Spanish Jennet Horse

The history of the Spanish Jennet horse began in Ancient Spain and developed in Medieval Spain as the product of the chance collision of several worlds and their horses. The mingling of these cultures and their mounts sparked the flame that became the world's finest riding horse - the Spanish Jennet.

The 18th C. English painter John Wooton painted many spotted horses including a leopard horse specifically titled "Lady Conaway's Spanish Jennet".

About 3,500 years ago, somewhere in the steppe region of Asia, horses were domesticate. The spotted horses were especially eye-catching and so they frequently became models for the local artisans. Some of those relics have endured to present day leaving us some record of horses during ancient times. The area known as Ferghana (a frontier province of Persia) became a source of supply of spotted horses in prehistoric and ancient times. There are spotted horses in the art of ancient Egypt dating from 1500 - 1300 BC. Spotted horses are depicted in Mycenean art from the 14th century BC. Pinto is depicted in a wall painting in the necropolis of Thebes circa 1415 BC.
Around 1000 BC, constantly in search of lush pasture for their herds, a nomadic tribe from the steppe region known as Scythia (area lying on the Black Sea between the mouths of the Danube and the Don Rivers) migrated westward; along the banks of the Danube River. These peoples were consummate horsemen. The modern day town of Hallstatt, Austria now occupies the area of the nomad's settlement. All that remains of the nomadic people is an ancient burial area, rich in archeological finds, bespeaking the nature of that early migrated culture. A sword dating to @800 BC specifically depicts horses with spots. In an Etruscan tomb in Italy, dated about the same time - 800 BC, exists a wall painting depicting a horse with a spotted rump. Since the Etruscans
came to Italy by ship @1000 BC they likely had brought those horses with them from Asia Minor, the steppe region. The Chinese emperor Wu Ti ( 2nd C. BC) eventually secured the "Heavenly Horses" of Ferghana (112 - 101 BC) to import to China to improve and replace the inferior native stock. Among those horses are depicted spotted horses. Chinese trade with the west insured a steady flow of improved horse flesh entering China. Spotted horses have been common in China for the last 2000 years as evidenced in surviving art and persist to present day.