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• Apsáalooke artist
• late 1800s
• Rawhide, beads, paint, iron, rope, yarn, wood, and horse hair
• Native Arts acquisition funds, 1945.249A-C

Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains decorated their horses in many different ways. The faceplate of this bridle that covers the horse’s forehead is related to the custom of the Moors (Muslims who lived in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages). The Moors attached a metal ornament to the bridle to protect the horse from evil. Later, the Spanish reinterpreted the motif as the cockleshell of Santiago. When horses were introduced to Indigenous peoples, the motif underwent further variations, such as the tribally distinctive beadwork and tufts of colored horsehair.