The Spaniards first brought horses to the Americas in the 16th Century (1500s). They multiplied outside of captivity as "mustangs". The plains Native Americans who had previously pulled their belongings with travoy (travois) with women then used horses instead, increasing the range of their nomadic life. The Plains Indians developed into the world's best horse cavalry, capable of raiding hundreds of miles into foreign lands during seasons of the full moon. In Spanish, Mexican, Texas and US history, the Comanche are the most famous.
The earliest indigenous horse of the Americas was Neohipparion Leptode, the 3-toed Grazing Horse of the Late Miocene Period (6 to 7 million years ago). After millions of years of evolution the Equus occidentalis leidy or Western Horse of the Late Pleistocene era developed by about 40,000 years ago. This became completely extinct about 10,000 years ago but the reasons for the extinction are unclear. In any case these were tiny animals, fine for eating but useless for riding.
Cortes and other Spanish explorers transported fiery Spanish horses into the Americas in the 16th century AD. These animals were bred on stock farms and some escaped, others were stolen and others traded to the natives, until a huge native population of wild horses (mustangs) thrived and increased on the grasslands of the Plains.
Well they were first used to carry Indians and across the plains, to kill buffalo. Also they were used to travel long distances, and sometimes they were used in various ceremonies. Sadly some were used for food too. People also used them for farm work such as rounded up sheep and cattle, to plowing feilds.
The Spanish brought horses to the Americas, but equine species were present in North America in much earlier times.
Originally, there were horses in North America that migrated to Asia and Europe thousands of years ago, across the Bering Strait land bridge. They subsequently died out in North America, and modern horses (their descendants) were taken to the Americas by Spanish conquistadors ss military horses.
Horses originally came to North America on the Beringia land bridge (thousands of years ago). They then vanished from the continent around 10,000 years ago. The horses that are in North America today were brought over in the 16th century by the Spanish.
The conquistadors brought horses to Latin America in 1521.
Columbus brought horses on his second trip to No. America in 1493.
They had no status, and were brought to America as slaves.
Jamestown
Horses first arrived to the southeastern part of the United States when the Spaniards first landed in the last decade of the 1400s. They helped the Spaniards conquer Central America and establish colonies there and into South America, as well as up into North America, colonizing areas which are now California, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. Of course where the Spaniards explored, the range of the horse followed suit. In their conquests came across First Nation tribes and battled with them. The Plains tribes often stole horses or took horses from their victories or escapes in battle, or acquired horses that had escaped from the Spanish colonies. These horses became an intrinsic part of the Plains First Nation's livelihoods, from transportation to hunting and battling other rival tribes.
Horses first returned with the Conquistadors, beginning with Columbus, who imported horses from Spain to the West Indies on his second voyage in 1493.
The conquistadors brought horses to Latin America in 1521.
Horses were brought to America by the conquistadors. Therefore they were not in North America during the ice age.
Columbus brought horses on his second trip to No. America in 1493.
To be ridden: Horses were originally brought to America by the Conquistadors of Spain to be ridden. In colonial America though they used to horse both to ride and as draft animals.
The Spanish brought the first major shipment of horses to America in 1492.
Spain
The original horses in America were believed to have become extinct here many years ago. It is believed then, that it was the Spanish conquistadores who brought their horses with them in the 1500's via Mexico that restarted the North American horse population.
Horses were first reintroduced to the Americas by the Spanish Explorers. Once there some of the horses escaped, were stolen or released and formed the feral Mustang herds that are now a symbol of the old west era.
horses. they were brought here from Europe.
The original Spanish explorers brought horses to North America. Many of those horses were turned loose when the Spaniards returned to Spain and they intermingled with native horses (horses that came from China over the ice cap). The Mustang is the result of that interbreeding. The first importation of Spanish Arabian horses was in 1934 when James and Edna Draper (from California) imported the first purebred Arabian horses to the United States.
The horses were already there for the indians.