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Hallowed Hippology - Equos toto orbe terrarum
May 23, 1493 - Castilian monarchs instructed Fernando de Zafra to hire Andalusian horsemen and their horses to accompany Columbus on his second exploration. Five of these 20 horseman were to bring spare horses who were to be mares. When Columbus requested additional ships ($$) to transport the horses, the King declined the additional funding and told Columbus to leave other supplies behind to make room for the horses (Johnson, 1943).
The horses boarded ships in the Canary Islands and arrived on La Isabela, Hispaniola, in the Dominican Republic on November 28, 1493 (Oviedo y Valdés, 1851).
Multiple waves of imports arrived from Spain to Hispaniola (Renton, 2018). Over the next decade, importations and breeding conditions on the Island created large herds and West Indies Governor Nicolás de Ovando, decreed there was no need to import more horses (Johnson, 1941). However, other records (Renton, 2018) include importations from Spain/Portugal to:
May 23, 1493 - Castilian monarchs instructed Fernando de Zafra to hire Andalusian horsemen and their horses to accompany Columbus on his second exploration. Five of these 20 horseman were to bring spare horses who were to be mares. When Columbus requested additional ships ($$) to transport the horses, the King declined the additional funding and told Columbus to leave other supplies behind to make room for the horses (Johnson, 1943).
The horses boarded ships in the Canary Islands and arrived on La Isabela, Hispaniola, in the Dominican Republic on November 28, 1493 (Oviedo y Valdés, 1851).
Multiple waves of imports arrived from Spain to Hispaniola (Renton, 2018). Over the next decade, importations and breeding conditions on the Island created large herds and West Indies Governor Nicolás de Ovando, decreed there was no need to import more horses (Johnson, 1941). However, other records (Renton, 2018) include importations from Spain/Portugal to:
- Hispaniola - 1494, 1504, 1508, and 1526
- Nueva Andalucía/Nueva Granada - 1530, 1534, and 1544
- Brazil - 1535, 1543, and 1549
- Florida (via Cuba) - 1538
From these initial importations and subsequent breeding, domesticated horses spread throughout the Americas.
In the 1620's, we have records of importations of domesticated horses from northern Europe notably England and the Netherlands (Phillips, 1922)
Map Adapted from Renton, 2018
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