Hi everyone we ran around today we went to ...

• The Library
  
• Sams
  
• Walmart
  
• Then we went to my play practice that  we thought was today and NOBODY was there

What is known is that horses in general had reached the Pacific Northwest by 1700 and the Nez Perce people, who lived in what today is eastern Washington and Oregon, were known as notable horse breeders by the early 1800s.^[4] The Nez Perce obtained their original horses from the Shoshone people, and from there took advantage of the fact that they lived in excellent horse-breeding country, relatively safe from the raids of other tribes, and developed strict breeding selection practices for their horses. They were one of the few tribes to actively use the practice of gelding inferior male horses, and actively traded away poorer stock to remove unsuitable animals from the gene pool.^[2]

These early Nez Perce horses were considered to be of high quality. Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition wrote in his February 15, 1806 journal entry: "Their horses appear to be of an excellent race; they are lofty, eligantly [sic] formed, active and durable: in short many of them look like fine English horses and would make a figure in any country." Lewis did note spotting patterns, saying, "…some of these horses are pided [sic] with large spots of white irregularly scattered and intermixed with black, brown, bey [sic] or some other dark color."^[4]

By "pided", some historians argue that he meant pied, or pinto.^[3] Even if Lewis did refer to leopard-spotted patterns seen in the modern Appaloosa, the Appaloosa Horse Club itself estimates that only about ten percent of the horses owned by the Nez Perce at the time were spotted.^[4] It is clear the Nez Perce had many solid-colored horses in the early 1800s, and only began to emphasize color in their breeding program some time after the arrival of Lewis and Clark. In any case, the Nez Perce had many spotted horses by the late 1800s when they once again came to the attention of the rest of the world.^[3]

Nez Perce chief Looking Glass, on horseback, photo dated 1877, the year of his death

The Nez Perce people were a relatively peaceful nation, many of whom engaged in agriculture as well as horse breeding. The encroachment of gold miners in the 1860s and settlers in the 1870s put pressure on the tribe to give up much of their land, and various treaties between 1855 and 1863 reduced their original treaty lands of seven million acres (28,000 km²) by 90%.^[2]

Ultimately the Nez Perce drew the line at the Wallowa Valley of Oregon. While their leader, popularly known as Chief Joseph, was attempting to negotiate a new treaty, a small group of warriors attacked settlers in 1877, leading to a battle in the White Bird Canyon of Idaho and the 1877 Nez Perce War. Joseph then led about 800 of his people, mostly non-warriors, in a remarkable retreat southeast through Idaho and Montana and then back north across Yellowstone National Park, traveling roughly 1,700 miles while first trying to seek refuge with other tribes including the Shoshone and the Crow Nation, then ultimately deciding to try to reach safety in Canada. A small number of Nez Perce fighters, mounted on their fast, agile and hardy Appaloosa horses, successfully held off larger forces of the U.S. Army in several skirmishes, including the two-day Battle of the Big Hole in southwestern Montana.

However, the journey came to an end when they stopped to rest near the Bears Paw Mountains in Montana, 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the Canadian border, thinking that they had shaken off their pursuers. But Nelson A. Miles, then a colonel, led his troops in a rapid march of over 200 miles (322 kilometers) to catch the Nez Perce. After a devastating five-day battle, the battle - and the war -was over. Chief Joseph declared in his famous speech that he'd "fight no more forever."

When the U.S. 7th Cavalry captured Chief Joseph and the remaining Nez Perce on October 5, 1877, they immediately took over 1,000 of the tribe's horses, sold what they could, and shot many of the rest. A significant population of horses had been hastily left behind in the Wallowa valley when the Nez Perce began their retreat still remained, and additional animals escaped or were abandoned along the way.^[2] The Nez Perce were ultimately settled on a reservation in north central Idaho, were allowed very few horses, and were required by the Army to breed what mares they still had to draft horse stallions in an attempt to create farm horses.^{[citation needed]} Thus, though a remnant population of Appaloosa remained after 1877, the Appaloosa breed was virtually forgotten as a distinct breed for almost 60 years.^[2] However, a few quality horses continued to be bred, mostly those captured or purchased by white settlers and used as working ranch horses.

In 1937, the Appaloosa as a breed had caught the eye of the general public because of a series of articles in Western Horseman magazine, and in 1938 the Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) was founded by Claude Thompson and a small group of other dedicated breeders.^[5] The registry was originally housed in Moro, Oregon, then in 1947 moved to Moscow, Idaho.^[5] The Appaloosa Museum foundation was formed in 1975 to preserve the history of the Appaloosa horse.^[6]

The State of Idaho offers an Appaloosa customized license plate

By 1978, the ApHC was the third largest horse registry in the United States.^[5] Today, the Appaloosa breed is one of America's most popular breeds and there are over 670,000 Appaloosas registered by the ApHC.^[7] The state of Idaho adopted the Appaloosa as its official state horse on March 25, 1975 when Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus signed the enabling legislation.^[4] Idaho even offers a custom license plate featuring an Appaloosa horse,^[8] the first state to offer a plate featuring a state horse.^[9]

ost Appaloosas are recognized by their colorful spotted coat patterns, striped hooves, mottled skin (most visible around their eyes and on their muzzle) and white sclera around the eye. Appaloosas can have brown, blue or hazel eyes. Sometimes they will have eyes of different colors.^[10] However, some "N" registered Appaloosas do not display all of the typical traits and may appear to be "solid" (without spots, visible coat pattern or other characteristics generally associated with the breed.)

While the original, "old time" Appaloosas often had a sparse mane and tail, it was not a predisposition for the breed as a whole; many original Appaloosas had full manes and tails. Today the "rat tail" trait is usually bred away from and most "modern" Appaloosas have full manes and tails.

I love horses I made a great horse video last year, I will make another and post it on here I have to go

Haley