Saturday 8Feb20 American Mustang Museum

Day 23

Woke up around 8 but Pete didn't want out so I didnt get up until 9. I had the usual breakfast and after cleaning up I went into Walmart and had coffee at the he McDonald's. $2 for a large. After coffee I bought a few groceries and went back to the RT.

I checked on line and found the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum close by and drove there. Being a veteran I could get in for $4.

It was a very new and nice museum. I really didn't know much about quarter horses. The breed was refined over many years and didn't became an official breed in the 1940s. Even then there was a lot of disagreement on what constituteed a quarter horse. There was a registry developed. It is a bit confusing but apparently there was a dispute on allowing thoroughbred mares to be included. The desire was to have the blood line originate from horses that the English brought over in the colonial times that were bred with horses of the Chickasaw Indians, which were Spanish Barbs. The Barb horses have their own story but the originated from Africa.

One of these horses was called Steel Dust and at some point he was shipped to Texas. He was the descendants of Sir Archery. His progeny became known as steeldust and they were favored by the cowboys. They were very intelligent and lightning fast upto a quarter of a mile. The bloodline is pretty complex and even included mustangs which also originated from the Spanish Barbs.

I took a break from the museum around 3 to walk the dogs and have some lunch in the RT, burritos.

Back in the museum I learned more on the history of the breed. There was always a struggle to keep the bloodline separate from the thoroughbreds.

After the museum I drove to a park to let Wiggin run off some energy. Then I went to a thrift store trying unsuccessfully to find a small pouch for Wiggin"s tracker.

I then drove to a different Walmart and parked for the night.