Welcome to our history section, within these pages you will find a wealth of information on the Spanish horse prior to it's arrival in the New World, Spanish expeditions into Utah and the surrounding area and possible explanations of how the Sulphur horses arrived in the Mountain Home Range area.
Did you know that our wild horses are actually a re-introduced native wildlife species?
Traditionally, horses were thought of as an exotic species that arrived on this continent for the first time with the Spanish in the 1500s. However, advances in molecular biology prove that the modern horse, Equus Caballus, actually evolved on this continent and migrated across the Bering Land Bridge. Though the horse disappeared on this continent between 11,000 and 13,000 years ago.
College of Eastern Utah Prehistoric Museum: "Wild horses certainly are part of our wildlife today, but the herds that you and I encounter are descendants of the horses the Spanish brought in the 1500s. Horses were indigenous to the Americas, but went extinct on this continent during the Pleistocene Epoch. They looked quite a bit different than the mustangs you see today. I love seeing wild horses and have encountered them in the western deserts. I certainly consider them to be an important part of our landscape". The wild horses found today, are remnant populations of these horses among American mustangs. When the Spanish brought horses back to North America they were simply returning home!
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