Horse at the Trough, Albert Cuyp
The 'Animal Fleet' of 1625 was a shipment of 103 head of cattle, stallions, mares, steers and cows.
"One ship carried horses, one cattle and the third hay. Each animal had it's respective servant who attended to it. In addition to these, country people take with them all furniture proper for the dairy; all sorts of seed and agricultural implements, so that nothing is wanting."
Imagine the difficulty of those animals in a sea crossing that took several weeks! This was part of the DWIC's attempt to ensure that the settlement would have enough farm animals to sustain dairy, plow fields for grain, and provide meat.
Horses were particularly important as draft animals that pulled carts, pulled plows, and carried soldiers to patrol.