Wild horses are descendants of Spanish horses brought to the New World in the 1500’s by the Conquistadors. In the 1800’s, the Spanish stock began to mix with European horses — favored by the settlers, trappers and miners — that had escaped or been turned out by their owners. The wild horses were in demand until tractors and other mechanical means replaced them. Then, they were pushed back into the most arid, hostile public lands that are left. Yet they still survive!

The long-standing Chinese horse culture is characterized by its profoundness and extensiveness. With a brilliant and advanced horse culture, China was among the first nations to raise horses. More than 5,000 years ago, Chinese people began using carts pulled by horses. During the Zhou Dynasty (about 1100-221BC), horses were generally divided into six categories: the stud horse, military horse, ceremonial horse, post horse, hunting horse and fatigue horse. A relatively complete horse administration organization had been built up in the Qin and Han dynasties (221BC-AD220). About 300,000 horses were raised in the frontier northwestern regions in the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220), and at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) the number increased to 700,000, with the administration having been greatly improved. More than 7,000 fine breeds of horses were introduced from remote western regions to improve the quality of military horses. The thriving of horse breeding not only played an important role in national defense, but also propelled cultural communications between China and other nations in the west.