Horses In The United States Of America

America is a land like no other, and the land for beautiful horses, Wild, Thoroughbred, and Purebred horses. It is estimated that there are about 9.2 million horses in the United States, and 4.6 million people are in the horse trade. There are another 82,000 wild horses roaming the countryside’s of the Wild West Plains of America. It is mentioned that there were horses in America a very long time ago, but became extinct somewhere around 8,000 to 12,000 years ago. The animals were re-homed back in America by the Spanish, when they set foot on the soils of America. The Spaniards brought these horses with them, and from then onwards horses were back on American soil for good. These domesticated horses were introduced to America during the time of the Spanish conquest and some horses escaped and spread throughout the American Plains. When Christopher Columbus came to America on his second voyage, in 1493 he brought with him Spanish horses representing E.Caballus (meaning horse) and were brought back to North America, in the Virgin Islands, They were reintroduced in the continent of Mexico, from there these horses spread all over the countryside.

In later years European settlers brought in lots of horses to America. At first they shipped in small horses suited for small types of work, trade, and loading etc. In the 19th century however, larger breeds were imported and brought in and by the 1880’s thousands of horses, as well as man and beast had landed in America. Horse Racing started somewhere around 1665 when a Horse Race Course was opened in Sailisbury New York. There are many theories and stories as to how or when Native American people obtained horses from the Spanish. Anyway Native Americans lacked the skills of riding horses or how to manage them, and had to learn the necessary skills and knowhow of the horse business before they could claim ownership to them. The horse trade slowly spread to the North from New Mexico. After that horses became an integral part of the Native Americans. The Indian Plains had them and kept them as a source of wealth and income and used them for hunting, travel and war.

Then in the 19th century horses were used freely for many jobs. They were used to herd cattle on the West side and were ridden by cow boys. They lived in large ranches on cattle drives. In towns and cities horses were used to pull the carriages where people travelled from town to town or to travel to other distant places. Horses were also used in farming, to haul freight. Horses in those days were more useful and powerful than machinery. At times too many horses were used and maltreated, so because of this, in 1866 the ASPCA inaugurated its first establishment for the protection of these animals. In the 19th century the Standard Bred Breed of Harness Racing Horse was born in the United States where many thoroughbred horse races were established. In the beginning of the 20th century the US established the Department of Agriculture to preserve American breed horses and to breed and establish horses for military and agricultural purposes. After World War I there was more machinery and mechanical transportation resulting in the horses going into the back bender. Then again in 1960 the horse numbers skyrocketed when horses were used for recreational purposes.

The United States and Russia had the most horses in the world in 1912. America was the 2nd highest number in horses breeding there were about 20 million horses in 1915 in the US. However in 1959 this number dropped to 4.5 million. It rose again in 1968 to 7 million horses used for riding. In 2005 it was estimated to be about 9 million horses. Today there are horses and more horses to be seen everywhere introduced to the Americans by Europeans. It is believed that horses were there in America long before human beings.