Talk About Medicine Hat Paints

[Rackonteur]

Someday – I think – I would like to have one. (Would depend a lot more on soundness and personality than on color!). I have started looking for one, just to see what’s out there, and there aren’t many.

What I am finding is that there is no real agreement as to just what a Medicine Hat is, what markings qualify a paint as a Medicine Hat. I would say a warbonnet as well as a chest shield but not everyone feels the same way.

Just basically curious to know how many of you have/have seen/have ridden Medicine Hats, what your experiences of them are. We were talking about Rain (in Spirit) last night and were surprised to go online and see from her pics that she is not a Medicine Hat.

[GoForAGallop]

[QUOTE=Rackonteur;7646284]

Just basically curious to know how many of you have/have seen/have ridden Medicine Hats, what your experiences of them are. [/QUOTE]

I guess I’m not sure why a Medicine Hat paint, which is just a paint with some unique markings, would ride/be an experience any different than riding any other paint horse? I’ve ridden plenty of flashy paints, and they were all unique individuals.

[Bluey]

Just be sure it is not deaf and doesn’t travel well, as some of those I know have been, some in reining lines.

They are very popular because they are great reiners and very quiet, being deaf does make for more non-reactive, easier to train and show horses.

Outside of that, many are not very fond of them.

With paints with much white, you also can end up with skin problems, especially cancer around the eyes, under the tail and genital areas, because of the extra exposure and little protection without pigment can cause some cells to change to cancerous.
When paired with blue eyes, those are also more sensitive to light and dust, just don’t thrive in areas as ours, but today you can manage that with face masks.

Think about this long and hard, decide what you like so much about those that you can live with any drawbacks to that.

Any good horse is good regardless of what color/s it comes in, but it is good to be aware of what else you may have with some color or other.

[SmartAlex]

[QUOTE=Rackonteur;7646284]
What I am finding is that there is no real agreement as to just what a Medicine Hat is, what markings qualify a paint as a Medicine Hat. I would say a warbonnet as well as a chest shield but not everyone feels the same way. [/QUOTE]

IMO a true medicine hat is a Sabino not a Tovero and would have not only the chest shield but also flank shields. But unless you’re riding into battle, it’s probably only important that YOU like the markings.

[gaitedincali]

It’s superstition over subjectively interpreted markings. If you had 10 photos and showed them to 10 people I’d bet no single horse would get full agreement over whether it is/isn’t a medicine hat.

It’s not like there’s a genetic test for a ‘medicine hat’ gene, or any actual magical super powers attached to any pattern. If the markings look like the picture you personally have in your head of what a medicine hat looks like, it’s close enough. Buy and enjoy.

ETA: I’ve known a few. Since the pattern has naught at all to do with the horse’s personality, conformation or ability, it was as mixed a grab bag of horses as you’d expect if you randomly selected a few Paints of any other pattern.

[Emily_amp_Jake]

Everybody around here seems to think any mostly white horse with even just their ears coloured, is a Medicine Hat paint.

I didn’t know there were superstitions over their personalities though. The paint that I rode that could be a Medicine Hat paint was lazy, but he was young. He’s since matured and is a nice gelding and picks up the pace when asked.

I don’t think I’d personally buy a horse based on whether it was a Medicine Hat paint, however.

[SmartAlex]

[QUOTE=Emily&Jake;7646577]
I didn’t know there were superstitions over their personalities though. [/QUOTE]

It’s not their personalities. Some Native American tribes believed that a warrior riding a Medicine Hat could not be wounded in battle.

[Emily_amp_Jake]

Superstition wasn’t the right word for what I was trying to describe…OP wanted to know about people’s experience who have been around them/ridden them. I don’t understand how them being Medicine Hats has anything do with that, is what I was trying to get at.

[jengersnap]

We joke that our old girl got the War Beret. It goes across both ears in the back, but only half of one in the front. Left side Right side.

[walktrot]

My b/o had a wonderful Medicine Hat (no shield, just white with black in her tail) who was a stupendous therapy horse. Literally bombproof, which we saw when construction workers blasted some ledge not too far away. She lived to the ripe old age of 31, I think. Her name was Magic Flash, and the kids all loved her.

[pAin_t_Misbehavin]

Do people with these horses just not turn them out in the daylight from April till October? Or do you slather them in sunscreen?

I remember years ago riding a lesson horse who had a lot of pink skin under white patches, and the poor thing burned and peeled all summer.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=walktrot;7647287]
My b/o had a wonderful Medicine Hat (no shield, just white with black in her tail) who was a stupendous therapy horse. Literally bombproof, which we saw when construction workers blasted some ledge not too far away. She lived to the ripe old age of 31, I think. Her name was Magic Flash, and the kids all loved her.[/QUOTE]

She may have been deaf.

[gaitedincali]

[QUOTE=pAin’t_Misbehavin’;7647302]
Do people with these horses just not turn them out in the daylight from April till October? Or do you slather them in sunscreen?

I remember years ago riding a lesson horse who had a lot of pink skin under white patches, and the poor thing burned and peeled all summer.[/QUOTE]

I have one mostly white tobiano. He’s got a half-covered pipe stall, and he usually eschews the shelter in favor of standing in full sun. Only once have I ever had any issues with sunburn - a little bit at the very tip of his nose, when he was being actively shown halter and his nose was kept shaved. A week of sunscreen and it healed up and never happened again.

[Appsolute]

I wouldn’t purposely buy a horse with that much white / pink skin. They just tend to look unhealthy to me, and they have a much greater risk of cancer and sunburn.

[Capall]

I almost bought one, she was a lovely lovely mare. Tall and leggy with a pretty narrow build. She wasn’t deaf either. If it hadn’t been for some really bad stuff that was happening in my life at the time, I would have gone through with the sale. I was going turn her into a jumper. She was trained for reigning, but was just too… “Englishy” and looked more like a TB with spots rather than a full-blooded paint!

Total sweetheart, but I don’t know that her color really had anything to do with her temperament.

Also, I kept a fly mask and a fly sheet on her as well as sunblock on her pink nose and ample shade for her to get in to.

[Bluey]

Here is more on deafness in horses:

http://www.quarterhorsenews.com/index.php/news/industry-news/105-genetic-deafness.html

[Lilypad]

My mare’s sire was a Medicine Hat paint (ears plus chest). He carried all three overo genes: sabino, splash and frame. My mare ended up with minimal markings (just enough to count as coloured by apha standards), but I know another daughter that got ears only Medicine Hat.

Not sure what his personality was like. My mare was very athletic despite her small size (she had cutting bloodlines). If she wanted to work with you, she was amazing; if she didn’t, she was super rank and let you know!

[sunridge1]

Deafness is caused by the splash gene. A medicine hat can also be a dominant white or as smartalex said a sabino1. It is not necessarily frame. Pinto can have all the pattern genes express. Or as with sabino1 none at all.

[kaitsmom]

http://i1153.photobucket.com/albums/p513/kylesreef/IMG_5918_zpsd906a678.jpg

What about a teeny tiny medicine hat?