines and recording our studbook with them to ensure the preservation of this historic breed. The EST has placed the breed under study, which means the breed will be under scrutiny on how they breed, their history, genetics and phenotype. The EST has a very tough vetting process, but due to our extensive documentation, we are confident that the EST will recognize them as the historic Old Spanish breed of California. 

 

 

 

Are California Vaquero Horses, Spanish mustangs since they were found in the wild and have Spanish phenotype?

 

Spanish mustang is an old term to refer to feral Andalusians about over 100 years ago. The term has no place in modern society as some herds, like in California have been purposely eradicated, while others like in Nevada have been mixed and become true mustangs in the sense that they're very mixed with differing breeds brought to North America and you can't say for certain what is back there. And while some horses randomly come with more Spanish influence than others, this doesn't make them a feral Andalusian that the term, Spanish mustang used to indicate. Spanish Mustang (notice the capitalization of the 'M'), is a breed name that was developed by the Brislawn family, starting in the 1940's.

 

What are Spanish Mustangs?

 

The Spanish Mustang is a breed of horse created from crossing many different groups of US and Mexican horses that were believed to be of Spanish type. The registry for the Spanish Mustang was created in 1957 and is called the Spanish Mustang Registry (SMR). A great deal of the stock that created the Spanish Mustang was selected from Indian tribes in the United States as well as Mexico. The Indian tribes had a variety of types of horses due to acquiring stock not just from Spaniards, but from all sorts of breeds of horses that the Europeans had brought over. While the Spanish Mustang is considered by the Livestock Conservancy to be a colonial Spanish horse breed, it is also appropriately called the American Indian Pony due to their strong cultural background of its ancestors being bred by Native American tribes. The Spanish Mustang differs in temperament as well as history, genetics, movement, color and type from the California Vaquero Horse. 

 

 

Are there still Spanish horses found up on the Mountain Home Range?

 

On occasion, horses are seen coming out of the range that are of type, but these are usually much older horses that were born during the late 1990's to early 2000's when there were still plenty of Spanish horses out on the range. Typically, the Spanish horses will be caught from the North East section of the Sulphur Springs HMA as this is where the Mountain Home Range is and is where the Spanish herds were found and known about prior to BLM involvement. After BLM involvement in the Spanish herd after it was discovered, other herds not reported by locals began to appear in the North East section of the HMA, most notably in the very late 1990's and especially the 2000's. Therefore, it is generally considered that the wild stock is mostly non-CVH due to the mixed and non-Spanish phenotype being seen to dominate the horses that are being rounded up (regardless of color). One has to remember that the Sulphur HMA was never created with the knowledge by the BLM that there were Spanish horses on a section of the range that they later called the Sulphur Springs HMA. It is also not the BLM's job to ensure historic populations of horses survive and to protect them. The BLM has one job and that is to maintain allotted numbers of horses on the range and to adopt out wild horses. Thus, it is imperative that historic and Spanish horse enthusiasts and owners come together for the preservation of this breed as the BLM will not be doing it. However, we will be announcing Sulphur HMA gathers and adoptions along with promoting specific individuals that appear to be of the classic Spanish type that use to be found in the hundreds out on the Mountain Home Range. These types of horses will be examined and placed in our appendix studbook. Depending on how they and their descendants produce up to four generations; the horses including the originally appendix horse may be moved to the official studbook.  

 

I heard that these horses came from the Mountain Home Range that is located within the Sulphur Springs HMA, why don't you use one of those names when referring to these horses instead?

 

There are three different groups on the Sulphur Springs HMA and all three differ from each other. One group has a lot of draft influence and the other is mixed with other breeds. The group that was found up on the Mountain Home Range in the 1970's by the BLM (formerly a local secret) was found to not only physically look different from the other two groups, but were also found to be genetically different according to a genetic analysis done by Dr. Cothran in 1997. This group was found to be relatively uniform in type and color. The guess at the time was that the are likely Spanish horses, which the 1997 study confirmed this. That is why most refer to them as the Spanish-type Sulphur horse or just simply Sulphur horses. However, in order to differentiate the Spanish-type Sulphur from those other Sulphur herds, it was found to be imperative to come up with a historically accurate name that describes this breed without being offensive to other owners of non-Spanish and mixed Spanish Sulphur horses. The reason being is that if a horse is caught on the Sulphur HMA, then one has every right to call that horse a Sulphur horse regardless of phenotype and genetics. It is thus inappropriate and even offensive to tell someone who has a mustang caught from the Sulphur HMA that they cannot call their Sulphur Mustang, a Sulphur Mustang. The California Vaquero horse was chosen as the name for this breed as it describes the heritage and culture of these horses that had been preserved up on the Mountain Home Range along with respecting their genetics and type without disparaging the mustangs that are also found on the Sulphur HMA.

 

What discipline are they best in?

 

These horses were bred by the Spanish of California to basically do any kind of sport one could think of while sitting on a horse. Mainly, the were cattle horses which included bull fighting. However, the more adventurous Californian was also known to use this breed to rope the California Grizzly Bear! Today, modern riders would be pleased to use them in sports such as endurance, dressage, cattle work, reining, working equitation, and of course, a very enthusiastic trail partner. 

 

What is the average price for a purebred California Vaquero Horse?

 

The price of these horses depends on where you are located, but many times foals will sell upwards of $8,000 - $12,000 USD depending on the quality of the foal. Broodmares that are older may be acquired for cheaper and might be a good way for a new person that would like to get involved with this breed in preserving them to start off with. If you are very fortunate, keep an eye out for BLM gathers of the Mountain Home Range and you might be able to get an older wild Spanish horse for a very reasonable price.

 

 

Are these horses a strain of the Colonial Spanish Horse/Spanish Barb/Spanish Mustang/Indian pony breed?

 

While our historical Spanish California horses have certainly influenced many breeds, they are in themselves an independent breed (though very rare) and not to be confused as being a strain of another as this will only help to confirm their extinction. The unique history, genetics, distinguishing conformation traits, movement, and temperament separate this breed from other American horses that claim to have Spanish ancestry. To put it plainly, you won't get a California Vaquero Horse by buying a Spanish Mustang/Spanish Barb/Colonial Spanish horse/Indian pony. To learn more about the California Vaquero Horse, we encourage anyone to read the history of the horses on this website or email the CVHA for even more detailed specifics.

 

Being that the ancestors of the CVH are from Andalusia, Spain, why don't you call them Andalusians?

 

The Andalusian (PRE) is a breed of horse that has a different history than the CVH. The PRE began to be developed with a Spanish horse base but with also select other breeds that eventually formed the baroque type Andalusian. The PRE differs in temperament, phenotype and breed influence from the CVH. While they both started from the same stock in Andalusia, distance and breeding practices made them different breeds.​