“…Over the course of the sixteenth century, the Gonzaga stabled and bred various types of horses with origins in both international exchanges and local stock (Cavriani, 1909;Tonni, 2012). Using the same categories employed throughout many European courts, names for human ethnic groups or warriors were folded into popular animal names (Cooley, 2022;Florio, 1611Florio, , 1598Tonni, 2012). The barbs ("barbarous, incivall, also a Barbary horse" (Florio, 1598)), imported from North Africa (Barbary Coast), were reputed to be the fastest.…”