1. Farm Animals of Spanish Colonial Texas

2. Large Livestock (Ganado Mayor)
Horses
Burros/Mules
Cattle
Oxen

3. Horses Uses Increased speed of communication
Carried food and other goods
Ranchers used horses in the cattle drives and on the range. Vaqueros could lasso cows from horseback
Horses were of mixed quality
Not of the Andalusian bloodline
like Spain was famous for

4. Burros/Mules Burros – Donkeys
Mules – Sterile offspring of male donkey and female horse
Both used as work animals
Pulled plows for farming and carried food and goods

5. Cattle Cattle was the main protein source of Spanish settlers
Introduced three different breeds
Ganado prieto – black
Ganado retinto – reddish or tan
Ganado barrenda – white with black markings

6. Oxen
Oxen are castrated male bovines, usually over four years of age, and trained as draught animals
They were used by settlers to pull plows and haul goods
Oxen can pull harder and longer and are more durable than horses
Draught animals – trained to perform tasks for humans

7. Small Animals (Ganado Menor)
Sheep
Goats
Hogs
Dogs

8. Sheep Eaten for protein and sheared for wool to make clothing
Sheep could survive on poorer pastures than cattle
Churra was the breed introduced by the Spanish
Lean and hardy
60-80 lbs in weight
Produced lbs of
coarse wool

9. Goats Eaten for protein Chivos – Adult pastured goats
Cabrito – kid goats, usually less than a month old
A delicacy favored over the adults

10. Hogs “Razorback” Hogs introduced by Spanish settlers
Served as yet another food source, though records indicate the number of hogs was fairly low
These hogs evolved
into the feral pigs that
now roam much of Texas

11. Dogs
Dogs were one of the few domestic animals not introduced by the Europeans
Spanish settlers discovered
the Plains Indians using dogs
to pull loads on wooden poles
called travois
The Spanish later utilized domesticated dogs on the farm to herd other animals and to guard their flocks

12. Problems Encountered
The Plains Indians valued Spanish horses and cattle and often stole livestock from their farms.
Some livestock often became wild upon neglect from the farmers. The wild mustangs that once roamed the American west and many feral pigs can be traced back to Spanish roots.

13. Texas Longhorn Cattle
A hybrid breed resulting from Spanish retinto stock and English cattle – 1800s
Best known for their extremely long horns; but also valued for their hardiness, hybrid vigor, and easy calving
Longhorn beef is much
leaner and lower in fat
than other beef cattle
Quickly became a symbol of Texas culture
Hybrid vigor - the increased strength of different characteristics in hybrids; the possibility to obtain a genetically superior individual by combining the virtues of its parents.