Pueblo Indians drove the Spaniards out of New Mexico in 1680,
captured many horses and later traded many to the Apache. The
mustangs from the Cerbat Mountains of northwestern Arizona are some
of the purest Spanish descendants in the United States. The are
believed to descend from horses these horses.
Numbering less than forty at the present time, the
Spanish Mustangs from the Cerbat Mountain area of northwestern
Arizona are some of the purest Spanish descendants in the United
States. Documentation obtained from a pioneer rancher family in l966
and published in a national magazine that same year stated the herd
was present when the family settled in the area in the l860's and to
their knowledge, no outside blood had ever been introduced. The
local Indians made no claim upon the horses stating they had "always
been there". The more plausible explanation for the Cerbat herd is
the prevailing theory of escape or loss from early Spaniards. A
study of the history of Arizona and northern Mexico reveals a number
of Spanish expeditions ranging into Arizona, New Mexico and
California. Loss, escape, theft by Apaches and other means would
easily supply the seed stock into the Cerbat area. Indeed, blood
testing of these horses shows without a doubt that they carry
Spanish "markers".
