This small watercolor depicts a Blackfoot man riding his pinto horse at a slow walk. He holds a long lance across the pommel of his saddle. The red handprint on the horse’s neck—actually a vermilion color—is indicative of the man’s war exploits. He wears what seems to be a buckskin shirt adorned with beadwork. His leggings appear to be made from a green trade cloth; the edges of the cloth are serrated for decoration. A round shield, likely made of the tough hide of a buffalo’s neck, hangs on his back at shoulder level. The man’s hair is braided, but the uppermost portion above his forehead is combed back in a wavelike sweep that is typical for the Blackfeet. A white ermine skin dangles from warrior’s left temple. In early days before the coming of the white man, the Blackfeet fashioned their own saddles. Generally, the women used a saddle with a very high pommel and cantle, similar to those used by women in other plains tribes. The men, however, used a pad saddle or a frame saddle with tree and cantle of elk horn and side bars of wood. The pommel on the men’s saddle generally was about ten inches in height. The tree or frame was covered with raw buffalo hide, which as it dried stretched everything very tight. The pads were usually stuffed with moose or red deer fur, and every saddle had two or three folds of soft dressed buffalo skin to protect the horse’s back.