The stud lives in full freedom in a extraordinary natural space: the Natural Park of Cornalvo, in the province of Badajoz.

The family love, care and the attachment for this singular space and continuously suppressed feelings during four hundred years, has caused the great conservation grade of a perfect ecosystem in which the incident of human transformation over the original landscape is almost null.

A holm-oak wood with dispersed bushes and pasture, rich in waters and in a surprising variety of native flora and fauna, is the proud stud home of the inheritors of Mariano Fernández-Daza and Fernández of Córdova, Marquis of the Encomienda.

The property, called popularly “Coto Capitán” since the 17th century, ended up adopting the name in an official way. It was known by the military occupation of the firt family owner and chief head of the stud: horses Cuirasses Captain of the Army from Extremadura, Lorenzo Fernández Becerra, who was born in Almendralejo in 1619, and the half of the Encomienda first owner.
This place, possession of the crown, had been adquired by Fernando of Vera and Vargas, main subaltern of Mérida, who sold it to Juan Cimbrón of Saavedra in 1600. These places were Ejido de Mirandilla, Dehesilla de la Cañada, Trazo del Barrillo, Encinilla, Carrajón, stream Lobero, Colmenar, Encinales and Ejido de Abajo. A few years later the lands passed by hand of Fernández of Córdova.
In 1714 the Ranch “Coto Capitán” was added to the entailed estate of the Encomienda from Almendralejo by Lorenzo Isidro Fernández Flores, first Marquis of the Encomienda (1675-1733), Lorenzo Fernández Becerra´s grandson.

Francisco Fernández of Córdova and Melgarejo, V Marquis of the Encomienda (1790-1856) was in love with this ranch, great rider, expert and nature lover, just like all his children, his grandson Francisco Fernández of Cordova Nogales and his grand sister Carmen Fernández of Córdova (1886-1935), VIII Machioness of the Encomienda, to whom we should be grateful for this careful attention and excellent maintenance of the place. In fact, the description of the ranch which was carried out in 1801 is exactly the same as this description we could realized in 2014. In these first years of the 19th century, the ranch was popular nicknamed as “Coto Marqués", name which was registered with in 1846 by Francisco Fernández of Córdova and Melgarejo.

The stud lives in “Coto Capitán” with the excellent sheep cattle of the same brand, heir to the “excellent sheeps of wonderful wool” which have pastured traditionally in Mirandilla, just as they were classified in 1750 in the Marquis of the Ensenada Land registry; also heir to the good work of the VIII Marquis consort of the Encomienda, Enrique Fernández-Daza, head in Almendralejo of a breeders lineage from Campanario, and certainly of his son Mariano Fernández-Daza and Fernández of Córdova, member of the National Union of breed and recognized expert at pure sheep breed.