A color phase of the Spanish Mustang, once sacred and a valuable part of Plain Indian horse culture, rarely seen today. The horse's body is light colored with dark ears and a "shield" on the chest. He is dark at the flank, eye and above the tail. Another color phase has the "War Bonnet" (a distinctive dark area around the eyes and ears) and a shield on the chest. The dark color of the bonnets and shields ranges in red, brown, black, blue, purplish or tan, but they are always roanish. His eyes are usually dark with a white sclera, and his hooves are black or vertically striped. He breeds true to these markings and it is very difficult to breed away from this color phase.

The Medicine Hat horse was selected as a sacred and ceremonial horse, a buffalo horse, and a war horse (later against invading white peoples) by the Sioux, Cheyenne, Blackfoot and Commanche Indians. He was something special to each of these tribes. To the Commanche warrior, he would be invulnerable if he was mounted on a medicine hat horse during battle. This horse was big medicine to the Blackfoot, and the Kiowas believed themselves untouched by arrow or rifle ball when mounted on such a horse.

The horse must be of pure Spanish blood in order to be a true Medicine Hat horse; if the blood were mixed then he was called a "war bonnet" or "war paint," the charm thus being lost. His unique coloration and the fact that his Indian rider's symbols showed up well on the white coat were reasons why the Indians felt he was a special horse. The Indians believed the Medicine Hat was of the highest origin due to their psychological reasoning and the coloration of the horse.

The Spanish Mustang's color phases all trace back to the Barb, and are very old and dominant color phases of the North African Barb horse. The Spotted Morocco Barbs came in three types - 1) the overo paint; 2) the Lybian Leopard Spots (a white horses with scattered small black spots over its body, right down to the hooves); 3) a horse with a white body, the only dark area being bay or black ears and the top of its head. Of these three, the last was the hardest to breed out, reappearing again as a throwback after several generations of outcrossing.

Similar to the Appaloosa, which changed from an all-white body with spots to having more dark body color, the Medicine Hat also acquired more color. Dark coloring appeared on his eyes, chest, flanks, and tail - this pattern being that of a fully marked and perfect Medicine Hat horse. Spanish horses which only had the bonnet and one or two of the shields were also considered to be Medicine Hat horses, even though they were not fully marked.

Though this color phase is still rare, the Spanish-Barb Breeders Association and the Spanish Mustang Registry are perpetuating these horses so that this small part of our American heritage will not be lost.

For more information, visit:

• Bibliography

Published April 1995, April 1996, August 1997 in the North West Breyer Horse Club newsletter. (em)
© 1995-2019 NW Breyer Horse Club & Refiner of Gold Creations
Equinealities in place since 1997, Section in place 2001, Updated 1/27/2019