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Hallowed Hippology - Equos toto orbe terrarum
Klein Venedig
with translation and interpretation assistance from Gräfin Cornelia vom Distelfeld and Britta Schmidt
Klein Vendig or "Little Venice" was an attempt by the Wesler Banking family to establish a colony in the region that is now Venezula from 1528 to 1546. (LaBell, S). In 1528, the Wesler Family received a land grant from Charles V of Spain. The grant included stipulations on settling the land. (Walter).
The initial expedition set sale from Spain and included 80 horses (Lacas, 1953).
One of the main purposes of the Klein Vendig colony was to acquire gold and if possible to find the mythical El Dorado or City of Gold. The Germans that horse would prove crucial to obtaining their goal.
Philip von Hutton served as the fourth Governor of Klein Vendig. Hutton explored the region and left behind letters and an accounting of his travels taken between 1535 and 1546. These works were published in Literary and Historical Magazine by Meusel (Bayreuth and Leipzig, 1785) under the title Zeitung aus India Junkher Philipps von Hutten.
Through Von Hutton's writings we learn that the expedition parties had a mixture of cavalry, foot soldiers and native porters. Horses did not seem to be used to carry goods. They predominately served as mounts for soldiers. Natives, who were a mizture of paid and enslaved, served as porters carrying the goods needed for each expedition.
Indigenous Interactions with Horses
Natives did not seem to interact with the horses much. One of the Europeans is
killed when he goes off on his own to hunt a deer on horseback. They send 60 men and 10 horses to look for him and only find his horse in a field, with no tack - though they later capture some [Indigenous] who have [the European's] rapier and other belongings. (CvD, personal communication, 2023)
The story would seem to indicate that the Indigenous did not see value in the horses themselves.
There was a single reference to putting Indigenous porters on to horses for crossing a river "deeper and more dangerous than usual" (CvD, personal communication, 2023).
The other potential reference to Indigenous riding was this story:
because it was necessary to find an Indian to show us the way, Santa Crux stayed hidden in the pueblo with countless Indians on foot and on horseback (CvD, personal communication, 2023)
Philipp von Hutten. Portrait by an unknown artist (posthumously, c. 1600)
"Trachtenbuch" des Christoph Weiditz, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg, Hs. 22474. Bl. 81–82 Wie die Pferde in die Schiffe verfrachtet werden / Wie in Spanien die Schiffe gedichtet werden
It is possible that this reference is a transcription error in the text from 1785 and may refer to the European soldiers being mounted, but as written it would seem to indicate that at least some Indigenous individuals learned to ride.
Horse Type and Breeding
Through out the travels, horses were frequently lost due to illness and there did not seem to be a ready means of replacing them in Venezula. At the end of three years of searching for riches, the Europeans are waiting for replacement horses and other supplies to arrive via "ship from Dominica" (CvD, personal communication 2023).
That factor would indicate that there was no ready breeding program in place in the colony. There are no specific mentions of mares made in the writing and it is possible that all horses are male.
He doesn't seem to differentiate types of horses at all, they're just "Pferd". He uses the term "Ross" once in a while (steed - a more noble horse) but only in the idiomatic phrase "zu Ross" for "on horseback". (CvD, personal communication 2023)
The horse are consistently used for riding, not supply transport through out the chronicles. Seem to add value via speed of transport and definitely provide superiority in fighting conflicts. The party "scouts ahead in groups of 10 on horseback" and "messengers travel back on horseback in groups of 4" (CvD, personal communication, 2023). Horses seem involved in tasks that require speed.
Horses and Combat
The maneuverability of the horses creates combat superiority. Hutton describes a time when the Indigenous
noticed that [the Europeans] force is quite small and attack them from two sides with about 150 warriors using bows and arrows and spears that they throw, as well as large shields made of hide that cover their entire body. [The Indigenous] are defeated because the [Europeans] "can get behind them with horses", i.e. outflank [the Indigenous] (CvD, personal communication, 2023)
At other times, the Europeans encounter attackers who disperse, "as soon as the riders run at them" (CvD, personal communication, 2023).
Without horses, the Europeans fared poorly during squirmishes:
40 guys have gone out on foot looking for a path and been ambushed. Nearly the entire party including the second in command was killed, so the Governor has said no scouting parties can go out on foot anymore. (CvD, personal communication, 2023)
Hieronymus Köler - Kolorierte Zeichnung von Hieronymus Köler d. Ä. (um 1560)
Horses provided tremendous aid to Hutton's party through out their 500 mile, 3 year journey (CvD, personal communication, 2023). Ultimately, the group was unsuccessful in their quest for wealth. And in the end, Charles V revoked the Welser charter and the colony was disbanded. Horses were useful, but they were not enough on their own to insure success.
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