A wood carving 27.5 " long carved as a horse effigy. At the bottom of the staff is a detailed carving of a horse head including eyes, nares, jaw and mouth. A single stripe of hide with dark brown hair has been stapled to the mid-portion of the staff, to represent the effigy's mane. A broken, single, strip of tanned leather has been nailed along the jaw line of the effigy, representing a harness. Two small square-shaped holes are adjacent to the nails, but nothing is attached to them. These were probably the holes that held the effigy horse ears at tone time. The staff narrows towards its upper portion, and a hole has been cut or drilled through the staff, where light brown twine has been secured, as to allow for the hanging of the staff.
Originally this wooden stick is a horse memorial, made in honor and memory of a Plains person's fallen horse --usually fallen during battle. The end of the stick, where the hole is, was originally intended to be the hoof of the horse. The horse would have ears as well, and a full mane.