When were horses introduced to north America?

Answer 1

The prevailing belief is that the Spanish explorers brought the first modern horses to North America on their sailing vessels. This was back in the 1500s. Historians believe that at one time, a few evolutionary predecessors of the horse lived in North America, but they have been extinct for over 10,000 years.

Answer 2

Actually, and I say this with respect to the asker, horses weren't introduced to North America, they originated in North America. Don't ask me how they got over to Europe and whatnot, I just know that the Dawn Horse, the first form of a horse - Equus callabus scientifically - appeared in North America about 60 million years ago.

In addition:

Between 10,000 and 8,000 years ago, horses disappeared entirely from North and South America. Various conflicting theories exist as to the reason for this, including food shortage, disease, and extinction as a result of hunting by the growing human population. They were re-introduced in the 16th century by Spanish explorers who brought their horses over by ship.

Answer 3

Horses were re-introduced to North America in the 1500's. Most of these horses were of Iberian descent with many of them containing Sorraia blood instead of Andalusian like once thought. However horses evolved over much of the North American continent until their extinction some 8,000 to 12,000 ( typically 10,000 years is given, but is debatable.) years ago. There is some thought that perhaps tiny pockets of horses survived the die-off of megafauna that occurred, but this cannot be confirmed at this point and time.

There is another theory ( again, this is debatable) That horses were re-introduced some 500 years before the Spanish, by vikings that landed in what is now Canada.