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American Horses | Nature

Image from NATURE American Horses
Jeff Reed
/
The WNET Group / TMFS GmbH
A brown wild mustang yearling bends down in a summer lupine flower field in the mountains. Pryor Mountains, Montana.

Wed. Mar. 2 at 8 p.m. on WKAR-HD 23.1 & STREAMING | Meet the uniquely American horse breeds that helped shape our nation.

American horses are icons. Mustang. Appaloosa. Morgan. Quarter Horse. Follow the history of the uniquely American horse breeds that helped shape our nation and meet the people who are continuing in the long tradition of caring for them.

Discover the origin story of American horses, which can be traced all the way back to the 50-million-year-old fossil beds of Polecat Bench, Wyoming. From these ancient beginnings, Equus spread around the globe, but mysteriously went extinct in North America. Arriving aboard ships of Spanish explorers, horses reclaimed the continent after a 10,000-year absence. With their return, the stage was set for a new generation of American breeds and a lifelong partnership with humans.

“Horses helped shape the landscape of our nation,” said Fred Kaufman, executive producer for Nature. “Their stories are a fascinating look at how their history and our history are inseparable.”

A combination of natural selection, selective breeding, and chance created the wide spectrum of more than 100 American horse breeds we know today. Emerging from regional patterns of work, culture, tradition and geography, these signature breeds each made their mark on the nation.

Watch this episode at video.wkar.org during or after the premiere date.

MORE ABOUT NATURE:
Nature is a voice for the natural world, bringing the wonders of wildlife and stories of conservation to millions of American viewers. The series has won more than 700 honors from the television industry, the international wildlife film communities and environmental organizations, including 19 Emmys and three Peabody Awards.

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