The Horse Capture

Mural, Acrylic, 17’ x 72’, Colony, Oklahoma

This mural depicts four Comanche men in the midst of a wild horse capture. The Comanche were the most successful horse culture of the Southern Plains. Shortly after the Spanish re-introduced the horse to the Western Hemisphere in the 16th century, Comanche (formerly Shoshone) began to acquire these animals. Within a very short time, they were successfully breeding them, and utilizing them to expand their domain. Comanche children were first introduced to the horse at the age of three. The Comanche had more horses than any other Native peoples due to this breeding as well as acquiring large numbers from Spanish New Mexico, Mexico, and what is now called Texas. 

The horses in this mural are painted in the three sacred Comanche colors: red, blue, and yellow. The red horses represent those that Comanche bred. Blue represents wild horses that will soon be acquired in the capture. And the yellow one represents the most valuable horse—the one putting up the greatest resistance. Once captured, it will become the captor’s favorite hunting horse or war horse. 

Curator’s Note: All of Eric’s murals are visual land acknowledgments—an expression of gratitude, appreciation, and recognition of the homeland of the original people who have been living and working on the land from time immemorial. This acknowledgement encourages people to think about what it means to occupy space on indigenous lands.