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  New Husband, Old Problems

  Here’s where the story gets murky. In 1880, Belle married Sam Starr, and by some accounts, she became the brains behind the family’s criminal operations—in particular, horse thievery and cattle rustling. Others paint Belle as a victim of circumstance . . . a woman who fell in with the wrong crowd and just wanted to “live out [her] time in peace.”

  Either way, both Belle and Sam were soon caught and charged with horse theft, cattle rustling, and various other crimes. Finally, they ended up before Texas’s notorious Isaac “Hanging Judge” Parker, who sentenced them to one year in prison. (They each served nine months.)

  Blast From the Saddle

  The time in jail didn’t halt Belle’s criminal activities. In fact, she continued to be part of the Starr family business even after Sam was killed in a gunfight in 1886. Her next husband and her teenage son were also both indicted for horse stealing during the 1880s.

  Finally, in February 1889, her outlaw life caught up with her. After a shopping trip alone (her husband was at the county courthouse facing yet another horse-stealing charge), Belle rode home. But before she arrived, a mysterious shotgun blast from the woods beside the road threw Belle from her saddle. Her spooked horse raced back to the Starr house, and his arrival alerted Belle’s daughter Pearl, who went looking for her mother. But the Bandit Queen’s story was over. Belle Starr was dead just two days before her 41st birthday. Her killer was never caught.

  Horsey Happy Birthday

  January 1 is the universal birthday for all horses registered in North America, no matter when during the year they were actually born.

  The Great Meddler’s Cause

  Today, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is known mostly for its work with dogs and cats. But its origin is tied to one man’s horror at the treatment of New York City’s working horses.

  In the 1860s, many city horses lived miserable lives. They worked until they dropped, were underfed and habitually beaten, and rarely had enough water to drink. A working horse’s average life span was just two to four years. And horses who were too old or sick to work were often turned loose in the streets to die.

  Enter the Great Meddler

  Henry Bergh was the son of a wealthy shipbuilder and mostly led a life of leisure. He went to Columbia University (but didn’t graduate) and then worked for his father’s shipyard. But when his father died in 1843, Bergh sold the business, collected his inheritance, and moved to Europe for a while with his wife. By the 1860s, he was back in New York with little to do.

  In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln sent Bergh to Russia as an ambassador to the court of Czar Alexander II. (The Bergh family had long-standing connections in American politics.) It was there that he first noticed the inhumane treatment of animals. In particular, Bergh noticed that the Russian peasants often mistreated the horses pulling their droshkies (carriages), and he became incensed at humans’ cruelty toward animals.

  Two years later, on his way back to the United States, Bergh visited London. There, he met with the Earl of Harrowby, president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Founded in 1824, the society was devoted to animal welfare (initially cattle, but later all animals), and it was from this model that Bergh came up with the idea to start a similar group in the United States.

  “A Matter Purely of Conscience”

  Initially, Bergh focused his attention on New York City’s working horses. First, he organized a group of supporters: everyone from the minister at his church to local businessmen. They began pressuring the New York legislature to pass a law making it illegal for a person to beat, starve, or otherwise neglect an animal in his care.

  In the meantime, Bergh founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). When asked why he was devoting so much of his time to this cause, he replied, “This is a matter purely of conscience; it has no perplexing side issues. It is a moral question in all its aspects.”

  The First Rescue

  In 1866, Bergh spoke before the New York State Legislature and gave them his proposal. He referred to “these mute servants of mankind” and cited the many ways in which animals were being abused. The lawmakers were so moved by his speech that they passed a law incorporating the ASPCA and banning the mistreatment of animals. They also gave the newly formed society the right to enforce the new anticruelty law.

  Three days later, Bergh saved his first animal when he came upon a New York City carriage driver beating his emaciated horse. A crowd gathered as Bergh, wearing a top hat and badge, reprimanded the man, unhitched the horse, and led it away.

  Newspapers picked up the story, and debate began. Some people called Bergh “the great meddler”; others considered him an angel. Over time, the ASPCA’s emblem took on the latter incarnation: an avenging angel, armed with a sword, stepping between a man and a mistreated wagon horse. Bergh continued to work with the group for the rest of his life.

  ASPCA Innovations

  In its first 100 years, the ASPCA introduced many animal-friendly innovations, some of which are still used today:

  •In 1867, the society used the first ambulance for injured horses—drawn by a horse.

  •In 1875, Bergh invented a sling to lift horses who had difficulty getting up.

  •The same year, he invented a mechanical pigeon for sport shooting so live birds no longer had to be used.

  •In 1894, the ASPCA opened the first animal shelters and started issuing dog licenses.

  •In 1902, ASPCA ambulances became mechanized—two years before human ambulances did.

  •In 1912, the ASPCA opened its first veterinary hospital, which treated all animals for free. The hospital focused primarily on treating horses, but it didn’t turn away other animals.

  •ASPCA vets also pioneered the use of anesthesia for animals, and in 1961, they performed the first open-heart surgery on a dog.

  The ASPCA Today

  Henry Bergh died in 1888, but the ASPCA lives on. The organization strives to abolish animal suffering through its many programs: education, adoption, rescue, poison control, and passing humane laws. In 2006, the ASPCA arrested more than 100 people for animal cruelty, found homes for 2,253 dogs and cats, and treated 24,120 animals at its hospitals. A year later, the organization awarded $365,000 in grants to equine organizations, proving that dogs and cats may have become the organization’s mainstay, but Henry Bergh’s ASPCA remains dedicated to the horses who inspired it.

  The Great Crusader

  Animals weren’t Henry Bergh’s only cause, and his reputation as a person who saved mistreated creatures put him at the forefront of the United States’ first major child abuse case. Mary Ellen Wilson was a nine-year-old girl who had bounced from home to home until she ended up with Mary and Francis Connolly, a New York City couple who abused her. In 1874, Methodist missionary Etta Wheeler heard about the little girl’s situation and contacted Bergh for help.

  Bergh got in touch with the New York Times, which then ran a series of articles outlining Mary Ellen’s plight. Bergh also sent one of the ASPCA’s attorneys to petition for the child’s removal from the Connollys’ home. The judge granted the petition, and Mary Ellen eventually went to live with Etta Wheeler’s family. Mary Connolly was found guilty of felonious assault and sent to prison. And the public outcry over the case led to the formation of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

  The Original Mistys

  Just a few hours from the nation’s capital, on an island that straddles the Maryland/Virginia border, a herd of horses roams free.

  Off the coast of Maryland and Virginia is Assateague, a barrier island that's been home to a population of wild horses for more than 300 years. The animals are often called ponies, even though they’re actually horses whose size has been stunted because of their diet—salty marsh grass and a lot of water, which also makes them look more bloated than their relatives. But regardless of whether they’re horses or
ponies, the black, white, brown, and spotted animals have made the island famous.

  Tax Evasion—17th-Century Style

  There are several theories about how the horses got to Assateague:

  •Local folklore claims that a 16th-century Spanish galleon carrying a cargo of horses sank off the Virginia coast, and the horses who survived the wreck swam to shore.

  •Other people think early colonists or pirates brought horses to the island.

  •But most historians agree that the horses’ ancestors were probably abandoned on the island in the late 17th century by mainland owners who didn’t want to comply with new fencing laws . . . and were also trying to avoid paying taxes on their livestock.

  Today, the approximately 300 wild horses who live on Assateague are divided into two main herds, separated by a fence that cuts the island in half at the border between Maryland and Virginia.

  Pony Penning

  Every July, the Virginia herd is rounded up in an event called “pony penning,” a practice that dates back hundreds of years.

  Originally, farmers and ranchers penned horses, sheep, and other livestock to claim loose herds. Over the years, it became a social event: the farmers would pen the animals, and then the community would drink, eat, and celebrate together.

  In 1924, the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department—headquartered just across the bay from Assateague Island in Chincoteague, Virginia—added a pony swim and auction to the penning festival in an effort to attract tourists (and money) to the area. On the day of the festival, volunteers round up the Virginia ponies (the ones on the Maryland side aren’t included) and coax them to swim across the Assateague Channel to nearby Chincoteague. The “wild pony swim,” which was mentioned in Marguerite Henry’s novel Misty of Chincoteague, is a short swim of five to ten minutes and takes place at low tide for the safety of the spring foals.

  While they’re in Chincoteague, the horses are corralled for a few days to give visitors and residents a chance to admire them. Some of the horses are also auctioned off, in part to keep the size of the herd manageable. All of the money raised goes to the fire department. Two days after the auction, the remaining horses are herded back across the channel to the Virginia side of Assateague.

  Don’t Feed the Animals

  Meanwhile, on the Maryland side, Assateague Island is a national seashore, protected and run by the National Park Service. Visitors can see the horses running or grazing along the shoreline, but there are strict no-feeding, no-petting rules. Beautiful as they are, the horses have been known to bite, kick, and charge after park visitors who don’t keep a safe distance. So if you go, it’s best to admire them from afar.

  For more wild horses, turn to pages 116 and 129.

  Lessons Learned

  Horses show up in proverbs from around the world.

  It is not the horse that draws the cart, but the oats.

  —Russia

  When you go to a donkey’s house, don’t talk about ears.

  —Jamaica

  Judge not the horse by his saddle.

  —China

  It is not enough for a man to know how to ride; he must know how to fall.

  —Mexico

  The wagon rests in winter, the sleigh in summer, the horse never.

  —Yiddish

  If three people say you are an ass, put on a bridle.

  —Spain

  In buying a horse or taking a wife, shut your eyes tight and commend yourself to God.

  —Tuscany

  Mighty Mustangs

  Few things embody the romanticism of the Wild West better than the mustang.

  The word “mustang” comes from the Spanish mesteño, meaning “stray.” Today, these equine strays roam in 10 Western states. Modern mustangs are descended from Spanish stock that escaped during the 17th and 18th centuries, and from horses who were brought west by ranchers. On the Plains, ranchers often released their horses in the winter and then recaptured them (or others) in the spring. Some never came home, and others became the property of the Native American tribes that raided European settlements. By the 1700s, mustangs were a staple among Native Americans in the West.

  Catch and Release

  In the 1830s, a smallpox epidemic swept through the Plains tribes. Unable to care for all their animals, the Native Americans released many of their mustangs into the wild. About 50 years later, when the U.S. government was trying to turn the tribes into farmers, officials introduced draft horses to some mustang herds to change the horse stock from a wild to a farming breed. As a result, different herds of modern mustangs can vary widely in appearance.

  Mustangs can be any color, and they’re strong and fast . . . often faster than domesticated horses. Catching them was tricky, and early ranchers and Native Americans used a process called “mustanging” to do it—lassoing the horses at a full gallop. (Among the Sioux, a lasso even became the symbol for a wild horse.) The fastest mustangs could easily escape a rider, so usually only the oldest and weakest horses were caught. In the early 1900s, though, cowboys started using motor vehicles, which made mustanging easier.

  Free Again

  Mustanging went on until 1971, when the U.S. Congress passed the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act. The law made it illegal for a private citizen to capture or kill a mustang. (Government agencies do occasionally capture some of the horses to thin herds.) That brought the practice of mustanging to an end, and today, about 41,000 mustangs live in states from Arizona to Oregon, most in Nevada.

  Good to Know

  There are no albino horses. Why? Because the albino gene is fatal in horses.

  Lost Breeds, Part 1

  The National Wildlife Federation estimates that 100 different animal species become extinct every day. The Equus genus has lost 17 breeds that scientists know of. Here are three.

  The Ferghana

  This breed was originally from Bactria (the northwestern portion of ancient Afghanistan and Tajikistan) but was named for the Ferghana region of central Asia. The Ferghana ranged in color from mottled-white to peach and red; had a long, flowing tail; and could travel as many as 300 miles a day. They also had two distinct bloodlines:

  •The hotbloods resembled modern Arabians and had a long, narrow head, flaring nostrils, and a light gait.

  •The coldbloods had bristly manes that were usually cropped, thick necks, and Roman-style noses.

  China’s second-century emperor Wu-ti especially loved Ferghana horses and wanted to bring them east. When the rulers of Bactria objected, Wu-ti invaded and defeated them, and then proceeded to take all the horses he wanted. One hundred of Bactria’s finest breeding stock plus 3,000 other horses were shipped off to China, thus beginning the era of the country’s “sweating blood” horses—so named because the Chinese thought they actually sweated blood.

  (Historians think that blood-sucking parasites bit the Ferghana horses as they worked, causing the animals to look like they sweated blood.) Soon these horses became the favored mount of the military and the Imperial Court, and statues of the Ferghana appeared in all types of Chinese art.

  Eventually, Ferghana horses arrived in the Middle East by way of the Moors, who took them to Spain. They came to North America in the 1500s via an expedition into northern Arizona. By the 1800s, escaped Ferghanas were running wild all over the West, but over the next 100 years, because of excessive crossbreeding worldwide, the distinctive Ferghana disappeared.

  The Turkoman

  The most remarkable quality of the Turkoman breed—originally from the area that’s now Turkmenistan—was its stamina. These horses could travel 900 miles in 11 consecutive days, drinking water only every three days and eating sparse desert grass. That hardiness made them extremely valuable to early populations in this arid region.

  Turkoman horses looked a lot like modern Arabians—slender with lean bodies, small muzzles, and long necks and backs. They stood 15 to 16 hands tall and had generally solid coats of white, gray, or black. The Turkomans had almost no mane,
and their coats glistened with a silky metallic glow. Bred and raised on the central Asian steppes, these horses were extremely fast—they could easily outrun and outlast any of the predators of that region . . . and they were equally adept in the water. No one knows exactly when the breed became extinct. They were around until at least the early 17th century, and there are records of them racing on English tracks. By about 1625, though, they were gone.

  The Narragansett Pacer

  There’s some disagreement about where the Narragansett pacer came from. Some researchers say the breed was a result of crossing the Irish hobby and the Scottish Galloway pony, but others say the Narragansett came from the Spanish Jennet’s bloodline. Either way, the horse was developed in Rhode Island in the 17th century.