The horse

The Indians believed that the horse was a divine gift. It was called "spiritual dog" or "medical dog" because, according to a Spanish who participated in the expedition of gold-seeker Francisco Vázquez de Coronado in 1541, the natives of the plains used dogs to transport their products. They were used to carry a device known by the French as the travois, which consists of two long poles that are supported in the center to hold the load.

The agricultural villages and the hunters of the plains saw in the horse of the Plains a liberation: a robust, hairy and low-stature horse from a mixture of Andalusian and Arab breeds. It became an indispensable animal for hunters and warriors due to its increased load capacity and mobility.

Women from numerous tribes also had horses, although they were used by warriors and buffalo hunters. The equine and the knight were to be agile not only for bison hunting, but also for inter-tribal fights, such as horse races, which became a characteristic of the life of the plain Indians. Indigenous children and horses were related: they rode on ponies and learned the equestrian skills needed to live as adults. It is essential to have the ability to slide to the galop by the flank of a horse, as this flank acted as a shield on the battlefield.

Hunters and warriors ride on hair or use small, lightweight, filled chairs. The inhabitants of the plains used a heavy wooden chair to mount for less specific purposes. The horses were driven with rings made of uncircumcised trenzed leather and bits made of a piece of the same material. The horse was a powerful tool, symbol of wealth and social status and expression of tribal pride in the plain culture that flourished in the early 19th century. The ability to have a horse was considered prestigious. Some warrior leaders had flocks of more than a thousand animals, and a group of two thousand comanches had up to fifteen thousand cows. When married, the man donated horses to the wife's family, who carried the symbols of the warrior and the tribe to the battlefield. The horse could have helmet prints that represented previous incursions and hand prints representing dead enemies in battle, as well as war emblems that are painted on the sides of aircraft.