Pech-Merle cave horses, above. Ancient European art...

Nov/2011: genetic testing confirms ancient horses carried "spotting genes" BBC NEWS article

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 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 had been common in China for the last 2000 years as evidenced in surviving art.

The Persian conquest by the Mongols, below

Persians claim the ancestor of all spotted horses to be Rakush (aka Rakhsh), the spotted warhorse of the hero Rustam who lived approximately 400 BC. Rakush was said to be sired by a white demon, a symbol of good. The exploits of Rakush and Rustam are detailed in the 11th century epic Shah Nameh of Firdausi. The stallion's spotted color is described as "rose leaves scattered over a saffron backround".

This illustration, below, is from a miniature of the Commentary of Saint Beatus de Liebana written around 776 on the Apocalypse of St. John , a favorite work of Spanish scribes of the late 9th to 12th centuries.

Below: map of the ancient Persian Empire 500 BCE (click the image to enlarge it)

From the first imperial mausoleum in the history of China - Qin Dynasty 208 BC - these bronze imperial chariots with spotted horses were unearthed in 1980: click to enlarge them:

"We will never know just exactly what horses 
were brought to the New World, but early records 
are of a wide variety of colors and markings.                  
Some of the color names used to describe Cortez's 
horses are almost assuredly describing spotted 
horses as well as routine white marks.                  
This is evidence that white marks and at least 
some body spotting patterns appear early in the 
Colonial Spanish era. These patterns, and white 
marks in general, therefore strike me as very 
consistent with an Iberian origin." 
                 D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD

When Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, divided 
the House of Hapsburg he gave Spain to his son 
Philip II and Austria to his other son Ferdinand. 
The brothers from time to time exchanged lavish gifts. 
In 1560 a gift of horses from Philip II of Spain to 
his brother, Ferdinand of Austria introduced spotted 
horses into Austria. The gift was a group of Andalusian 
stallions and mares that eventually came to reside at 
the head of the Adriatic Sea at Equile Lipizzano. They                  
came to be known as Lipizzans and were raised mainly to 
furnish mounts for the royal family of Austria. 
Art depicts a number of horses at this stud as spotted. 
The training school at Vienna(training the horses 
originating in Spain - thus Spanish Riding School) 
displays pictures showing many of the horses as spotted.

Below, a Danish "tiger horse" circa 1600s

Below, a famous painting from the 18th century - Lady Conways 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.
As early as 1109 spotted horses appear in Spanish art and are 
a recurring phenomenon to the 17th Century. Spotted horses appear 
in French art from the 11th C. on. From the 12thC. on spotted 
horses begin to appear regularly in the art of Central Europe.
Spotted horses in England began appearing during the 12th C. 
usually carrying saints or nobles.

Time line of legendary spotted horses in the ancient world:
500 BCE - the Persian Empire: legend tells of hero Rustam
with his spotted stallion Rakhsh; claimed to be the founder
of all spotted horses.

120 BCE - the Han Dynasty of China desired the famed "blood
sweating" Heavenly Horses from Ferghana. (Note: the Ferghana
Valley is just north of Bactria in the Persian Empire on the map left)
The most famous export from the region were the 'blood-sweating' 
Heavenly Horses which so captured the imagination of the Chinese 
during the Han dynasty, but in fact these were almost certainly 
bred on the Steppe, either west of Bukhara or North of Tashkent, 
and merely brought to Ferghana for sale. 

1220 ADE - Genghis Khan, Mongolia, conquers the Khwarezmian Empire
which ranged from Bactria north and west (the same area as noted for
producing the spotted "Heavenly Horses")
The image below represents Genghis Khan watching the Khwarezmian
army - with horses showing pinto and LP spotted patterns (center black
horse with LP spotting). Click the image to enlarge.



 

 

LP Spotted Horses in History

from the ancient Chinese Heavenly Horse to the Lippizano Stud