Micro-Conservation
Since 2011, as the global horse markets declined but the research progressed, the decision was made to focus on research and building up our DNA database. By focusing on Spanish Mustangs in context of Iberian type and connections to old Spanish breeds in Spain today, has introduced other ideas and projects. Our inclusion in the BIO-Horse research at the University of Cordoba, Spain has further validated Spanish Mustang connections to certain Spanish horses today.
The Spanish Mustang can vary in type from one breeding project to another, despite registries stating a breed standard. Perceptions of them as horses of many colours can make the search for their past more convoluted. Their history also lies in context of the many different people who have engaged with them over five hundred years since their ancestors left Spain. This has been one aspect of the research and addressed in the COLONIAL CABALLO
e-book.
In 2015 the mare Legacy del Leon became part of Spanish Mustangs Europe as a new concept in our micro-conservancy. Legacy went on a breeding lease in West Virginia where she was bred for one foal, a filly, born in 2016. From there she went by private treaty to another breeder in Virginia where she will now live permanently. We never intended for Legacy to come to Europe. Instead we have helped two smaller, independent breeders in the USA to add more bloodlines to their herds. This is still an organic aspect of the project.
Spanish Mustangs Europe is a micro-conservancy because we are a small scale, family and academic research project. We have bred Spanish Mustangs in Canada and the EU and produced some excellent horses. Whilst living in Alberta, Canada we also took care of, and gentled, several adult Spanish Mustangs that had come straight off large ranches where they'd never been handled or engaged with humans. Our herd number has varied between three to twelve maximum. For now, we have just two.
We have not bred any Spanish Mustangs since 2011 in part due to the lack of a cohesive approach to placing the Spanish Mustang as a breed in Europe. Specifically, registration to the Spanish Mustang Registry (SMR) as foundation stud book and DNA testing. Defining the breed for conformation that can yet vary and for colour, like the Kigers or Criollos, is lacking too. Our preference is duns and roans with minimum white and has been the direction we took and would do so for any future breeding. The number of Spanish Mustangs being bred has significantly declined both in the EU and the USA due to economic constraints. The gene pool in the EU is very small narrowing breeding possibilities. Importing more horses from the USA is beyond most budgets and not all are eligible for the SMR. A newcomer to the breed could be unaware of this anomaly.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020, we have continued with the arts and science research. New projects are being considered but may not manifest until early 2023.
