Curlies were first discovered by white men in America in the wild herds of mustangs in Eastern Nevada, at the turn of the 20th Century. The Sioux and Crow Indians had Curly horses as early as 1800, though whether these two kinds of Curly horses were related we don't know. There is also written and pictorial evidence of curly haired horses found at various times in various places around the world - Charles Darwin writes of curly horses in South America, for instance. Again, whether these horses are at all related to the North American dominant gene Curly horses is unknown at this time. Hopefully future research will shed some light on these matters. The Damele's, a Nevada ranching family, were the first to gather and use the Curlies on their ranch, in the 1930s. They interbred the tough, intelligent range Curlies with their ranch horses, and with an Arabian stallion, Nevada Red, and later a Morgan stallion, Ruby Red King. They found the Curly coat often came through on the cross-bred foals, showing that the Curly gene was dominant in these range Curlies. They also frequently got the other Curly characteristics which they prized - strong bone and hooves; calm, intelligent, easily trainable temperament; friendly personality; tough constitutions and stamina, etc.

Source - ICHO

http://www.curlyhorses.org/  ICHO website

http://www.abcregistry.org/   ABC website

http://www.gaitedhorses.net/CurliePage/indexCurly2.htm

http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/bashkircurly/index.htm