This incredible breed of horse from the 1880s may just have had the longest manes and tails of all time.
Peculiar horse breeds have always fascinated us – remember our coverage of horses that appeared to made of liquid gold?
Legend has it that the original Oregon Long-Haired Wonder Horses were bred from a captured wild herd that roamed the mountains of Oregon. This mysterious herd allegedly ate raw meat and were akin to “wild men.” However, researchers and historians believe that this special breed was developed from Clydesdale, Percheron, and possibly Andalusian draft horses, which would explain their remarkable size.
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1. Oregon Long-Haired Wonder Horses were known for their rich chestnut color and amazingly long manes and tails.
2. Owners of these beautiful beasts kept their horses’ hair braided, plaited, or in pigtails to prevent tangling while they slept.
2. One Wonder Horse named White Wings had a tail that measured a whopping 17 feet in length and a mane that was 14 feet. He was described in one book as the most beautiful horse alive.
5. While these horses appear to be mystical beasts from another planet, a New Zealand Observer reporter claims that their origins are quite ordinary.
6. “The first of these long-maned Oregon Wonders came to light in the [eighteen-]eighties, being worked on a farm in Oregon. He was then taken East and put on exhibition, dying in Coney Island in 1887,” the reporter wrote.
7. “His son Linus was the only colt sired by him of which there is a record that he had the same superabundance of hirsute [hair] and Linus II was likewise the only one of the sort got by his sire.”
8. Wonder Horses were regularly on display at sideshows, a popular activity of the day. Barkers liked to claim that with each passing generation, the length of their mane and tail grew even more luxurious.
9. Oregon Long-Haired Wonder Horses no longer exist, but they will live on through the amazing photos taken of them.
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