Here is a statute of El Cid and Babieca in Burgos, Spain, along the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage trail. Here's a brief sketch of El Cid and Babieca's tale! In the 11th century, a small boy was raised near Burgos by monks. His name was Rodrigo Diaz de Bivar. His godfather, a monk named Pedro El Grande (because he was fat), let him choose a horse from a beautiful herd of Andalusians. Rodrigo chose poorly, or so the monks thought. They thought he chose a frail, poorly, sick creature and so named his choice Babieca which means "My Stupid One."Well, you know how it goes! Babieca was obedient, nimble, courageous, generous of spirit, large of heart! Powerful! Noble!! He lived for 40 years and served his master well. He fought for over 30 years in battles with his master. And his master worked hard to push the Moors out of Spain. His Arabic enemies named him El Cid Campeador "My Lord, Champion of Warriors!"
In a major battle outside of Valencia, El Cid was mortally wounded. He was brought into the city and perished. And the Spaniards, fearful that the Moors would attack in droves, thirsty with their success at killing El Cid, tied El Cid's corpse to Babieca and drove him bravely into the front of the soldiers, pressing onto battle the next morning.The Moors fled in supernatural terror, sure that El Cid had arisen from the grave and ridden Babieca to their destruction.
El Cid wanted to be buried with Babieca and his wife, Ximenes at Cardena. But they moved their bodies after the Peninsular Wars, so now El Cid, his wife, and Babieca rest together outside the cathedral in Burgos. I hope someday to walk along that section of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrim's trail to say a few words over the grave of that very sweet horse.
You can read more about this dynamic duo at the following links:
http://www.artbycrane.com/thesupremewarhorseofspain.html
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Cid
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babieca