Horses, donkeys and mules in the United States

How horses lived in America, from ancient fossils to the present day

Long before the United States existed, relatives of the horse lived on the land that now forms the country. After ancient populations disappeared, domestic horses arrived by ship and became part of societies already living in America. Bones recovered from the ground tell part of the animals’ story. Indigenous accounts, objects and written records also reveal what people learned to do with horses and the place horses held in their lives.

1. Tens of millions of years ago

   Oregon and Idaho fossils reveal distant relatives of today’s horse

   At John Day in eastern Oregon, layers about 29 million years old preserved bones of Miohippus. Miohippus was a small relative of the horse with three toes on each foot. Bones, teeth and traces of past animals preserved in the ground are called fossils. John Day fossils reveal extinct animals whose bodies and movements differed from those of living horses.

   In present-day Idaho, the Hagerman fossils tell a later chapter in the horse family’s story. The ancient horse Equus simplicidens first appeared about 3.7 million years ago and lived among grasslands and water sources. Researchers place Equus simplicidens in the genus Equus, a group of related species that also includes living horses, donkeys and zebras. The equid family contains Equus and older groups such as Miohippus. The history of the whole equid family therefore reaches much further back than the history of living horses alone.

   To identify a fossil animal, researchers examine features such as its teeth, skull and limbs. When ancient DNA survives in remains, researchers can also compare relationships between animals. A study published in 2017 identified American equids called Haringtonhippus as a group distinct from Equus. Equid history resembles a family tree with many branches: several groups lived at the same time, and many disappeared over time.

   Source: National Park Service — Fossils of the 2025 National Fossil Day Artwork (2025) · National Park Service — Hagerman Horse, Equus simplicidens · Heintzman et al. — A new genus of horse from Pleistocene North America, eLife (2017)

2. Towards the end of the last major cold period

   Ancient horse populations disappear from North America

   Ancient North American equid populations disappeared towards the end of the last ice age, a long period of cold climate. Researchers trace their disappearance by establishing where and when animals lived. A dated horse bone provides evidence that an animal was present at a particular time. The most recent known bone at a site does not reveal the death date of the final horse: many animals left no remains that researchers can find.

   At Rancho La Brea in what is now Los Angeles, a natural tar-like substance preserved animal bones, including those of the horse Equus occidentalis. In a 2023 study, researchers used radiocarbon dating to estimate the age of La Brea remains from the carbon-14 still present in the bones. The dates place the local disappearance of several species, including Equus occidentalis, about 13,000 years ago. The La Brea results describe southern California, where animals could have disappeared at a different time from populations elsewhere on the continent.

   At La Brea, researchers compared bone dates with evidence of vegetation, climate and fire. Their study proposes that a warmer, drier landscape experienced major fires, probably encouraged by human activity. Several changes acting together may therefore have contributed to the animals’ disappearance. Equids continued living in Eurasia and Africa. Much later, domestic horses crossed the Atlantic with people and lived in America again.

   Source: Heintzman et al. — A new genus of horse from Pleistocene North America, eLife (2017) · O’Keefe et al. — Pre–Younger Dryas megafaunal extirpation at Rancho La Brea linked to fire-driven state shift, Science (2023)

3. From 1493 and through the sixteenth century

   Spanish voyages bring horses to the Caribbean and then the American mainland

   In 1493, Christopher Columbus’s second voyage carried domestic horses to the Caribbean. Spanish colonists later moved horses between islands and to the mainland, including Mexico. A sea crossing required water, feed and space for the animals. Establishing a breeding herd after a ship arrived also required horses to survive the journey, receive care and produce foals.

   In 1521, Ponce de León’s Spanish expedition brought horses to the southwest coast of Florida, within today’s United States. The Spanish settlement attempt in Florida soon failed. Between 1540 and 1542, another expedition, led by Coronado, travelled with horses from Mexico through the Southwest and into the Plains. Spanish expeditions entered territories already inhabited by Indigenous peoples who defended their lands and communities against conquest.

   The first horse landings alone do not explain how horses spread across America. Horses had to reproduce and then be moved or traded to new places. In the Southwest, Spanish settlements and Indigenous communities took part in horse movement in different ways. Human decisions and relationships therefore matter to the horse story alongside the journeys of ships and expeditions.

   Source: Smithsonian NMAI — A Song for the Horse Nation: Return of the Horse · Florida Department of State — European Exploration and Colonization · National Park Service — Coronado’s Seven Cities, continued · Taylor et al. — Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies, Science (2023)

4. Virginia in the early seventeenth century

   Horses also reach the Jamestown colony from England across the Atlantic

   English colonists also brought horses to the Atlantic coast. Jamestown Rediscovery documents a shipment that left England in 1609 for the Jamestown colony in Virginia. Bones found in a well and a cellar at Jamestown help reveal what happened to animals after landing. Horses therefore reached the present-day United States along several Spanish and English routes at different times.

   In 2025, researchers studied Jamestown equid bones and teeth, along with their DNA and chemical composition. The evidence from the horses is compatible with British origins. Donkey remains point to another possible origin among the regions connected by Atlantic travel. Teeth can have similar chemical signatures in different regions, so the Jamestown donkey’s birthplace or departure port cannot be identified with certainty.

   At Jamestown, cut marks on bones show that equids were also eaten during the colony’s difficult early years. A very young horse remain provides evidence of a foal born locally. Colonists used animals for riding and breeding, but famine also led to their consumption. The Jamestown finds also show that donkeys took part in Atlantic crossings and colonial life, even though popular stories focus more often on horses.

   Source: Jamestown Rediscovery — Horse Bones · Early transatlantic movement of horses and donkeys at Jamestown (2025)

5. The first half of the seventeenth century

   Indigenous communities breed and care for horses before 1680

   Earlier accounts often linked the northward spread of horses to the Pueblo Revolt against Spanish rule in 1680. A study published in 2023 shows that Indigenous communities already had horses on the central Plains and in the northern Rocky Mountains before that event. The research team, including Lakota, Comanche and Pawnee authors, examined animal remains to understand horse life before the first written accounts of some European travellers.

   Bones from a young horse found at Blacks Fork in Wyoming and an adult near the Kaw River in Kansas date to before 1680. Radiocarbon dating provides a date range for each animal. DNA links the horses examined to domestic horses of Iberian origin, from the peninsula that now includes Spain and Portugal. Ratios of isotopes, different forms of the same chemical element, in teeth also provide clues about food and the regions an animal occupied while its teeth formed.

   Evidence from the Wyoming and Kansas horses supports breeding horses locally and using them for transport. The healed fracture of the young Blacks Fork horse suggests that people cared for it. Analysis of the Kansas horse is consistent with maize being added to its diet, without identifying which Indigenous nation looked after it. Horses were already living with people who fed and used them. Exchanges between Indigenous communities probably explain part of the animals’ northward spread.

   Source: Taylor et al. — Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies, Science (2023)

6. From the seventeenth to the nineteenth century

   On the Plains, horses change travel, hunting and the movement of camps

   Across the Southwest, Plains and Plateau, communities obtained horses through exchange and alliances, family ties and conflicts. The National Museum of the American Indian describes connections among Pueblo, Diné or Navajo, Apache, Ute, Comanche and Shoshone peoples. Horse adoption did not happen at the same time in every community. Keeping horses required communities to learn how to feed, watch and prepare the animals for local activities.

   On the Plains, horses made it possible to follow bison, carry more belongings and move camps over longer distances. Families used a travois: long poles supported loads and partly dragged along the ground behind an animal. Some peoples who had previously used dogs to pull travois could move larger loads and dwellings with horses. Travelling families also needed to find grazing and water for their animals.

   The Comanche Nation describes how horse breeding and trading became central to its history. Lakota authors in the 2023 study speak of the Horse Nation to express a relationship with beings regarded as relatives, towards whom people have responsibilities of care and spiritual and social obligations. In these societies, horses became part of trade, daily work and ways of understanding the world. Keeping more horses could expand travel and transport possibilities while increasing the need for feed and care.

   Source: Smithsonian NMAI — A Song for the Horse Nation: Trading for Horses · Smithsonian NMAI — A Song for the Horse Nation: Travel and Transportation · Comanche Nation — History · Taylor et al. — Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies, Science (2023)

7. California and Texas in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

   Working cattle on horseback shapes ranch life in California and Texas

   In Spanish and later Mexican territories of the West, ranches were livestock farms where mounted workers cared for cattle herds. Workers called vaqueros watched the animals, moved them to grazing land and gathered them together. Saddles helped riders work on horseback, while ropes allowed them to catch individual cattle. In Mexican California in the 1840s, cattle supplied hides and tallow, a fat used to make candles and soap.

   California State Parks material about Sutter’s Fort gives names and backgrounds to ranch workers. A Miwok worker named Olimpio and workers from Hawaii took part in California cattle work. The Sutter’s Fort material also describes Indigenous people forced to work in missions, the religious establishments of colonisation. Mounted working skills were therefore passed on through encounters between people with very different living conditions, movements and freedoms.

   In Texas, enslaved and later free Black workers also helped raise and drive cattle. The Witte Museum tells the story of Hector Bazy, born into slavery in 1851, who published his autobiography in 1910. Cowboys’ work included choosing horses for the day’s tasks, moving herds and maintaining equipment. Western skills developed through the work of Indigenous, Hispanic, Black and other riders who passed on their knowledge.

   Source: California State Parks — Vaquero (2018) · Witte Museum — Black Cowboys: An American Story (2024–2025)

8. From the eighteenth to the early twentieth century

   On American farms, horses and mules pull equipment and loaded wagons

   On American farms, horses and mules supplied the power to pull equipment through the soil and move wagons loaded with crops. Animal work required daily preparation: growing or buying feed, supplying water, caring for feet and adjusting the equipment that connected animals to tools or vehicles. A horse-drawn farm machine depended both on its mechanical parts and on care for the animals pulling it.

   At Mount Vernon in Virginia, George Washington developed mule breeding with male donkeys received from Spain and France in the 1780s. Crossing a male donkey with a mare produces a mule. The Mount Vernon historic site also describes the work of Peter Hardiman, an enslaved groom caring for horses, donkeys and mules. The daily work of people looking after animals is an essential part of large breeding establishments’ history.

   Farmers chose and trained animals according to the work required. Pulling farm equipment, carrying a load and transporting a rider demand different preparation from a horse or mule. In 1910, farms and agricultural grazing lands in the contiguous United States held almost twenty million horses. Feeding, breeding, selling and caring for so many animals supported numerous occupations around farms.

   Source: George Washington’s Mount Vernon — The Animals on George Washington’s Farm · USDA — Horses, Mules, and Motor Vehicles, 1840–1924, Statistical Bulletin 5 (1925)

9. From the nineteenth to the early twentieth century

   From city streets to mines, horses and mules move people and goods

   In American cities, horses pulled carriages, delivered goods and carried passengers in public vehicles. In Washington, commercial stables housed horses and carriages for some residents. On the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, mules walked beside the water and pulled freight boats by ropes. Drivers and animal carers had to organise feed, rest and work for their animals.

   During the nineteenth-century American Civil War, armies used horses to carry mounted soldiers and messengers. Horses and mules also pulled guns, ambulances and supply wagons. Armies bought animals or required residents to hand them over, sometimes leaving families without horses and mules needed for work. Military organisers had to feed animals and replace those injured, exhausted or killed to keep people and equipment moving.

   In the Guadalupe Mountains of Texas, early twentieth-century mines used pack mules to bring loads down difficult paths. Wagons then carried the loads towards Carlsbad, where freight could join the railway. Mules carried loads on the first part of the journey, between a mine and a place vehicles could reach. Building a railway therefore still left work for animals in places trains could not reach directly.

   Source: Smithsonian National Museum of American History — A Streetcar City · National Park Service — Engines of the Canal · National Park Service — Animals of the Armies · National Park Service — Hardscrabble in the Guadalupes (2018; 2021)

10. The late nineteenth century, with consequences continuing today

    Western conquest takes land and horses away from Indigenous families

    The conquest of the West disrupted Indigenous life and relationships between families and their horses. Military campaigns and land loss prevented communities from travelling and keeping herds as before. U.S. authorities forced families to live on reservations where movement was restricted. The National Museum of the American Indian also describes the destruction of large herds: losing horses affected travel, work and family and cultural practices.

    At the National Museum of the American Indian, Oglala Lakota curator Emil Her Many Horses describes the continuing relationship with the Horse Nation despite policies intended to break it. Saddles, ornaments, accounts and parades show how communities retained and changed their horse practices. Indigenous horse cultures continue through families and activities today.

    On the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho, the Chief Joseph Foundation was established in 1991 to support young people and cultural learning through Appaloosa horses. Its Mounted Scholars program brings together schoolwork, Nez Perce culture and learning with horses. Young people can learn to care for a horse while discovering their community’s history. The foundation supports people and cultural learning; the Appaloosa breed registry keeps the identities and parentage of registered horses.

    Source: Smithsonian NMAI — A Song for the Horse Nation: Decline and Revival · Chief Joseph Foundation — History and Mounted Scholars

11. The twentieth century, with changes happening at different speeds

    Electricity, trucks and tractors gradually replace work done by horses

    In American cities and on farms, engines gradually took over some work done by horses and mules. Washington began converting horse-drawn and cable-operated streetcars to electricity in 1888. Cars and trucks later occupied more of the streets. On farms, early tractors were bulky and expensive; lighter, cheaper models eventually made buying one possible for more farmers.

    By 1925, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was describing how motor vehicles affected horse and mule sales. A farmer buying a tractor needed fewer animals to pull equipment and had fewer horses to feed. The farmer instead had to pay for buying and maintaining the machine. Changes also affected breeders selling working animals and makers of animal-drawn equipment. Whether to keep animals or buy machines depended on crops, farm size and available money.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture describes faster agricultural change after the Second World War. The number of horses and mules used for their pulling power fell as machinery spread. Racehorses, sport horses and leisure horses continued living in the country. A count of working animals therefore tells the story of a particular kind of horse work rather than the population of all American horses.

    Source: USDA — Horses, Mules, and Motor Vehicles, 1840–1924, Statistical Bulletin 5 (1925) · USDA NASS — Trends in U.S. Agriculture: Mechanization · USDA ERS — The 20th Century Transformation of U.S. Agriculture and Farm Policy (2005)

12. From the nineteenth to the twenty-first century

    Americans continue breeding horses for racing, sport and leisure

    Racing and riding existed in the United States before tractors and cars arrived. As horses became less necessary in fields and streets, racing, sport and leisure took a larger place in breeding. Breeders chose horses to race, work cattle, compete or carry riders on trails. Professionals prepared horses and looked after their feed, housing and care.

    The Appaloosa Horse Club was founded in 1938 and the American Quarter Horse Association in 1940 to organise registration of horses in their breeds. Each association keeps a studbook, a record of registered horses’ names, identities and parents. Horses and breeding practices existed before the associations were established. Breeders now had organisations to preserve their horses’ ancestry and set registration rules.

    Today, the U.S. equestrian federation, USEF, oversees recognised competitions and U.S. teams. Other organisations handle gallop racing and harness racing, where horses pull small racing carts. Ranches still use horses for cattle work, riding schools teach riders and communities pass on cultural practices. Breeding, boarding, teaching, training and care remain daily activities around horses.

    Source: American Quarter Horse Association — Official Handbook (2026) · Appaloosa Museum — History of the Appaloosa Horse Club · United States Trotting Association — What Is Harness Racing? · US Equestrian — About Us · American Horse Council — 2023 Economic Impact Study (2024)

Where do American horses live, and who looks after them each day?

In the United States, a horse may be born at a breeding farm, live at a stable boarding owners’ animals, work on a ranch or grow up in a free-ranging herd. People caring for horses therefore carry out very different tasks. One business can also breed foals, board horses and provide riding lessons.

American organisations count horses, keep ancestry records and organise competition

NASS counts animals living on American farms

USDA — National Agricultural Statistics Service

NASS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s statistics service. It runs the farm census and explains how results are calculated.

Table 29 of the 2022 census presents farm horses and ponies, followed by mules and donkeys in a separate group.

Source: USDA NASS — 2022 Census of Agriculture, Appendix A: Census Methodology (2024)

The American Horse Council studies horse activities and their economic role

American Horse Council

The American Horse Council represents activities in the horse industry and commissions studies of their place in the American economy.

Its economic survey gathers information from owners, associations and professionals involved in racing, work, sport and leisure.

Source: American Horse Council — 2023 Economic Impact Study (2024)

USEF oversees recognised competitions and U.S. equestrian teams

United States Equestrian Federation — US Equestrian

The United States Equestrian Federation, or USEF, is the national federation for equestrian sport. It oversees recognised competitions and teams representing the country.

USEF activities include show jumping, dressage and eventing, which combines several equestrian tests.

Source: US Equestrian — About Us

AQHA keeps the Quarter Horse breed registry

American Quarter Horse Association

The American Quarter Horse Association, known as AQHA, records registered Quarter Horses’ identities and parents in its studbook. It also organises activities for the breed.

AQHA rules explain how to register a horse, which ancestry is accepted and which registry category a horse can enter.

Source: American Quarter Horse Association — Official Handbook (2026)

The Appaloosa Horse Club registers Appaloosas and offers activities for owners

Appaloosa Horse Club

The Appaloosa Horse Club, or ApHC, keeps the international Appaloosa breed registry. It organises programs and events for members.

The ApHC checks whether a horse and its parents meet registration rules. Indigenous cultural organisations have other purposes, such as passing on a community’s accounts and practices.

Source: Appaloosa Horse Club — Official Handbook (2026)

The USTA provides records for Standardbreds and their harness racing

United States Trotting Association

The United States Trotting Association, or USTA, serves Standardbreds and harness racing. It maintains horse registrations, identification information and race results.

The USTA connects microchip numbers and parentage test results with individual horse records.

Source: United States Trotting Association — Microchipping

The Jockey Club preserves Thoroughbred ancestry in the American Stud Book

The Jockey Club

The Jockey Club keeps the Thoroughbred studbook for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. It also publishes information and supports racing research.

The Jockey Club records registered horses’ identities and parents; racecourse management and racing regulation also involve other bodies.

Source: The Jockey Club — About Us

The BLM monitors western herds and cares for animals removed from them

Bureau of Land Management

The Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, manages U.S. public land. Its horse and burro program monitors certain free-ranging populations in the West.

The BLM publishes estimates for free-ranging herds separately from reports on horses and donkeys held at program facilities.

Source: Bureau of Land Management — Wild Horse and Burro Program Data

Six American breeds tell stories of work, racing and riding

Generations of American breeders chose horses for the tasks they needed: running a short race, following cattle, pulling a carriage or carrying a rider on a trail. The six breeds below tell several of these stories. Each breed profile explores the horses’ ancestry, uses and breeding in more detail.

How horses take part in work, leisure and community life today

Where can you find the horse counts and historical accounts for the United States?

The links below lead to censuses, research and organisations that help tell the American horse story. Each note explains what a document contributes: an animal count, the age of a bone, a people’s history or a breed’s rules. When only a scientific abstract was available, the note says so. Dates and the places covered accompany population figures so that readers can understand what the numbers represent.

1. National Park Service — Fossils of the 2025 National Fossil Day Artwork (2025)

   The National Park Service introduces the fossils of John Day in Oregon. The layers preserving the Miohippus described are about 29 million years old and reveal a time long before living horses.

2. National Park Service — Hagerman Horse, Equus simplicidens

   The National Park Service tells the story of the fossil horse Equus simplicidens at Hagerman. The species first appeared about 3.7 million years ago; Hagerman fossils do not necessarily all have the same age.

3. Heintzman et al. — A new genus of horse from Pleistocene North America, eLife (2017)

   In this 2017 study, researchers compare bones and DNA to identify Haringtonhippus, an equid group distinct from Equus. The introduction and results consulted reveal the many branches of the horse family.

4. O’Keefe et al. — Pre–Younger Dryas megafaunal extirpation at Rancho La Brea linked to fire-driven state shift, Science (2023)

   Researchers connect animal disappearances at La Brea with climate change and fires in southern California. Only the extended scientific abstract in Loyola Marymount University’s repository was available for consultation; the full paper was not obtained.

5. Smithsonian NMAI — A Song for the Horse Nation: Return of the Horse

   The National Museum of the American Indian describes horses arriving in the Caribbean in 1493 and their later journeys. Arrival on the islands came before documented landings on land now within the United States.

6. Florida Department of State — European Exploration and Colonization

   Florida’s Department of State describes Ponce de León’s attempt to settle the southwest coast in 1521. Horses accompanied the expedition, but the settlement attempt soon failed.

7. National Park Service — Coronado’s Seven Cities, continued

   The National Park Service follows Coronado’s journey from Mexico through the Southwest and into the Plains between 1540 and 1542. Livestock totals in the account do not give a separate count of horses.

8. Taylor et al. — Early dispersal of domestic horses into the Great Plains and northern Rockies, Science (2023)

   Researchers study bones, DNA, dates and diets of Wyoming and Kansas horses to document their presence with Indigenous communities before 1680. The main article was read; its technical supplement was unavailable. The results do not give one adoption date for every people.

9. Smithsonian NMAI — A Song for the Horse Nation: Trading for Horses

   The National Museum of the American Indian describes horses passing between Southwest, Plains and Plateau communities. Its accounts of exchange are considered alongside more recent research dating horse remains.

10. Smithsonian NMAI — A Song for the Horse Nation: Travel and Transportation

    The National Museum of the American Indian presents objects and Indigenous travel accounts. It explains how travois, previously pulled by dogs, allowed people to move larger loads with horses.

11. Smithsonian NMAI — A Song for the Horse Nation: Decline and Revival

    The National Museum of the American Indian tells the story of land loss, herd destruction and continuing relationships with horses. Oglala Lakota curator Emil Her Many Horses contributes his perspective on the communities’ history.

12. Comanche Nation — History

    The Comanche Nation tells its own history, including movement and the place of horse breeding and trade. The account offers the nation’s perspective on its horse knowledge.

13. Jamestown Rediscovery — Horse Bones

    Jamestown excavations have uncovered horse bones. Archaeologists connect the finds with a shipment from England in 1609 and accounts of the colony’s early years of famine.

14. Early transatlantic movement of horses and donkeys at Jamestown (2025)

    Researchers compare Jamestown bones, teeth, DNA and isotopes to investigate the animals’ origins and local lives. The full article, including methods, was consulted. Results show a local birth and cut marks but do not establish the donkey’s geographic origin with certainty.

15. California State Parks — Vaquero (2018)

    Pages 1–5 of the Sutter’s Fort material describe mounted work in Mexican California. The documents cover hides, tallow, equipment, Miwok and Hawaiian workers and communities subjected to mission labour.

16. Witte Museum — Black Cowboys: An American Story (2024–2025)

    The Witte Museum tells the story of Black cattle workers in Texas during slavery and in freedom. The exhibition includes Hector Bazy, who published his autobiography in 1910.

17. George Washington’s Mount Vernon — The Animals on George Washington’s Farm

    Mount Vernon’s historic site describes the horses, donkeys and mules on George Washington’s farm. The account includes breeding animals received in the 1780s and the work of enslaved groom Peter Hardiman.

18. Smithsonian National Museum of American History — A Streetcar City

    The Smithsonian National Museum of American History describes how Washington residents travelled and where some kept their horses. Conversion of the city’s streetcars to electricity began in 1888.

19. National Park Service — Engines of the Canal

    The National Park Service explains how horses and mules pulled Chesapeake and Ohio Canal boats while walking beside the water. The account also describes drivers’ work and animal care.

20. National Park Service — Animals of the Armies

    The National Park Service describes horse and mule work during the American Civil War. Animals carried riders and pulled the guns, ambulances and wagons armies depended on.

21. National Park Service — Hardscrabble in the Guadalupes (2018; 2021)

    Boyd and Kennedy describe mining in the Guadalupe Mountains. In the early twentieth century, mules brought loads down to wagons before the journey to Carlsbad and the railway.

22. USDA — Horses, Mules, and Motor Vehicles, 1840–1924, Statistical Bulletin 5 (1925)

    Table 1, printed page 2 or PDF page 4, reproduces the 1910 horse census on and off farms. The selected columns count horses of all ages, including both foals and adults.

23. U.S. Census Bureau — February 2024: The 1909 Founding of the NAACP

    The Census Bureau gives the 1910 population as 91,972,266. The original census specifies the date and territorial limits so that horses and people can be compared on the same basis.

24. U.S. Census Bureau — Thirteenth Census, Volume I, General Report and Analysis (1913)

    On printed pages 17–18, or file pages 2–3, the introduction gives the census date as 15 April 1910. The main tables distinguish the continental territory from Alaska, Hawaii and dependencies.

25. USDA NASS — Trends in U.S. Agriculture: Mechanization

    The agricultural statistics service describes the shift from animals to machines on American farms. The tractor story shows how changes in price, weight and possible tasks encouraged adoption.

26. USDA ERS — The 20th Century Transformation of U.S. Agriculture and Farm Policy (2005)

    On printed page 6, or PDF page 9, the U.S. Department of Agriculture describes faster change after 1945. Its figures concern working horses and mules rather than every horse kept for racing, sport or leisure.

27. USDA NASS — 2022 Census of Agriculture, U.S. Summary, table 29 (2024)

    Table 29, printed page 22 or PDF page 32, gives farm animals in the 50 states on 31 December 2022. Horses and ponies form one group and mules and donkeys another. A farm may appear in both groups.

28. USDA NASS — 2022 Census of Agriculture, Appendix A: Census Methodology (2024)

    The statistics service explains how it identifies farms, collects answers and accounts for missing information. The farm definition requires at least 1,000 dollars of agricultural products sold, or normally expected to have been sold, during the year.

29. USDA NASS — 2022 Census of Agriculture, Appendix B: General Explanation (2024)

    The Equine products entry explains which income counts as equine product sales. Income from boarding, training and riding lessons is excluded, so keeping horses alone does not establish that a place qualifies for the farm census.

30. American Horse Council — 2023 Economic Impact Study (2024)

    The American Horse Council’s national summary gives a rounded estimate of about 6.65 million horses. It accompanies the 2023 study published in 2024 but does not specify a single day represented by that population figure.

31. American Horse Council — Economic Impact Study of the Maryland Horse Industry (2024)

    Printed pages 51–52, or PDF pages 55–56, explain the national survey: who was asked and how calculations represent groups and account for missing answers. The Maryland report uses inputs including 2022 data. The national estimate quoted comes from the national summary, not a calculation from Maryland alone.

32. Bureau of Land Management — Wild Horse and Burro Population Estimates, March 1, 2026

    The BLM table gives 61,523 horses and 23,943 donkeys in its program areas across ten western states. The heading and official page specify 1 March 2026, but one PDF note still mentions 2025.

33. Bureau of Land Management — May 2026 Facility Report

    The BLM reports 53,773 horses and 4,252 donkeys held in its program. Corrals are reported for 28 May and pastures for 1 May 2026. Some invoice-based reports still use the previous month, so the figures are not added to the March free-ranging count.

34. Bureau of Land Management — Wild Horse and Burro Program Data

    On the page consulted on 11 November 2026, the BLM explains the areas and animals its program covers, how it estimates herds and where reports are available. Atlantic herds such as Assateague have separate management arrangements.

35. American Quarter Horse Association — Official Handbook (2026)

    The 2026 handbook explains how AQHA, founded in 1940, registers Quarter Horses and records ancestry. The foreword and REG100–102 were consulted. Because AQHA blocked automated access, the original document was obtained from a public copy hosted by ranchhorse.de.

36. Appaloosa Horse Club — Official Handbook (2026)

    Handbook sections 200–213 explain how an Appaloosa enters the registry: horse identity, parents and admission requirements. Club rules concern registered horses, while Nimíipuu organisations also pass on history and culture.

37. Appaloosa Museum — History of the Appaloosa Horse Club

    The Appaloosa Museum describes the Appaloosa Horse Club’s creation in 1938 around Claude Thompson. The club dates the breed’s modern organisation after a much older history of husbandry and Indigenous relationships.

38. American Paint Horse Association — The Breed

    The Paint Horse association explains how ancestry and white markings affect registration. Its rules also allow some horses with little or no white marking to be registered.

39. American Morgan Horse Association — Frequently Asked Questions

    The Morgan association recounts the breed’s origins and the story of Figure, born in 1789. Information about horse families and uses helps trace breeders’ choices.

40. Missouri Fox Trotting Horse Breed Association — History of the Breed

    The association describes how Ozark residents used horses for work and travel in the nineteenth century. The Missouri Fox Trotter story connects those needs with the fox trot and riding activities today.

41. United States Trotting Association — What Is Harness Racing?

    The USTA guide explains a Standardbred race, the sulky, trot and pace. It also points to activities after racing, including trail and leisure riding.

42. United States Trotting Association — Microchipping

    The USTA explains how a microchip identifies a Standardbred and how the process is linked to DNA testing. A horse’s number and parentage information are connected to its record.

43. The Jockey Club — About Us

    The Jockey Club explains its role in keeping the American Stud Book for the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The book records Thoroughbred identities and ancestry; other organisations also handle racing operations and rules.

44. US Equestrian — About Us

    The U.S. equestrian federation introduces its recognised competitions and national teams. The information explains its role in equestrian sport.

45. Chief Joseph Foundation — History and Mounted Scholars

    The Chief Joseph Foundation describes its establishment in 1991 on Idaho’s Nez Perce Reservation. Its Mounted Scholars program shows how activities with Appaloosas connect young people with school, community history and culture.

46. National Park Service — Assateague’s Wild Horses

    The National Park Service describes the Maryland and Virginia herds and explains who is responsible for them. It considers an early domestic origin more likely than the shipwreck legend. Assateague herds are managed outside the western BLM program.