Cortes

When Hernando Cortes began his conquest of Mexico, he rode a chestnut horse. But he soon replaced the mount with a black stallion named El Morzillo, meaning the Black One. When El Morzillo developed a limp, Cortes left him in the custody of a Mayan chief. The chief and his people renamed the horse Tziminchac, after the Mayan god of thunder and lightning, and housed the steed in their temple. When El Morzillo died, the Mayans carved a stone statue of him.