Editing Cowboy (section)

===Spanish roots===
[[File:Dragon de cuera.jpg|thumb|18th-century [[soldado de cuera]] in colonial Mexico]]
Various aspects of the Spanish [[equestrianism|equestrian]] tradition can be traced back to [[Al-Andalus|Islamic rule in Spain]], including [[Moors|Moorish]] elements such as the use of [[oriental horse|Oriental-type horses]], the ''[[Jinete|la jineta]]'' riding style characterized by a shorter [[stirrup]], solid-treed [[saddle]] and use of [[spur]]s,<!--need further research on bit question--><ref name=Ceyhan/> the heavy [[noseband]] or [[hackamore]],<ref name="Bennett54"/> (Arabic ''šakīma'', Spanish ''jaquima'')<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of hackamore |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hackamore |website=Dictionary.com |access-date=July 27, 2019 |language=en}}</ref> and other horse-related equipment and techniques.<ref name=Ceyhan>{{Cite journal|title=Riding the Horse, Writing the Cultural Myth: The European Knight and the American Cowboy as Equestrian Heroes|author=Metin Boşnak, Cem Ceyhan|journal=Turkish Journal of International Relations|volume=2|issue=1|date=Fall 2003|pages=157–81}}</ref><ref name="Bennett54">Bennett, pp. 54–55</ref> Certain aspects of the Arabic tradition, such as the hackamore, can in turn be traced to roots in [[ancient Persia]].<ref name="Bennett54"/>

During the 16th century, the [[Conquistadors]] and other Spanish settlers brought their cattle-raising traditions as well as both [[horse]]s and domesticated [[cattle]] to the [[Americas]], starting with their arrival in what today is [[Mexico]] and [[Florida]].<ref name=Vernam190>Vernam, p. 190.</ref> The traditions of [[Spain]] were transformed by the geographic, environmental and cultural circumstances of [[New Spain]], which later became [[Mexico]] and the [[Southwestern United States]]. In turn, the land and people of the Americas also saw dramatic changes due to Spanish influence.

The arrival of horses was particularly significant, as [[equine]]s had been [[extinct]] in the Americas since the end of the prehistoric [[ice age]]. Horses quickly multiplied in America and became crucial to the success of the Spanish and later settlers from other nations. The earliest horses were originally of [[Andalusian horse|Andalusian]], [[Barb (horse)|Barb]] and [[Arabian horse|Arabian]] ancestry,<ref name=Denhardt20>Denhardt, p. 20.</ref> but a number of uniquely American [[list of horse breeds|horse breeds]] developed in North and South America through selective breeding and by [[natural selection]] of animals that escaped to the wild. The [[Mustang (horse)|mustang]] and other [[Colonial Spanish Horse|colonial horse breeds]] are now called "wild", but in reality are [[feral horse]]s—descendants of domesticated animals.