A package containing the hair samples from eleven Alberta wild horses was mailed to the University of Texas, Equine Genetics Lab on March 4th, 2007. The samples included six of the horses that had been shot earlier this year and five live colts. The colts were the four featured in the last blog and Wyley, WHOAS rescued colt. Due to the fact that all the wild horses west of Sundre look remarkably the same as a Spanish mustang, we believe they are one of the same. Their features include the roman nose, or Iberian head, their height is around 14 hands with the muscular build and weight is around 800 - 900 lbs. Included in a mustangs descriptive features includes an unusually long mane and tail, color patterns such as black, bay, chestnut and dun with some buckskins, palimino’s, roans and a few paints. A primitive dorsal stripe is often found down their backs (see the picture of the mare that was shot with the two foals, she has a dorsal stripe). If these horses were mere mongrels of the equine species then they would come in all different shapes, sizes, colors and features, would they not? Interestingly though some American Mustangs that have been genetically tested have bloodlines that include a few breeds of domestic horses, yet they do not deprive their mustangs of protection because of this, unlike Alberta. Conversely though, many domestic North American horses include Spanish Mustang bloodlines, not the other way around, an example of this is the prized Quarter Horse whom has the mustang in his gene pool, as do many other North American created breeds. Which breed came first? The mustang. Furthermore, American mustangs enjoy legal protection and so does the Sable Island Horses which inhabit a small island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Prime Minister John Diefenbaker passed a law in 1961 which allowed the wild horses to remain there unmanaged not interfered with and unharassed. They are still protected today. The Sable Island Horses are comprised of many different breeds, as their ancestors were abandoned on the tiny island a few hundred years ago. It will be interesting to find out the results of the DNA testing of the Alberta Wild Horses near Sundre. Some wild horses in the Brittany Triangle in British Columiba have also been tested and found to be of Mustang descent. Two wild horses of the Lloyminister Alberta/Saskatchewan in the Bronson Forest have been found to have bloodlines dating back to the days of the conquestador. I will attach pictures of a Sundre area wild horse, one from Bronson Forest, and another from Nordegg, Alberta. It’s not all that easy to tell them apart. I will locate and post pictures of the Sable Island and the Brittany Triangle horses at a later date, along with a photo of a domestic North American horse for comparison as well. It will take several months before we get the DNA test results back but when we do, we will post the report on this site, ASAP.

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These two framed photo’s to the left are of Bronson Forest Wild Horses of Lloydminister, Alberta/Saskatchewan, courteousy of Ray Sproull.

This photo below is of Nordegg Alberta Wild Horses sent in by Darren Smolski of Kilam, AB

 

The horses from the Nordegg area are probably the same type of mustang as the ones in the Sundre area, as they are in the same general locale.  Their height and weight and physical characteristics appear simular.   

Whereas the Bronson Forest wild horses are around 12 hands high and six hundred pounds.  They are approximately the size of  a Welch pony.  Their terrain includes heavy brush which makes it much easier to get around in with their smaller size.  It would be difficult for a larger horse to get through and survive in theses particular conditions.  Hence they have evolved to survive in their surroundings.  Â

Posted by Doreen on Sunday, April 8th, 2007 at 7:31 pm.