What did Indians paint on their horses?

Answer 1

There were many symbols applied to war and hunting horses. A list is provided at the link.

Some hunting symbols were:

* The Sun: To ensure good weather * Circles around the horses eyes: To ensure good vision * A "Fence" on the horses flank: For good luck * A buffalo symbol: To show thanks for the buffalo as prey * An arrow: To ensure speed * Buffalo Tracks: To ensure a good hunt * Prayer symbols (various): For good luck, safety, success etc

Answer 2

The Plains tribes and some of the Plateau tribes had large numbers of horses, most of which were never painted. These were used as general transport mounts or for carrying loads or hauling travois.

Only a favourite war horse or buffalo runner was considered worth painting; a war horse would also have its tail tied up or "clubbed" as a preparation for battle. The horse might be used as an advertisement of the deeds of its rider, using parallel black or brown lines to indicate his war honours, or a hand to show he had fought an enemy in hand-to-hand combat; or there might be signs for enemy bows or guns taken. Stylised horse tracks indicated that the rider had stolen enemy horses.

A war horse might carry patches of red paint where it had been wounded in earlier battles, or it might have painted circles around its eyes to make it see better, or lightning marks along its legs to make it run faster, or butterfly symbols to make it dart from side to side and be more difficult to hit.

Some horses were entirely or partly painted with special society markings or religious markings (such as striped hind quarters), or had masks of deerskin or cloth attached to their faces, sometimes with antelope or buffalo horns attached to the masks to give the horse the spirit of the antelope or buffalo.

The Cheyenne and Lakota had a special religious ceremony where horses decorated in this way "danced" in rows while the riders sang a war society song.

See links below for images: