The Wild Horses of the West: Legends on the Hoof

Wild Mustangs in Wyoming

The Wild West conjures up images of dusty trails, sprawling plains, and of course, wild horses galloping freely across the horizon. These iconic animals are more than just symbols of freedom and untamed spirit—they have deep roots in American history and culture.

Origins: From Escapees to Icons

Contrary to popular belief, horses are not native to North America. They originated here millions of years ago but went extinct around 10,000 years ago. It wasn’t until the early 1500s that horses returned to the continent, brought over by Spanish explorers like Hernán Cortés. Some horses escaped or were released, and over time, they formed free-roaming herds across the Great Plains, deserts, and mountainous regions.

These feral descendants of domesticated horses came to be known as mustangs—a term derived from the Spanish word mesteño, meaning "stray" or "ownerless." By the 18th and 19th centuries, mustangs had spread across vast areas of the western U.S., from Texas to Nevada.
Work and Partnership

Wild horses weren’t just admired from afar—they became central to the lives of Native American tribes, cowboys, ranchers, and settlers. Tribes such as the Comanche quickly became expert horsemen, using them for hunting, travel, and warfare. Horses revolutionized life for many Plains tribes, granting them unmatched mobility.

During the heyday of the cowboy in the 1800s, horses were indispensable. They were used for cattle drives, farming, transport, and even mail delivery through the Pony Express. A well-trained horse was as valuable as gold, and bonds between rider and steed were often deep and lifelong.

Care and Challenges

While wild horses thrived in open landscapes, domesticated horses required care. Cowboys and ranchers provided feed, clean water, shoeing, and shelter. Caring for a horse also meant regular grooming, vet care, and ensuring the animal wasn’t overworked.

In the wild, mustangs had to fend for themselves, facing predators, drought, and competition for food. Today, their numbers are managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), as overpopulation can threaten both the horses and the delicate ecosystems they roam.

Legends and Folklore

Comanche, with saddle and bridle, held by a soldier.
Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The West is rich with horse legends. One of the most famous horses in folklore is Comanche, the horse of Captain Myles Keogh of the 7th Cavalry. After the battle in 1876, Comanche was found gravely wounded but alive—one of the few survivors from Custer’s detachment. He was taken in and nursed back to health by the U.S. Army. Comanche was given full military honors and lived out the rest of his days at Fort Riley, Kansas. He received exceptional care and never carried a rider again.

After his death in 1891, Comanche’s remains were preserved through taxidermy. Today, you can see him on display at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum in Lawrence, Kansas. His mounted form is carefully maintained as a historical artifact, housed in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment to ensure his preservation. The exhibit includes information about his life, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and his unique place in American military and equine history.

Roy Rogers and Trigger in a publicity photo.
Public domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Trigger, the golden palomino of cowboy actor Roy Rogers, achieved the status of movie star in his own right. Trigger appeared in films and performed tricks that dazzled his audiences.

Then there’s the ghostly tale of the Phantom Stallion, a recurring motif in Western lore that embodies the mystery and majesty of the Wild West. This legendary horse is said to roam the wide-open ranges alone, a beautiful, powerful creature with a coat as white as snow or as black as night—depending on the version told. Elusive and wild-eyed, the Phantom Stallion is rarely seen for more than a fleeting moment, vanishing like mist before anyone can get close. Ranchers, cowboys, and travelers speak of catching glimpses of him on moonlit ridges or across distant valleys, always just out of reach.

In many versions of the tale, the Phantom isn’t just a wild horse but the living embodiment of freedom itself. To some, spotting the stallion is a sign of good fortune, while others see him as an omen or a reminder that not all things can be tamed. The story has inspired countless books, songs, and even a popular young adult series, The Phantom Stallion by Terri Farley, which blends the myth with modern-day mustang advocacy.

The legend persists because it captures something timeless--the untamed spirit of the Wild West.

Final Thoughts

Listen carefully, and you will hear the echo of hoofbeats as the wild horses of the West run forward through time. They remain living legacies of America's past.

Over to You

Do you know of any other legendary horses of the Wild West? If you've seen wild horses, what did you experience?

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. 

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt and the books she writes.

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Frank T. Hopkins - A Legend

I recently watched the movie Hidalgo again. It’s a very entertaining movie filmed in 2004 about an American cowboy and long-distance rider competing in a 3,000 mile race in Arabia. Loads of fun, and the credits say it’s based on the life of Frank T. Hopkins.

Frank T. Hopkins

So, I decided to share a bit about the movie and the man with HHH readers. And that’s when I opened a huge can of worms. Some folks claim that Frank T. Hopkins made up a lot of his exploits, including the 400 long-distance races he competed in as well as the race in Arabia, called the “Ocean of Fire”.

I have nothing new to bring to that argument, and that’s not what I want to blog about today. Based on first-hand accounts of people who knew Hopkins, I’m leaning toward a bit more fact than fiction, though.

But as far as the movie itself, the screenwriter, John Fusco, said he took liberties with the writings of Frank T. Hopkins and his wife, Gertrude.

Fusco said, “As the screenwriter of “Hidalgo,” perhaps I am much to blame for the questions surrounding Hopkins’ memory and possible “Little Big Man” embellishments. I took what was a very banal, saddle-tech account of Hopkins’ own desert memories of 1891 and turned them into an action-adventure celebration of a story that has long fascinated me. Today, some critics actually believe that Hopkins himself dreamed up bandit ambuscades, hunting leopards, daring rescues, a three second victory margin, and the dramatic name of the race: the Ocean of Fire. He did not. I did. Movies are entertainment and I obviously heightened the “Based On” story to create an entertaining theatrical film. 3,000 miles is a long ride without some rising conflict.”

As I read through the accounts of Hopkins life and the supposed lack of proof of his exploits, I can also see why long-distance races weren’t documented in the 1800s. Extreme long-distance endurance races were on the down-low back in the late 1800s-early 1900s because of the possibility and/or perceived inhumane treatment of horses.

Possibly endurance races were fairly common, but also were more apt to be participated in by common rough-and-ready horsemen and women. It wasn’t a rich man’s sport with deep pockets so didn’t get top billing in newspapers either.

Organized endurance riding as a formal sport began in 1955, when Wendell Robie and a group of equestrians rode from the Lake Tahoe area across the Sierra Nevada Range to Auburn in under 24 hours. This event is known as the Tevis Cup.

Those who participate in endurance riding are dedicated horsemen and they strive to take good care of their horses. Every care is taken to ensure the welfare of the animals, from resting checkpoints, veterinarians, and proper equipment.

But as with any sport where money is involved, there have been complaints of abuse in some of the endurance organizations, especially the international groups.

Back to Mr. Hopkins.

According to the official Frank T. Hopkins website, he was born in Fort Laramie, WY shortly after the Civil War to an army scout and the daughter of a Sioux chief. He was a quiet man who knew his horses, knew how to train them, actually partnered with his horses, and preferred Mustangs over any other breed. He conditioned his horses to be prepared to travel up to 50 miles a day, and if they were still game at that point, he knew he had a horse fit for endurance rides.

He started races slowly, letting his horse become accustomed to the trail. Then as the race continued, he and his horse increased their daily miles to overtake the leaders.

Fact or fiction, tall tale or not, Frank Hopkins was a notable figure in the history of the Mustang and the movie Hidalgo pays tribute to the man and the horse.

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MUSTANGS — Horses of the Old West

By Laurie Kingery

Hello again, readers of the Christian Fiction Historical Society blog! I have a book out this month, HILL COUNTRY CATTLEMAN, published by Love Inspired Historicals. Horses figured prominently in its plot, since my hero, Raleigh Masterson, is a cowboy who rode a blue roan stallion, and its heroine, Violet Brookfield, and English aristocrat, foxhunted (or "rode to hounds) back in England and was loaned a pinto mare by the hero to ride while she visited in Texas.

                                                                         

So horses of the Old West seemed like a good topic to explore for this month's blog. Of course, there isn't room to cover all the horses that appeared in the "Old West," but the two most frequent types that would be encountered were the mustang.

Horses were unknown in the Americas until the coming of the Spanish explorers such as Cortez. Inevitably, some of the horses got loose and began to gather in herds and to breed in the wild, and became known as mestengos, derived from the Spanish word mesteño, meaning "stray livestock animal." 

                                                                   

--By Lynne Gerard (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons--

The Plains Indians that we think of as such great horsemen were afoot until they saw how the Spanish put them to many uses, and they lost no time in stealing them from the Spanish or capturing many of those who ran loose. They first used them to replace dogs as pullers of travois, a platform or net supported by trailing poles, which could transport their belongings as well as children and the elderly. It wasn't long before they learned to ride horses into battle and in buffalo hunts, and became the feared warriors that we remember today. 

                                                         

Mustangs are usually compact, strong boned and hardy, which made them valuable to westerners in need of horses. Herds were often captured and those fit for riding were "broken" to saddle—often by riding them until they'd gotten the bucking out of their systems, even if it meant repeatedly re-mounting horses that had just thrown their riders. The wise horseman, of course, gentled a horse gradually and kindly, but many of the cowboys' horses were only "green-broke" at best and had to buck a little before they settled down to the job at hand—cutting cattle, driving cattle to market, chasing down strays, and so forth. 

                                                              

The modern mustang no longer has the genetic makeup of the Iberian horse. Other breeds have intermingled with it, either by getting loose or by deliberate attempts by ranchers to refine the feral horse. The American Mustang Association (AMA) was formed in 1962 in San Diego, California to preserve & document the pedigrees of American Mustang horses. Horses are registered to meet certain standards & measurements in the hopes of preserving the characteristics of the original Spanish bloodlines. The breed standard states that the horse can be any color although more traditional Spanish horse coloring is valued including roan, dun and buckskin. It is a wild animal, tending to be stubborn, high-spirited, and full of vigor.

                                                                    

 --By Mcgregorranch at en.wikipedia [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons--

In modern times, mustangs were used as a resource by the military or captured for use as food, especially dog food, or poisoned and shot from helicopters, because some ranchers felt their free-roaming ways damaged crops or decreased grazing available to domestic animals. "Mustanging" was graphically shown in the John Huston movie, "The Misfits," starring the late Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe.

Fortunately, the mustang is too much of a symbol of freedom and an icon of the Old West to continue unprotected forever. The mustang population had been greatly reduced by the time the first federal wild free-roaming horse protection law was enacted in 1959, the "Wild Horse Annie Act", which prohibited the use of motor vehicles for hunting wild horses and burros. Protection was increased further by the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which provided for protection of certain previously established herds of horses and burros. Today, the Bureau of Land Management is the authority that oversees the protection of mustangs on public lands, with the Forest Service assisting on additional wild horse and burro territories.

The protection of the mustang by law remains a sore point with some ranchers. In order to prevent overpopulation, some mustangs are periodically captured, sometimes by use of a "Judas horse" who leads bands of mustangs into a pen and is then released.  Most horses that are captured are offered for adoption to individuals or groups willing and able to provide humane, long-term care after payment of an adoption fee of at least $125. As of 2010, nearly 225,000 Mustangs have been adopted.

I might never have had the opportunity to see real mustangs up close, but my stepdaughter and her family live about halfway up on a mountain near Cold Creek, Nevada, about an hour north of Las Vegas. Here, on the edge of public land, Here mustangs live unmolested, often grazing on the lawns of the delighted inhabitants, who provide hay in the winter so that the mustangs will not grow hungry.                                         

        

                                                             

I hope you've enjoyed this overview of the American mustang of the Old West. Because this is the publication month for my book, HILL COUNTRY CATTLEMAN, there will be a drawing and one lucky commenter will win a copy!

                      Best of luck and blessings,

                                   Laurie Kingery

Horses in History

Patricia PacJac Carroll here again to talk about horses.

 I love horses. When I was a teen, I would ride my Appaloosa mare, Misty Blue, and we would charge through the pasture. There is nothing so free as riding a horse running full out. They are truly works of art when you see them galloping wild and proud with their head up, tail outstretched, and even if for only the briefest of moments, flying over the earth as all of the their hooves leave earth.

One reason I love writing about the Wild West is I can write about horses. You’ll find them, named and beloved, in my stories. Murphy, Galahad, and Fancy in Golden Dreams. Southern Star, Banjo, and Fuego in Liberty Belle.

So I got to wondering. (One of my favorite things to do.  : ) What role did horses play in history?  Quite a bit I found out. In the Bible, God instructs Job on how He fashioned the horse for battle. Wars and battles were won or lost by men on horseback. Note the famous quotation from 

Shakespeare’s King Richard III:  

A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse! 

So it is little surprise that many of the horses known from history were those ridden by military heroes.  

To start, we’ll go way back to 344 B. C. and find Bucephalus. This mighty, black steed belonged to Alexander the Great. According to legend, no one could tame the horse until 13 yr old Alexander got hold of him. The horse fought in many battles and is depicted in paintings and statues. The powerful steed died in battle at the age of 30 in Pakistan where he was buried.

There were no horses in America until Columbus' second voyage. The Spanish explorers brought more horses to America in the explorations for gold. The American Indian horse came from the Spanish whose animals were either lost or stolen and gave rise to the Mustang - the wild horses of the American West. 

To end the American Civil War, General Ulysses S. Grant rode his favorite horse, Cincinnati, to meet Robert. E. Lee on his horse Traveller.

Probably one of the most famous war horses in the American West is Comanche. The little buckskin was the only US survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

  

The first thoroughbred to the Americas was Bulle Rock in 1730. Amazingly, most thoroughbreds can trace their ancestry to one of three stallions. The Byerley Turk. The Darley Arabian. The Godolphin Arabian. 

If you enjoy movies and books about racehorses, check out Seabiscuit and Secretariat. When I need some inspiration I watch Secretariat to remind myself to run my race. Seabiscuit to remind me that having heart can overcome obstacles and hopeless times.

The first breed of horse established in the United States came from one horse - Figure. A horse owned by Justin Morgan. The Morgan breed is still popular today.

Another breed developed in the U.S. is the Appaloosa by the Nez Perce Indians of the Pacific Northwest. These are the flashy, spotted horses and definitely horses of a different color.

An interesting horse in our history is Beautiful Jim Key. Trained by a former slave, the horse could read, do math, and more. He traveled the US performing his abilities to promote the humane treatment of animals.  

As a young girl, I loved reading horse stories and dreamed of having a horse of my own. Some of my favorite books - Black Beauty, The Black Stallion and other Walter Farley books, My Friend Flicka and Thunderhead. Did you read any of those?

So, do you have a horse or used to have horses? Let me know the color, breed, and name. They might find their way into one of my stories. 

My first horse was Misty Blue a pretty blue roan Appaloosa. Then I had Great Ceaser's Ghost - a gray quarter horse, and then Raindrops, a red spotted Appaloosa.

I still love horses. So chime in and let me know about your horses. And if  you never had a horse - let me know your dream color and breed of horse and what you would name them. 

Patricia PacJac Carroll has one book available on Amazon, Liberty Belle. Set in 1859 Denver, Liberty Belle is a story of finding freedom and forgiveness. A jilted bride, a wayward sheriff, a small boy, outlaws, and a gallows provide plenty of action, romance, and hope.

Her next book, Golden Dreams, will be out in April.

Find out more about her on her website 

And on her blog about her fight against breast cancer.

Enjoy the day! And thanks for stopping by.  : )