A mustang is a wild horse that roams free across the American West. These horses aren't truly wild in the strictest sense: they're descendants of horses that Spanish explorers brought to North America in the 1500s. Some escaped or were released, and over centuries, they formed herds that live without human control in places like Nevada, Wyoming, and Montana.

Mustangs are famously tough and independent. They survive in harsh desert and mountain terrain, finding their own food and water. They're typically smaller and hardier than domestic horses, with strong legs and an instinct for survival that centuries of living wild have sharpened. A mustang can travel dozens of miles in a day searching for water.

During the 1800s, cowboys would capture and break mustangs (train them to accept a rider), turning wild horses into working animals. Today, the Bureau of Land Management manages mustang populations on public lands, and people can adopt mustangs that need homes.

The Ford Mustang car, introduced in 1964, borrowed the name to suggest speed, freedom, and the American spirit.