Medicine Hat Mare Calls South Dakota Home

I've loved horses all my life. I used to dream about riding across the South Dakota prairie, going wherever I want and doing whatever I pleased. One of the things I've been intrigued with are the different colors that horses can be.

For example, one of the first horses I had the pleasure of owning was a Dun. She had the dorsal stripe down her back and even those little cobweb markings on her front legs. We also had a Palomino and mostly Sorrels.

That's why when I heard of a Medicine Hat horse, it caught my ear. What the heck is a Medicine Hat Horse?

I Googled it up and According to PonyBox.com;

The myth and mystery of the Medicine Hat horse goes back many, many years. The Medicine Hat horse is a special animal, supposed to have special powers, and is very rare. They have been immortalized in stories like in Marguerite Henry’s book ‘San Domingo’, which was also honored by a Breyer model and a motion picture.

Pretty cool huh? PonyBox is an awesome site that went on to describe the unique horses.

Basically, it’s a pinto horse, but one with a very specific marking. The horse is almost entirely white, but has a colored patch covering the ears and the top of the head. A Medicine Hat can have other markings, but the less they have the more powerful they were believed to be.

So, when I saw that a cousin of mine had recently purchased a 'Medicine Hat' mare I had to find out more. Evan said his hand had to go up when he saw the mare at a local sale in Corsica, South Dakota. At first glance you see a nice looking grade mare, but the markings are what make her special.

According to the criteria, she's a pretty unique little mare. Look at her black ears. Now, the picture was taken during the wintertime, so I'm not sure if she's just a grayish color on the rear quarters or if that was a byproduct of wet weather. The pink around her muzzle and eyes are markings that would have made the director or Dances with Wolves staring Kevin Costner drool just a little bit.

On Evan's Facebook page he described his new purchase like this.

The mythology of the Medicine Hat horse is steeped in Native American tradition and legend. A Medicine Hat horse is believed to have a magical ability to protect its rider from injury or death in battle, and were thought to have special abilities to warn their riders of danger and to find wild game hiding in forests or canyons. The mainly white coats were often decorated with other magical symbols, believed to increase the horse’s powers.

I want to thank Evan and his wife Jessica write a little bit about this mare. After he works some of the rough edges off her, I'm gonna ask if I can ride her. Maybe in the big pasture north of Presho, South Dakota. Perfect world, would be bareback. With only a war bridle on. Ok, maybe that's taking it a little too far. Pretty cool horse. Can't wait to see her up close.

See Also: