Spanish Jennet: Living in the Past
by D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD

This black Choctaw stallion shows the typical hip, croup and head of the old Spanish Jennet. Many Choctaw strain horses sport various pinto patterns and appaloosa patterns and a hefty percentage are gaited.

One of the most interesting and pervasive roots of several of the North American gaited horse breeds is the Iberian horse of the colonial period. The Iberian root – including horses referred to historically as Spanish Jennets - not only served the gaited horses well, but also was instrumental in producing other popular breeds such as the Quarter Horse (most numerous horse breed in the world).

The genetic resource represented by these Iberian horses is known by several names (Spanish Mustang, Spanish Barb, Barb) and in order to quell some of the disputes over names and which horses to include, I have opted to call them Colonial Spanish horses.

These served as the important fountain-head for so many breeds that it is ironic that the pure source is now rare.

The Colonial Spanish Horse currently has a bleak outlook for survival unless it becomes a more widespread and appreciated genetic resource in its own right rather than solely as a contributor to other breeds. A genetic resource that contributed so widely to derivative breeds should indeed be more widely hailed as the gold mine that it has long been. Instead, what tends to happen is that this resource tends to continue to be mined for other derivative breeding programs while the original resource flounders as the neglected resource for such broad utility and service.

Convoluted trail
The trail of these horses is convoluted, and as with most horse breeds the tale has its share of controversies. Interpretations other than this one exist!

The flashy dun color of this Pryor Mountain colt is only chrome on the underlying
Iberian conformation he has -- Colonial Spanish horses can be found in nearly every color known to horses.

North America received most of its Colonial Spanish Horses via Mexico from the earliest sampling of Iberian horses to come to the New World, and these early imports that arrived with the Spaniards were reasonably non-select “all purpose” horses. The horses did vary some in type, though not very much. Physical type varied from heavier to lighter, through a relatively small range of variation. The horses were nearly all in the neighborhood of 14 to 14.2 hands high.

Another aspect of these horses was their variable gait. Some were strongly gaited, others weakly or not at all. These patterns of gait occurred throughout the resource, and trotters and amblers were pulled out as desired for specific tasks.

Many of these horses were Spanish Jennets — more of a type than a “breed” — though certainly the physical and behavioral characteristics seem to have been uniform enough to have been a predictable and useful genetic resource.

The Jennets were generally smooth gaited, but apparently this varied from some that were more strongly gaited than others, and some that were predominantly trotters.

Jennets tend to have

• sloped croups, low-set tails,
• a straight or slightly convex facial profile,
• and other conformational distinctions that make them recognizable.

Several strains of uniquely Iberian Colonial Spanish Horses have persisted
in New Mexico, and are being closely guarded by families, such as the Bacas.

Different paths to the future
Once it arrived here, the Colonial Spanish horse took different paths down to the future, which affects the interrelationships of the many breeds descended from this original resource.

While the North American Colonial Spanish Horse does persist to this day, it is now very rare.

Part of the reason it is rare is that huge numbers of these horses have been used, over centuries, to form other breeds by diluting with varying amounts of other breeds (and types) of horses. These descendant breeds have superseded the foundation Colonial Spanish Horse breed in numbers and distribution.

A great deal of this process of breed replacement has to do with preference for larger horses with a different style of head than the Colonial Spanish horse. The original model does persist and is represented by a long list of registries and geographic origins such as Spanish Mustang, Barb, Pryor Mountain, Sulphur, Wilbur-Cruce, Choctaw, Marsh Tacky, Banker Pony, and Florida Cracker.

These, and others, maintain that original Iberian resource.

Two main derivative breed groups
The Colonial Spanish Horse contributed to two main derivative breed groups in North America. One of these is the “stock horse” that includes the Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, and Paint. These tend to betray less and less of the Iberian connection as time goes on, and are generally trotting/galloping rather than gaited.

The second group is a large group of gaited horses, including Missouri Fox Trotter, Tennessee Walking Horse, Saddlebred, and rare breeds such as the McCurdy Plantation horse, Rocky Mountain Horse, and Mountain Pleasure horse. Within this group a few strongly Iberian types can still be found, though within these breeds the type tends to vary from more Iberian to a larger saddlehorse type.

The fate of the Colonial Spanish Horse was different in Central and South America.

In more southerly regions the horses received periodic infusions of select horses from Spain, and these came in over centuries. As a result, the end product is slightly different in Latin America than in Anglo America.

In addition, several national breed efforts emphasized selection from gait (remembering that the Jennet was usually obviously gaited to some degree) and the result is the Paso breeds such as Paso Fino (from various countries) and the Peruvian Paso. In addition, the “generally trotting” breeds, such as the Criollo and Llanero, also have gaited horses as a substantial proportion of their breed populations.

In Iberia the fate of the original horse also differed from that of its American descendants. The Sorraia of Portugal is largely of the same original type that was common at the time of the conquest.

Opinions vary on whether this is a true subspecies of horse, or an interesting rare breed. In either light it is an important and pivotal genetic resource. In contrast, the Andalusian has been changed to a large extent, over centuries, by both selection and by introgression of larger more Northern European blood. These two forces have formed a breed that is rarely, if ever, gaited.

“The Jennet was not a ‘breed’ (with records and studfarms). The term ‘Jennet’ comes from the Spanish ‘gineta,’ meaning fine riding. Originally, ‘A la gineta’ meant riding a horse finely trained for battle or cow work. So, in that respect the name “Jennet” is like the name “jumper” or ‘reiner’, describing a suitable horse finely trained for a specific discipline.”

Heinz Reusser
founder, Conquistador magazine

New breed formation programs
In recent years a few new breed formation programs have returned to the Colonial Spanish horse for contributions. This is an interesting development, but can lead to further diminution of the pure resource unless breeders are careful to maintain this resource, as well as whatever derivatives are desired. Mining this resource yet once again only further contributes to its demise.

Florida Cracker horses are highly regarded for their smooth gaits.

The accompanying diagram outlines breed relationships and indicates that some of the descendant breeds are close cousins, while others are more distant. Consideration should be taken to historic relationships when breeders are seeking to form and strengthen a horse breeding endeavor.

In that vein the Colonial Spanish Horse should be given serious consideration due to its proximity to the original genetic fountainhead of several of these descendant breeds.

One effort, unrelated to gaited horses, is the Sorraia Mustang project. This project seeks out horses that are consistent with the Sorraia horse, a small Portuguese horse that is invariable solid dun or grullo. No doubt the Colonial Spanish horse is the closest cousin to the Sorraia as can be found today.

Florida Cracker horses are highly regarded for their smooth gaits.

It is important to remember that it has been separated from the Sorraia for nearly 500 years. That isolation makes it unlikely that a close or ancestor/descendant connection remains. These horses are indeed interesting, but it is important to note that a solid dun might be accepted as a Sorraia, while its bay full sister might well not be. Breed conservation should always be more than color!

The Spanish Jennet project is targeting the production of gaited horses that are spotted (paint or appaloosa types). The target here is an Iberian phenotype, which is a useful goal.

The Jennet was surely one of the roots of the Colonial Spanish horse, and is sadly extinct in Europe where it originated.

This attempt to recreate it from Paso bloodlines is interesting and appropriate. This poses little threat to the Colonial Spanish horse, as these are clearly close cousins.

Components available in other bloodlines
To the extent that limited outcrossing is used to reintroduce certain colors (the Paso breeders having generally favored solid colored horses), it is worth considering that these be from the more closely related Colonial Spanish bloodlines than from either Appaloosa or Paint, both of which have heavy contributions of non-Iberian breeding.

The head shape of this Choctaw stallion clearly
reveals his Iberian ancestry.

Once again it is important to note that the components of the “finished product” for this project are already available in many of the bloodlines of the Colonial Spanish horse – Cherokee bloodlines, for example, are profoundly gaited as well as coming in sabino, tobiano, and frame overo patterns, as well as the occasional appaloosa-patterned horse.

Gaitedness in the original Colonial Spanish horse does indeed survive. In most populations it seems that between one-quarter and one-third of the horses are gaited. Some of these are stronger for non-trotting gaits than are others, and this dimension can be difficult to evaluate in free-range horses, or in unbroken brood stock typical of many important Colonial Spanish Horse breeding programs.

The gait components remain strong in the breed, though, and those wanting gait can certainly find it within the North American Colonial Spanish horses. Cherokee, Marsh Tacky, and Florida Cracker horses all have strongly gaited individuals, and most other populations have gait in a relatively consistent proportion, and all in the unique and useful Iberian package of conformational and behavioral traits.

Selection from within similar resources produced the Paso Fino as well as the Peruvian Paso, and patience and dedicated breeding can do it once again from the North American Colonial Spanish Horse.