(Pic above is a Colonial Spanish horse)

The Colonial Spanish horse goes by a number of names including Spanish Mustang, Spanish Barb, or their strain name. Regardless of the name, they share conformational features that distinguish them from other riding breeds. They are small, standing 13.2 to 15 hands (54-60") at the withers and weighing 700-900 pounds. Colonial Spanish horse is a term popularized by D. Philip Sponenberg for a group of and descended from the original stock brought from to the. The ancestral type from which these horses descend was a product of the horse populations that blended between the and the North African. The term encompasses many strains or breeds now found primarily in. The of the Colonial Spanish horse is considered threatened overall with seven individual strains specifically identified. The horses are registered by several.

The Colonial Spanish horse, a general classification, is not synonymous with the name given to a specific derived from the first concerted effort of conservationists in the United States to preserve horses of Colonial Spanish Type. Colonial Spanish horse blood markers have been found in some populations. Small groups of horses of Colonial Spanish horse type have been located in various groups of ranch-bred, and horses, mostly among those in private ownership. Colonial Spanish horses are generally small; the usual height is around 14 (56 inches, 142 cm), and most vary from 13.2 to 14 (54 to 56 inches, 137 to 142 cm). Weight varies with height, but most are around 700 to 800 pounds (320 to 360 kg). Their heads vary somewhat between long, finely made to shorter and deeper, generally having straight to concave (rarely slightly convex) foreheads and a nose that is straight or slightly convex. The muzzle is usually very fine, and from the side, the upper lip is usually longer than the lower, although the teeth meet evenly. Nostrils are usually small and crescent-shaped. They typically have narrow but deep chests, with the front legs leaving the body fairly close together. When viewed from the front, the front legs join the chest in an "A" shape rather than straight across as in most other modern breeds that have wider chests. The withers are usually sharp instead of low and meaty. The croup is sloped, and the tail is characteristically set low on the body. From the rearview, they are usually "rafter hipped" meaning the muscling of the hip tapers up so the backbone is the highest point. Hooves are small and upright rather than flat. Horses first returned to the Americas with the , beginning with, who imported horses from to the on his second voyage in 1493. Domesticated horses came to the mainland with the arrival of in 1519. By 1525, Cortés had imported enough horses to create a nucleus of horse-breeding in Mexico. Horses arrived in South America beginning in 1531, and, by 1538, Florida, and scattered throughout the Americas. By one estimate there were at least 10,000 free-roaming horses in Mexico by 1553.

In 2010, the Colonial Spanish mustang was voted the official state horse of North Carolina.