The Buffalo Runner

The Buffalo Runner is a unique strain of Spanish Mustang. The true Spanish Mustang is a direct descendant of the horses brought to the New World by the early Spaniards. Confused by many with the feral horses currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management (B.L.M.), there is a vast difference in both appearance and ancestry. Columbus, on order from the Spanish throne, brought the first Spanish horses to the New World on his second voyage. Thereafter, each ship headed for the New World, by order of the Crown, carried breeding animals of choice Spanish stock. Breeding farms were set up in the Caribbean and subsequently in Mexico. They produced horses which were placed with groups of Christianized Indians as the Spanish expanded efforts further and further north.

The Apaches, never falling under the spell of the Church, either traded for horses or stole them outright. They also plundered deep into Mexico allegedly as far as Mexico City. Their goal - well-bred and trained Spanish horses from the Mexican estancias. Through trade of these valuable horses northward to other tribes the Apaches became one of the primary distributors of the Spanish horse throughout the west.
By 1730, the Blackfeet had become a horse nation. The horse gave them a means to travel a wider range and to more easily hunt the buffalo- their prime food source. The horses were prized, traded, and gifted to other members of the tribe as rewards and as displays of great respect. Horses were status symbols. When the Indian Nations were defeated by the United States Calvary and driven onto reservations, they were deprived of their way of life. The government, in an attempt to further subdue the Indians, began systematically slaughtering not only the buffalo, but the horses as well.
	Considered the finest horses in the known world at the time of the Conquest of the New World, the Spanish horse left a legacy in its tough, beautiful, hardy descendants that endures to this day. On the brink of extinction in the early part of this century, their salvation can be attributed primarily to Robert I. Brislawn of Oshoto, Wyoming. Born in the Palouse country in 1890, he made his own way at an early age, working on ranches, mining and freighting.
During his years in the West, his horses of choice were Spanish Mustangs. His respect for these Spanish descendants was enormous as they thrived on forage that could not support other breeds and never seemed to tire. He never hobbled or tied his horses in camp as he always stated that they would stay with him, much like pet dogs. He was impressed with their speed, agility and above all, their will to survive. As he roamed throughout the West, he realized the authentic Spanish Mustang was being methodically exterminated and he commenced his search for horses of essentially pure Spanish blood, desiring to preserve those few remaining. He started his preservation project in 1925. In 1957, the Spanish Mustang Registry, Inc. was founded and the breed is slowly making a comeback.
Through various twists of fate, artist Bob Black Bull stumbled upon the story of this legacy. Bob was gifted 2 stallions and, through sale of his art, acquired 6 mares. On Sept 14, 1994, the first herd stepped foot (or rather, hoof) onto the soil of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in north central Montana. This was the first herd to return to the Blackfeet Nation since the reservation had been established in the 1800's.

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