War Paint

War Paint ( – 1975) was a saddle bronc who was a three-time Rodeo Cowboys Association Bucking Horse of the Year. He won the award in 1956, 1957, and in 1958 he tied with another horse. He was inducted into four halls of fame, the most prominent being the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2011. War Paint was known for his bucking ability and his buck-off record, which was close to 90 percent. Early life War Paint was foaled c. 1945 in the Klamath marsh on the Klamath Indian Reservation in Northern Klamath County, Oregon. He was raised by a Klamath Tribe member named Orrie Sommers. War Paint's sire was a big-boned Paint stallion who was registered as a Quarter Horse. The tribe could not break him. His dam was a wild and grumpy old Pinto mare whom they drove in a team. The tribe never tried to break War Paint's dam. Sommers gave the foal a Klamath name that means "painted horse". Sommers brought War Paint up as a bucking horse, as he raised many bucking horses. When War Paint was three years old, Hank and Bob Christensen of Christensen Brothers, stock contractors, bought him from Sommers. Bucking career War Paint bucked at the highest professional level which was the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA), renamed to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in 1975. Christensen Brothers first tried out War Paint, who weighed , in bareback bronc riding competition. However, they soon moved him to saddle bronc riding competition, where he excelled. In the 1950s he became known worldwide for his bucking ability. There was a certain rodeo historian who wrote that many bronc riders would say after "seeing the paint go was–'That spotted horse is the one I want'–but generally, after a seat on him, they'd be out there checking their eyesight the next time they got a chance to see him go"!