The Iberian Horse: From Europe to America

The Iberian Horse: From Europe to America

Le Superbe, a Spanish Horse, from the Duke of Wellington's: A General System of Horsemanship

A Distinguished Following:The Patrons and Admirers

Henry VIII Louis XIV William Cavendish Duke of Newcastle

Charles I Charles V

James I Carthusian Monks Philip I-IVFrancois Robichon de la Gueriniere

In Praise of Excellence

A modern day “fair and good” horseman Portrait of James I

'The honourablest and most commendable games that ye can use are on horseback; for it becometh a Prince better than any other man to be a fair and good horseman' ~ King James I (Loch 78) While Henry VIII forbade the exportation of horses to Scotland, as ruler of a unified Scotland and England, King James I further promoted the Spanish horse and equitation in his kingdom.

Emperor Charles V astride his

Spanish Jennet/European Warmblood

hybrid.

Charles V greatly advanced the

development of the Iberian Horse.

Portrait of the Duke of Newcastle, from his book: A General System of Horsemanship

“The Duke of Newcastle was such a world famousman... he may quite justly be called the pre-eminent

horseman of his time.” ~ Von Solleysel, (Loch 90)

Portrait of Charles I“The horse of Spayne is finelie made, both head, bodie and legs, and very seemlie to the eie, saving

that his buttocks be somewhat slender, and for his making lightness and

swiftness withal, he is very much esteemed,

especiallie of noble men”~Thomas Blundeville

(Loch 75)

Portrait of Charles I, 1633

“The Spanish horse is the noblest in the

world ... and the most beautiful ... and the fittingest of all for a

king in his day of triumph.'

~William Cavendish Duke of Newcastle

(1592-1676) (Loch 91)

“The Genettes have a wonderful active walk, a high trot, an admirable canter and

an exceptionally fast racing gallop. In general they are not

very big but there are nowhere better bred horses. I have heard

extraordinary tales of their courage” ~ Jacques de Solleysel,

Master of the Horse to Louis XIV 1664 Portrait by

Nicolaes Berchem (1620-1683),  Landscape with Two Horses

Depiction of the Spanish Jennet

Jennets at the surrender of GranadaA contemporaneous altar retablo

1492

“I have heard some of the Spaniards to set such praise on their jennet's courage,

as they have not letted to report, that they have carried their riders out of the field,

I cannot tell how manie miles, after the jennets themselves have been shot cleane through the

bodies with harquebushes” ~ Thomas Blundeville, from his book:

The Fower Cheifest Offyces of Horsemanshippe (Lock 33)

“Horses are the most necessary

thing in the New Country

because they frighten the

enemy most, and after God,

to them belongs the victory”

~ Pedro de Castaneda de

Nagera

Another Conquistador: Juan de Onate (1552-1626)Statue by Reynaldo Rivera

“I wish to put down, from memory, all the horses and mares that we

disembarked” ~ Bernal Diaz del Castillo

“Captain Cortes had a dark chestnut stallion which died when we reached

San Juan Ulua... Alonzo Hernandez Puertocarrero, a grey mare. She was

fast, and Cortes bought her for him for a gold shoulder knot...

Christoval de Olid had a dark brown horse that was very satisfactory...

Francisco de Morla, a dark bay horse which was very fast and had a good mouth...

Gonzala Dominguez, an excellent horseman, had a dark brown horse,

very good, and very fast... Baena, from La Trinidad, had a piebald with

white forefeet; he proved worthless...Ortiz, the musician, and Bartolome Garcia, who had

gold mines, had a black horse called El Arriero [Drover]. He was one of

the best horsesthat we took aboard the fleet...”

Loch 210-211

By Royal DecreeBy Royal Decree

“Among the persons which we order to go in the above-mentionedarmada we have agreed that twenty lancers, jinetes, are to sail withthe horses. Therefore, we mandate that from among the persons ofthe Holy Brotherhood living in this Kingdom of Granada, the above-

mentioned twenty horsemen should be selected. They shall be steadfast and loyal men and shall sail eagerly. Five of them shall

bring spare horses, and those spare horses shall be mares”

~ Royal Decree from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella23 May, 1493, (Bennett 152)

“The races of horses in all the principalities and provinces of the Indies discovered by the Spanish from 1492 until now, are of the race of mares and

stallions of Spain, particularly of Andalucia” ~ Garcilaso de la Vega, early 16th century Peruvian

author (Bennett 159)

“No part of the Island of Espanola originally had horses;

they were bred from the very first mares and stallions brought

here from Spain” ~ Oviedo, 16th century eyewitness (Bennett 171)

“By the middle of the seventeenth century, English, French, Portugese,

and Dutch colonists were also bringing to the New World the forms of horse

- “races” as Cabrerera correctly refers to them – which are proper to their

respective countries; but for centuries most American horses were fundamentally Spanish, not only because

the colonization of the New World was mainly Spanish, but also because colonists of every

nationality sought out Spanish bloodstock – for the Spanish horse of the reigns of

Charles V and Philip II was considered to be the finest in the world”

~ (Bennett 167)

Colonial Equine Economics

“Idyllic climate, green pastures, and an initial lack of parasites and

predators all contributed to a huge population explosion

of horses in the Caribbean during the 16th century. Pacing the

conquest, Spaniards established studs on many islands. However, many

of these were run by officious bureaucrats interested primarily

in their own gain. In a ploy to establish a monopoly on trade,

greedy Espanolan officials hastened to create laws forbidding

the export of mares from the islands. This not only hindered

commerce, but crippled the efforts of conquistadors such as

Hernan Cortes, who in 1518 found himself snarled in red tape

and burdened with inflated prices when he tried to obtain horses

for his expedition to Mexico” (Bennett 171).

Royal Capitulations

“To cut red tape, Charles V began to cede supplies directly to each ofthe Conquistadors, by means of royal documents called

capitulations. These were contracts which authorized their enterprisesand specified the number of horses they had a right to

requisition from Crown – owned ranches operating on the islands. For example, to enable Francisco Pizarro to outfit himself for the

conquest of Peru in 1532, Charles authorized him to take horses from the Jamaican royal stud. As New World horse

populations increased, however, the number of such requisitions became fewer” (Bennett 172).

Royal Intervention and an Ironic Result

“The Crown soon revoked these Espanolan laws, and horses promptly expanded onto new islands” (Benett 171). However, as

16th century eyewitness Oviedo noted, this abundance of horses

and ease of acquirement triggered an economic reversal. Instead of

hyper-inflation, the horse market underwent a serious devaluation:

“...And there are now so many that there isn't any

need to search for them or to bring them from another area ...

And so it has come to pass that the value of a colt or a

mare bred in this island is [$50 to $150]... or less”

(Bennett 171-172).

The Beginning of a New Era

“In 1519 Cortes invaded the mainland. His horse was the firstto set foot on the North American continent in 10,000 years, yet

only ten years later, the Mesta – the Mexican cattlemens' organization – found it necessary to write its first charter of rulesconcerning brand registration and loose livestock: the mustangs had already made a start... Even before Cortes' arrival in Mexico,

horses were being bred in Central America... in what is now Panama, and from there they spread into Columbia and the llanos of

Venezuela. Horses were exported from Peru to Chile and finally to Argentina, where on the pampas their numbers exploded as they had already done nearly everywhere else” (Bennett 172). The Horse had returned to forever change the history and way of life of the American

Continent. Come from Spanish ships, they became an integral part of our modern heritage.

Sources:Loch, Sylvia: The Royal Horse of Europe, J.A. Allen & Co Ltd, Great Britain, 2007

Bennett, Deb, Ph.D: Conquerors: The Roots of New World HorsemanshipAmigo Publications, Inc. USA, 1998

Photographic Image Credits (in order of appearance):www.bloodlines.net (Le Superbe)www.middletemple.org/uk (James I)www.artisticdressage.com (Gueriniere)www.allposters.co.uk (Carthusian monks)www.allposters.com (Philip IV)www.allposters.com ( Henry VIII)www.commons.wikimedia.org (Louis XIV)www.thepeerage.com (William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle)

Sources, Continued:

www.lovelyoldtree.wordpress.com (Charles I)www.commons.wikimedia.org (Charles V)b&w photograph by Isabel Miscoe (Andalusian Stallion)b&w photgraph by Isabel Miscoe (Andalusian Stallion)www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk (James I)www.allposters.com (Charles V)www.lombardmaps.com (William Cavendish Duke of Newcastle)www.flickr.com (Charles I)www.shafe.co.uk (Charles I)www.spanishjennet.org (portrait of Spanish Jennets)www.frankhopkins.com (engraving of Spanish Jennets)www.learnnc.org (equestrian statue of Juan de Onate)