Desert Horse by the Corral Fence coloring page

About this coloring page

A desert horse under a big Western sky calls to mind the mustang, the free-roaming horse of the American West. Mustangs are often called wild, but technically they are feral: they descend from domestic horses that escaped or were turned loose long ago.

Their story starts with Spanish explorers and settlers, who brought horses to the Americas beginning in the 1500s. Some of those horses strayed, and over generations they formed herds that spread across the plains and deserts. Even the name comes from Spanish, from the word mesteño, meaning a stray animal with no owner.

Horses transformed life for Plains nations such as the Comanche, Lakota and Cheyenne, who became expert riders and used horses to hunt bison, travel long distances and move camp. Later, ranchers and cowboys rounded up and trained mustangs to work cattle.

Today most mustangs live on public land in states like Nevada, Wyoming, Oregon and Utah. They are sturdy horses with tough hooves, able to travel far for water and forage. The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 protects them, and federal managers work to keep herd sizes in balance with the land.

• desert
• mustang
• wild west
• horses
• cowboys