The Doñana Biological Station – CSIC participates in a cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural research between western and traditional Indigenous science to study the evolutionary history of the horse. This collaboration opens the way to repair history and create co-designing strategies for a more sustainable future.

Results have been published in the journal Science and show, contrary to what European historic records caputred, that Indigenous people raised horses since, at...

The Retuerta horse is mainly located in the Doñana National Park, specifically in the Doñana Biological Reserve, and in the Guadiamar Reserve. It counts with an approximate population of 300 horses. This specimen was used in the past by the people of Doñana as a work animal and as a means of transport, but, nowadays, this animal lives in the wild. In 2003, the population was sampled and its genetic profile and genetic distances facing other breeds were established. The genetic distance tree...

Horse domestication revolutionized warfare and accelerated travel, trade and the geographic expansion of languages. This study presents the largest genome-scale time-series for a non-human organism to access the legacy of past equestrian civilizations in the genetic makeup of modern horses.