U.S. COW-PONIES AND RANGE HORSES. 



561 



" after Cortez had conquered Mexico, horses of the Arabian 

 breed were imported from Spain. Various herds of these 

 escaped from the southern portion of the continent, and 

 ranged throughout the vast plains of the north-west. 

 These herds are the ancestors of the wild horses of to-day. 

 Their size, throughout the intervening centuries, has 

 varied according to the fertility or barrenness afforded 

 them by the nature of the grazing facilities which the 



Fig. 557. — Chestnut cow-pony (l)roncho) ; 15 hands. 



various sections supply. On the barren ranges of the 

 south, the animals are much smaller in stature, and are 

 called ' mustangs.' On the great grass plains of the 

 central section of the continent, where there is an abundance 

 of fodder and water, the animals become larger, more 

 vicious, and possessed of much greater stamina. These 

 animals have from time immemorial borne the appellation 

 of ' bronchos.' Further away to the north, amid the 

 snows of the mountain ranges of Canada, these horses 



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