Horses were introduced to Jamaica by Spanish conquistadors (conquerors) and colonists in 1509. After a good initial development, horse breeding was curbed as the Jamaican grasslands were used for plantations. The English conquest of the island in 1670 led to the massacre of Spanish horses, their gradual replacement by English horses, and the arrival of West African slaves, themselves assimilated to animals by Anglo-American slave owners. Horse breeding enjoyed a revival in the 18th century. Although Jamaica was still mentioned as a breeding ground in the 19th century, horses have become much rarer in modern times due to modernised transport, with around 4,000 head recorded in 2017. Horse racing developed throughout the 19th century, to the point where the island became the leading horse racing centre in the Caribbean in the mid-twentieth century, before declining due to capital flight. Polo is also played in Jamaica.
History The domesticated horse (Equus caballus) is not native to Jamaica. Fossils of wild horses dating back to prehistoric times have been found all over the Americas, but the horse became extinct around 10,000 BC, perhaps as a result of hunting pressure from human populations. The domesticated species were gradually introduced to the American continent by European explorers and colonists from the 15th century onwards.
First arrivals In 1509, Diego Columbus arranged the colonisation of the island of Jamaica, so Juan de Esquivel took horses and cattle with him. These first horses and colonists arrived in Sevilla la Nueva. As in the neighbouring islands previously colonised by the Spanish, livestock farming became well established and, as a result, horses multiplied. The Monarchy of Spain lost some interest in Jamaica as it became clear that the island held no gold; nevertheless, it remains valuable as a base for preparing expeditions and conquests, and for its abundance of horses. Herrera's report states that the island will soon provide "large supplies of horses" for the new colonies, as well as pigs and cotton. The various unsuccessful expeditions sent by Francisco de Garay to Central America during the 1520s always included lancers mounted on horses born in Jamaica. The capitulations signed by Joanna the Mad in favor of Francisco Pizarro's invasion of Peru in 1529 mention the dispatch of 25 mares and the same number of stallions from the island. Three months after the creation of the Veracruz colony (now Mexico), Hernán Cortés received a seal brown Jamaican stallion named "El Romo" ("The Roman") from a ship sailing from Cuba and led by one of his friends. A week later, another, less friendly ship was captured by Cortés' troops, who appropriated its cargo of a dozen Jamaican horses, including the black stallion he would ride all the way to Honduras, Morcillo (or "El Morzillo" according to other sources). Before the English conquest Jamaica was known primarily for its cattle and horses, with no mention of slavery. However, it seems that horse breeding began to decline around this time. This may have been due to the island's topography, with lowland areas being fenced off to be turned into plantations. In any case, large herds of semi-wild horses (cimarrones) never developed in Jamaica, unlike on the neighbouring islands of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico.
English conquest and colonisation
During the English conquest of Jamaica in 1655, mention is made of the presence of horses and donkeys in the savannahs, which the new conquerors report having hunted down "like vermin". According to Deb Bennett, the English despised the horses bred by the Spanish, and later imported their own breeds to the island: Yorkshire Carrossiers for pulling carriages, Hobbies for saddling and Thoroughbreds a little later. In particular, these imports accompanied the development of sugarcane cultivation, which required horses for work and transport. According to zoologist Ángel Cabrera, this led to a new phase of prosperity for Jamaican breeding in the 18th century. But a new war broke out between England and Spain, and it was against this backdrop that Admiral Edward Vernon embarked Jamaican volunteer cavalrymen and their horses in January 1741. Most Jamaican horses were bred in the parishes of the west of the island, in fields known locally as "pens". Horse riding was practiced by all white people living on the island. It was common for wealthy whites to visit each other, the men riding while the women rode in carriages pulled by four horses, themselves driven by postilions in luxurious clothes.
Horses and enslaved people in Jamaica
In the 18th century, around 13% of the slaves brought by the English to the island of Jamaica (mostly black Africans) worked with livestock. The local use of the horse as a draft animal probably came as a surprise to the newly arrived African slaves, as this use was unknown in sub-Saharan Africa at the time. An example of such farms was provided by Philip D. Morgan's case study of Vineyard Pen, a farm with 251 head of cattle and 16 horses in 1750–1751. The horses on this farm probably came from England or North America. Enslaved people were described and treated as property, as were animals. Moreover, these slaves were, along with horses and cattle, the only ones to be given individual names, most likely by their owners. Certain names could be shared between slaves, cattle and horses, whether they be meliorative names (Beauty, Faithful Black...), pejorative names (Big Belly, Deceitful, False Heart...), or classic anglophone names, derived for example from the gods of Roman mythology. The only enslaved people who did not share the same type of name as the animals are those who exercised a function linked to a share of prestige, for example, the supervisors of breeding pens. It seems that a lighter skin color helped to gain access to these functions. Enslaved people were also likened to animals through analogies and comparisons, based on domestication and docility. One of these, which author Philip D. Morgan recounts the comments of enslaver Hector McNeil, in 1788 comparing enslaved people to livestock:
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
