Rocinante

Also known as: his hack / our horse / the hack · Family: La Mancha · Role: horse · First appears: Part 1, Ch. 1.2

In Part 1, Ch. 1.2, Don Quixote names his hack Rocinante, “a name, to his thinking, lofty, sonorous, and significant of his condition as a hack before he became what he now was.” Before dawn in Ch. 2, Rocinante carries Don Quixote from home as he begins his quest. That night, Sancho Panza ties Rocinante’s legs with the ass’s halter, preventing him from departing, while in Ch. 25 Don Quixote removes his saddle and bridle and sets him free.

In Part 2, Ch. 11.2, Rocinante bolts across the plain despite Don Quixote’s efforts to restrain him, throwing his rider to the ground. By Ch. 12, Rocinante and Dapple are described as having an unequalled friendship, while in Ch. 52 of Part 1 Caprichoso praises Rocinante as Don Quixote’s steed. At Barcelona in Part 2, Ch. 61, a boys’ prank makes Rocinante and Dapple throw Don Quixote and Sancho Panza to the ground; later, in Ch. 64, Samson Carrasco’s White Moon defeats them both in a charge, hurling Rocinante and Don Quixote to the earth.