Reyes came from the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. Reyes was pulled as a young filly and sent to Mustang Camp in New Mexico for training. Park Management does not have the resources to manage the wild horses, so they partnered with the National Mustang Association of Colorado to humanely remove and relocate them.

Reyes is unique because she will never have Chestnut or Black based horses, and is homozygous for Cream as well as Dun. Genetic testing revealed that she is also carrying Pattern Genes, so will produce Appaloosa Spotted Patterns in the presence of LP.

Cruz came from the Sand Wash Basin HMA, in Colorado. She was named for her Dun Cross over her withers. Sand Wash Basin is known for their loud beautiful Tobiano and Roan Mustangs.

Cruz is homozygous for Tobiano.

Metztli means Moon, and she came from the Salt Wells Creek HMA, in Wyoming. Horses from Salt Wells Creek are known for their loud beautiful Splash markings (and Curly Horse genes).

Metztli is unique because she will never have Chestnut based foals. Genetic testing revealed that she is also carrying Pattern Genes, so will produce Appaloosa Spotted Patterns in the presence of LP.

Quill comes from the Warm Springs HMA, in Oregon. While Appaloosa Spotting Pattern isn't common in Mustangs, it does come up in certain herd areas. Quill was part of an emergency round up due to a wild fire.

Genetic testing revealed that Quill is heterozygous for the Appaloosa Spotting gene (LP) but she also does not have any varnishing modifiers.

Mancha was adopted early in life as an orphan. She came from the Virginia Range Feral Herd in Nevada, and was raised by a local resident after her mother was fatally injured in a collision with a car. This herd area isn't managed like the other BLM areas, and it was decided instead of releasing her back into the wild once she was old enough, she would be retained and trained. Eventually she made her way to Cheshire Farms.

Genetic testing revealed that Mancha is heterozygous for the Appaloosa Spotting gene (LP) but she also does not have any varnishing modifiers. In depth testing revealed that she is homozygous for Non-Dun1 and Tigers Eye. Non-Dun1 adds counter shading to coats, giving a false Dun appearance, and Tigers Eye lightens the eye color.

This is really fun! <3

@Fiddler & @Ammit thank you <3 I used to be really into Mustangs, and compiled a lot of research on their genetics and HMAs when I was in high school and college. But it's taking me a little bit to get them all researched again LOL. I'm trying to make their stories as factual as I can. <br />
For example, since we can't really do a "Mustang Brand" I made a little mock one that says "US Gov Registered and 23" for the year 2023 lol

Talulah is a registered mare with the Southwest Spanish Mustang Association. Her Champagne ancestry traces back to Choctaw Ponies on her Sires side and the founding Spanish Mustangs from Sulphur Springs on her Dams side.

Maizey was removed from the Jicarilla Wild Horse Territory, in New Mexico as a yearling. Typically horses form the Jicarilla WHT are stockier and make great Ranch Horses. But occasionally you get one that reflects some Thoroughbred ancestry from the Calvary re-mount program. Maizey would later grow into a good eventer prospect.

Genetic testing revealed that she is also carrying Pattern Genes, so will produce Appaloosa Spotted Patterns in the presence of LP.

@CheshireFarms, I so adore how you did this post!

Are you selling eggs from the girls? I would love some from Sagebrush if she's available :) are there any breeding restrictions?

Bonnie came from the McCullough Peaks HMA, in Wyoming. The McCullough Peaks herd area is known for beautiful pictures of loudly painted free roaming Mustangs against wide open ranges. Many of these horses are the product of multiple white spotting genes. When Bonnie was born, she actually had more Chestnut present on her coat, hence her name War Bonnetta. But as she got older, the Chestnut roaned out a little bit. We knew her dam was at least Tobiano + 1 or 2 other spotting genes, and we weren't positive on her sire at the time since her mother was a young mare and not settled between herds just yet.

We were surprised to find out that after getting Bonnie genetically tested, she had a copy of a White Spotting gene called W1. We're not sure where Bonnie got this gene. Her mother was never registered after being sold, and there were a couple of stallions at the time that could have been her sire. Something interesting to note is that blood samples collected from McCullough Peaks horses, show they are genetically isolated from all other herds in Wyoming. However they have not been tested for heritage markers. Local lore in the area says these horses descended from original Spanish Stock, but there are also rumors that some of these horses came from Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

Authors Note: In researching the history of the McCullough Peaks herd as well as the origin of the W1 gene, I came up with a fictional story of how Bonnie might have inherited her unique color. So here it is.

The McCullough Peak Badlands are about a 30 minute drive from Cody, Wyoming. In 1896 William Frederick Cody (aka Buffalo Bill) helped establish the town of Cody, Wyoming. Before there was a Wyoming, there was a rich history of horse-mounted Indigenous Tribes. So the horses were already historically there. Cody locals claim the McCullough Peak wild horses could also be related to Buffalo Bills horses. This is an interesting theory because Buffalo Bill was a collector of many amazing horses, however it is incredibly hard to track down horses names, breeding status, or if any survived (there were some tragic accidents, illness, and lack of money that caused many of the horses to die or be sold). Most of his life Buffalo Bill favored the Indian Pony of the time, and we can find a number of historical testimonies to this. Aside from a Kentucky Half-Bred named Charlie, there is no other mention of heritage for some of his more famous horses, other than people calling them Mustangs. Buffalo Bill did have a ranch at one point, many of his horses retired there, and it was a wintering area for the show. However it's changed hands a couple of times, and I'm not sure what actually happened to the horses. We'll put a pin in that idea for a second. Around this time Europe was in love with the idea of the American Wild West, and so Buffalo Bill took his show overseas on multiple occasions, where he entertained many Nobel People. Now it wasn't uncommon at the time for horse people to gift each other horses, and here is where my fictional story takes place. Historical photos show a wide variety of horses being used in the show, from Percherons to Cow Ponies, from Appaloosa Spotted Horses, to Albino-looking Whites. There are pictures of loud Sabino-like patterns, and even Buffalo Bill mounted on a horse with minimal white markings and blue eyes. What if, while on his European tour, Buffalo Bill was gifted a pair of Anglo-Normans (or another Warmblood) to pull his numerous carriages and stage coaches. The Anglo-Norman and other warmblood breeds were used in the mid to late 1800's for for the foundation of the Franches-Montagnes. The Freiberger or Franches-Montagnes is the breed where W1 was first detected, and thought to come from 1 horse. To my current knowledge, it isn't found in any other breed. Assuming that W1 isn't a de novo mutation, that means it had to be inherited somewhere along the lines and conditions were just right for it to show up. During Buffalo Bills time, it wasn't unheard of to allow your stock to run free on the land. This particular area of Wyoming was known to produce quality horses when left to the land. It could be that Buffalo Bill practiced this same method, or his horses escaped, or he let some of them go. Eventually they would breed with the feral horses, to one day produce W War Bonnetta.

That is my FAR FAR FAR reaching fictional story in an attempt to explain why W1 would be present in a breed that it would most likely not be found in LOL. So I'll say all that to just say, in this case it was a de novo mutation, and that's how I'll explain it away. It was interesting to try and find as much historical evidence I could to support my crazy story. Had I delved into archives I might have been able to find more information, maybe. So many things we consider important now, would never have been mentioned back then. I do wonder how many mustangs, indigenous ponies, and ranch strains have been tested for color patterns. Some of these isolated pockets of horses have some very unique white markings, which could be from a combination of spotting genes. I hope you enjoyed the rambling that sent me down the internet rabbit hole.

Jaye came from the Twin Peaks HMA, in California. Horses from this area descend from original Spanish Stock as well as Army Cavalry remounts after WWI. The Twin Peaks area produces taller horses with bigger bone, calm temperaments and highly intelligent.

Genetic testing revealed that Jaye is homozygous for Roan and can not produce Chestnut based offspring. Additionally she has a Pattern Gene, so she could produce Appaloosa Spotted Patterns in the presence of LP.

Wow! Great work on your ad! That is professional quality. I love that you added horses from Sand Wash Basin. I follow a lady on FB that photographs the Mustangs there and the terrible roundups that are done there. Those horses are amazing! Many Salt Wells Creek horses have been for sale lately too so it is nice to see you representing them as well. Great ad!

*applause*

Wonderful posts and research.

Chicka is a double registered mare with the Spanish Mustang Registry and Spanish Barb Association. Her heritage is quite unique as it can be traced all the way back to the late 1800's with the Baca family. The Baca Barb Horse, as it was later called, was a mix of Spanish-Iberian horses, Mustangs, Indigenous Strains, and Ranchers with isolated feral herds due to fencing laws. In 2013 the last of the Baca Chica Farm herd was dispersed among conservationists, and today is officially recognized by the Livestock Breed Conservancy.

Genetic tests show that Chicka will never have Black or Chestnut foals, she carries a copy of nd1, as well as P+ and S+, contributing to a very interesting shade of Bay.

Blue came from the McCullough Peaks HMA, in Wyoming, but we got her at an auction already rideable. The McCullough Peaks herd area is known for beautiful pictures of loudly painted free roaming Mustangs against wide open ranges. Many of these horses are the product of multiple white spotting genes. Parrot comes from the same HMA as W War Bonnetta (Bonnie).

Blue is full of white patterns, having tested for Roan, White 2, Frame Overo, Appaloosa Spotting, and is homozygous for Splash White 1.

River came from a private breeder in North Dakota. She is a double registered Spanish Mustang, and is a cross between the Nakota Native Strain, and the Choctaw Native Strain. Both River and her sister Rapid grew up in the Dakotas on a working ranch. River made a better cow-pony than her sister Rapid, but they were a bonded pair, so wherever Rapid went, River wanted to follow.

River got her color from her Nakota sire, but interestingly enough she got her recessive Pearl gene from her Choctaw Dam. We're unsure where it came from, and we haven't seen a homozygous example yet. Pearl is seen in a couple of American Stock Horse Breeds, as well as various Spanish and Iberian breeds, so it's quite possible this gene has been recessive in this line of Southeast Spanish Mustangs.

We take pride in our mares and their origin story. If you'd like to learn more about them, and see some of their previous offspring, check out their pages below.

Miya is double registered Spanish Mustang & Southwest Spanish Mustang Registry. Her sire (Chato's Shadow) was actually a brindled mustang stallion that is also approved for the Sorria Mustang Studbook. However, Miya inherited too much white from her mother to register as a Sorria Mustang