Free Horse at Sunset coloring page

About this coloring page

A horse at sunset, standing alone on a hill, makes us think of wild horses running free. Yet most free-roaming horses today, like American mustangs or Australian brumbies, are descended from escaped domestic horses. The only horse widely considered truly wild is Przewalski’s horse.

This horse comes from the grassy steppes of Central Asia, especially Mongolia, where people call it the takhi. It is shorter and stockier than most domestic horses, with a sandy dun coat, a pale muzzle, dark legs and a short mane that sticks straight up like a brush instead of falling to one side.

By the middle of the twentieth century, Przewalski’s horse had vanished from the wild entirely. The species survived only because a small number lived in zoos. Careful breeding programs grew that population, and starting in the 1990s herds were returned to protected areas in Mongolia and later to other sites.

Its comeback is one of conservation’s great success stories, a result of zoos, scientists and governments working together. American zoos, including the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, have helped with breeding and research. Even so, Przewalski’s horse remains endangered and still needs protection.

• horse
• sunset
• wild horse
• nature
• sun