A.
The subject of anqueras came up yesterday on "Alta California Material Culture" page on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/743829595948040/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/743829595948040/
B.
Anqueras are leather rump covers that usually are edged with metal jinglers. They are believed to be descended from the horse armor used by Medieval and Renaissance Era cavalrymen in Europe and brought to the New World by the conquistadors. But in Mexico they were popular with civilian horsemen, too. It's hard to say why. Some declare that it is useful in training a horse to lift up its hind legs. I really don't know.
C.Perhaps because the jinglers started showing up in archaeological sites in the Southwest, there was a general idea that soldados de cuera used the full, rump-covering anqueras and, from at least the 1960s, a number of artists showed them on their reconstructions of mounted presidial cavalrymen. However, I haven't seen any evidence for the use of full anqueras by anyone in the Spanish Borderlands in the 18th and 19th centuries, though they lingered in civilian use into the late-1800s and are seeing a revival today.
https://www.brionatural.com/…/8-art…/49-el-uso-de-la-anquera
D.
Instead, by at least the beginning of the 18th century, a smaller rump cover was used, just covering the horse's croup - the top of the rump. They still used the same sort of jinglers as the large anqueras - which is probably why they've been found in Southwestern archaeological sites.
E.
The defensive usefulness of the anquera disappeared long before they were completely abandoned by presidial soldiers. After all, why a rump cover but nothing for the horse's chest? But, by 1800, anqueras appear to have been largely abandoned by the military. In civilian use, however, the anquera lingered on into the early 1860s as the "anquerita," which served no real purpose except, as some eyewitnesses declare, a place for the caballero to sit when he rode with a lady sitting on the saddle proper.
F.
Images:
A. 1834 ca. "The Hacendero and His Mayordomo," by Carl Nebel. From, "Voyage pittoresque et archéologique dans la partie la plus intéressante du Mexique," (Paris, 1836).
B. Anquera for sale on the Michael D. Higgins Antique Indian Art website (viewed Sept. 3, 2018):https://mhiggins.com
C. Reconstruction of a soldado de cuera by José Bueno found online. Original source unknown.
D. Soldier from the Presidio of Monterey, California, attacking native peoples, drawn by José Cardero, 1791 - Museo Naval, Madrid.
E. Watercolor of a presidial cavalryman painted to illustrate a report by Raimundo Murill, 1803. Archivo de las Indias, Spain.
F. "Californian Catching Wild Horses with Riata, by Arthur Nahl, 1859 - Oakland Museum of California.
