Warpaint (horse)

Warpaint is a mascot pinto horse for the Kansas City Chiefs National Football League team, currently in its third incarnation. The gelding is most famously associated with the Chiefs' glory days at Municipal Stadium when the team won two American Football League Championships, and the horse led the team's victory parade after their win in Super Bowl IV. After the original Warpaint's retirement in 1989, the team used K.C. Wolf as their lone mascot between 1989-2009. In keeping with the celebration of the AFL's 50th anniversary, the Chiefs decided to bring back the tradition of Warpaint for the 2009 season, introducing the new horse at the team's home-opener against the Oakland Raiders.

The horse was ridden bareback by rider Bob Johnson who wore full Native American headdress. Warpaint circled the field at the beginning of each game and after each touchdown. In 1975, the Chiefs defeated the Oakland Raiders by a score of 42-10, prompting Warpaint to circle the field plenty of times.

We couldn't beat the Chiefs, but we damn near killed their horse. —Oakland Raiders head coach John Madden, following their 42-10 loss to the Chiefs in 1975.

The horse was said to have lost his footing when the team switched from natural grass at Municipal Stadium to artificial turf at Arrowhead Stadium. Charges were also made that the horse and rider were demeaning to Native Americans, helping to end its use as the team's mascot.

The first Warpaint was born in 1955, and the second was born in 1968. The second Warpaint died in 2005 at the age of 37 at Benjamin Stables in Kansas City where it is now buried. The horse made an appearance at a 1997 Chiefs game where he received a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd.

On September 20, 2009 a new Warpaint horse was unveiled at the Chiefs' home opener against the Oakland Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium. The horse is ridden by a member of the team's cheerleading squad, in contrast to the original headdress-clad rider in its first incarnation.