Timeline
1508 - Ferdinand of Spain joins the League of Cambrai, which returns Apulia to Spain, along with southern Italy, the port of Brindisi, and Sardinia, where he founds an Andalusian stud at Abbasanta. Several other Andalusian studs follow. Italian horses receive a heavy dose of Spanish blood.
1567 - 1,200 mares are selected for a project by Phillip II of Spain to breed the "perfect" Spanish horse. They are crossed with Neapolitans, which had been heavily crossed with Andalusians during the time of Ferdinand.
1572 - The first foals of Phillip II’s project are born and he decides to save these animals for his own use and to present them as gifts to other royals. Highly colored, they are elegant, with an elevated gait, and capable of performing the difficult “Airs above the Ground.”
1624 - Classical dressage is being taught in Italy. Neapolitan stallions perform the “Airs above the Ground” between pillars.
1767 - Conversano, a black Neapolitan stallion, is foaled, later to become a foundation sire for the Lipizzan breed.
1790 - Neapolitano, a brown stallion from the Po Region of Italy, is foaled. He is another foundation sire for the Lipizzan breed.
1819 - Maestoso is foaled in Hungary. He is half Spanish, half Neapolitan, and another foundation sire of the Lipizzan breed,
1950 - The Neapolitan is thought to have become extinct.
1989 - The stallion Neapolitano "Il Vecchio", which belonged as a foal to Marshal Tito is imported to Italy, with the hopes of rebuilding the Napolitano breed.
2003 - The Napoletano is recognised by the AIA under the terms of Ministerial decree D.M. 24347
2005 - A total population of 20 mares and 4 stallions was registered.
2007 - The status of the Napoletano was listed in 2007 as critical by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Read more about this topic: Neapolitan Horse, History