The Horses of the Conquest is one of those rare books which, within a brief period, attain the status of classics. First published in England in 1930, then translated into Spanish and published in Argentina in 1946, this is the story of the horses that carried the Conquistadores—Cortés, the Pizarros, and De Soto—to the conquest of the Americas. They came from Spain—piebalds, dark chestnuts, grays, golden bays. They were the companions of brave men, soldiers and conquerors. Their achievements in battle, their vicissitudes with their masters in a world-shaking adventure, make an interesting and highly unusual experience in reading.
The author, R. B. Cunninghame Graham—“Don Roberto” south of the Río Grande—was as colorful a character as any of the Conquistadores about whom he wrote so masterfully. W. H. Hudson, his good friend, whose writing influenced Cunninghame Graham’s style, called him a “singular writer,” and his other friends and admirers—among them Joseph Conrad and George Bernard Shaw—agreed.
His real home was on the frontiers of North Africa, Texas, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Paraguay, and Brazil—where there were hardships and horses—although he was in truth a curious mixture, Spanish Don and Scottish nobleman by birth, and at various times an adventurer in far places and a member of Parliament.
The horses of the Conquest and their feats were his special delight, and he passes to us descriptions of them and their traits. He tells of the horse that became a god and of Gonzalo Silvestre’s incredible ride through the Great Swamp of Florida. His observations are those of a fellow traveler, combining Rabelaisian acuteness with a scientific detachment.
