have there always been horses in the Americas?

Question

Are horses native to North and South America? Or were they brought here. If so, what century and from where?

Answer 1

Try this document (in sources below)

Answer 2

I wish I could give you a time frame here. I do know that there was a native horse in North America - a seperate species - up until around 30,000 years ago, maybe? I don't remember now. Anyway, it was quite small and later became extinct. Horses, as we recognize them today, were brought here by the Spanish up from Mexico.

Answer 3

horses were in the Americas back in prehistory but either moved out or were hunted into extinction by the local peoples.
when Europeans came they re-introduced the horse, the conquistadors are usually given credit for this, about the time of Cortes 1519-1541 or so.but the natural horse population didn't take root until the 1600's. about that time they became self-sustaining and native, eventually evolving into a distinct North American species(the mustang and palomino breeds)

Answer 4

well, no and yes. horses were in the americas way back, somewhere around the last ice age but probably died out. they weren't the ones you are aware of since they were more like pony-size. they disappeared and weren't seen again until the spaniards arrived in the early 1500s and the conquest of the americas. in fact, the natives were startled when they saw these big horses with riders. the natives thought them to be one creature combined, kinda' similar to the minotaur. but of course, they weren't. by the time the natives realized this, it was too late. between the spaniards being mobile with the horses and the fire power, native rule was out and spanish rule was in. p.s. it is believed that the earliest horses arrived across the aleutian straights way back when it was a land bridge. they walked across from asia, maybe china region, and stayed until they were replaced by another form, the buffalo. just thought you'd want to know.

Answer 5

The Spanish brought horses to the Americas when Cortez conquered the Aztecs.

Answer 6

Well, the Native Americans, whom we believe were the first to inhabit the Americas, had no horses. However, this all changed from the Europeon nations started to explore in the New World itself, most particularly the Spanish Conquistadors.

Answer 7

Can't remember the century that horses came here, but Cortez is credited with bringing them from Spain to the "new world." At the time the native people had never seen horses & thought that Cortez & his men were gods that were part horse, part man.

Answer 8

in the paleolithic era horses were native to the Americas, but, became extinct. in the early 1500's ad the conquistadores brought horses from Europe and some escaped to become the American mustang or Indian pony. others were imported by American and Mexican as well as South American colonists. many were for riding purposes but also many for agricultural purposes. among these breeds were: Arabians, English saddle stock. Clydesdale, Belgian, Percheron, etc.

Answer 9

Horses were brought to the Americas in Columbus second trip, 1493. Other animals were brought in that voyage, such as pigs and goats.