When Spanish explorers came to the land that would become America, they brought horses with them clad in armored masks. Native Americans soon adapted the mask for their own horses, influenced by visions and decorated motifs of hail, thunder and lightning. The armor adorned with these symbols of power could transform the horse and rider into great warriors with extraordinary abilities and possibly even carry them into the space between this world and the next, where bullets and arrows could not hurt them.
To this day, Plains Indians decorate their horses for ceremony and adorn them with images of power. Bob Coronato was inspired to paint this piece while watching relay races at Crow Fair. He realized, he says, how much the horse culture is very much the same today as it was in the past.
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Bob Coronato
