Category

Mustang

Present in North America in prehistoric times, the horse was reintroduced to the New World in the early 1500s by Spanish explorers and missionaries. Many escaped or were released to the wild, notably in the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, and became feral, with some of these herds finding their way to south Texas and elsewhere. As farmers, ranchers and other settled the state, the open range ended, and the Texas mustangs were tamed or driven to railheads and slaughterhouses.

Interviews

Narrator: Ben MastersTitle: History and BloodlinesDuration: 00:03:07Date: October 22, 2021Ben Masters is an Austin-based adventurer, author, and filmmaker who has focused on natural resource and wildlife stories. The life and use, protection and management of the mustang is one of his interests, as told in the book and documentary titled "Unbranded." Here he describes the rise and fall of the mustang in Texas.Narrator: Dave PhilippsTitle: An American SymbolDuration: 00:05:04Date: January 26, 2022Dave Philipps, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the New York Times, is also the author of "Wild Horse Country: The History, Myth and Future of the Mustang." Here he tells about the origins of the mustang and its place in the West, American culture, and U.S. federal law.