Horses in Cuba
Equines in Cuban culture and history / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Horses (Spanish: caballo) arrived in Cuba with the conquistador (conquering) troops and the first Spanish colonists accompanying Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar in 1511. Horses were a decisive factor in Spanish victories against the native Arawaks of Cuba. And they were quickly bred locally, first as a military animal, then as a mount for working with cattle. Conflicts with the native Americans led to the enactment of a local law prohibiting them from owning and riding horses. It remained in force for a century, before being repealed to allow the recruitment of non-European Vaqueros.
Horse racing was introduced by the Americans at the beginning of the 20th century. The country then began to motorize, but the economic sanctions it suffered as a result of its conflict with the United States, and in particular its fuel supply problems, led to a resurgence in the use of harnessed horse-drawn transport and ploughing with horses from the 1990s onwards. Horses are also present in the tourism sector.
Fourteen breeds of horse are bred in Cuba, including four local breeds. Like other countries in this geographical region, the island of Cuba is a zone of active circulation of the West Nile virus and diseases transmitted to horses by ticks, babesiosis and Q fever. The animal is an integral part of local culture, particularly cinema.