The American Paint Horse is one of the most popular horse breeds in the U.S. and Jackie and Scott Nelson raise beautiful specimens at Down Under Colour Ranch in Melbourne, Florida.

Paint horses are easy to identify by their coloring – they often have black, brown, or gray spots on white coats.

But, occasionally, a paint horse can be born with a very unique coat – and such horses were often thought to have supernatural powers among indigenous peoples.

To this day, people are still fascinated by the Medicine Hat horses that are said to have protected warriors from impending danger during historical battles. Some say only tribal chiefs were allowed to ride these rare horses while others claim they were ridden by Medicine Men, the traditional healers and spiritual leaders of the community.

The importance of the “medicine hat” might have faded into obscurity if not for a popular children’s book by Marguerite Henry in 1972 titled San Domingo: The Medicine Hat Stallion.

Her book is part of the reason people still recognize the rare specimens and what they meant long ago.

A Medicine Hat horse is completely white save for a colored patch covering its ears and the top of its head. They might also have a patch of color on their chest known as their “shield.” Even rarer is having one blue eye rimmed in black.

Since it’s unclear what genes code for these specific features, no one can reliably breed a Medicine Hat horse, which is another part of what makes them so special.

So when Coconut was born at the Down Under Colour Ranch in 2013 to Poka (“Treasure My Dot”) and their stallion, Chief (Sonny’s Mister Trubar), the Nelsons knew that had something special on their hands – she had all of the features of the rarest of Medicine Hat horses.

Jackie Nelson said of Coconut’s eye:

“This eye in [indigenous] mythology is called a ‘Sky Eye.’ Tribes believed if a medicine man was killed during a battle, the horse’s blue eye would carry his spirit back to the Gods.”

While they weren’t necessarily worried about thieves, legend has it that tribes would often try to steal Medicine Hat horses from their enemies in order to deprive them of good luck.

Coconut is worth quite a lot of money though – close to $75K.

Videos of Coconut on the ranch – starting at the moment of her birth – have drawn millions of viewers to the Nelson’s YouTube channel over the years.

A clip from her first day outside, for example, has been viewed over 3.8 million times!

For the most part, she stays close to mom.

The video shows the foal from all angles and you can see just how lovely she is and how pronounced her “medicine hat” is – hair will grow over it later.

Commenters were keen to see more videos of the horse as she grew up:

“What a beautiful baby! Absolutely wonderful. I love how mama is so attentive and watchful of where she steps. So cute. Please keep updating us so we can watch her grow!!” pleaded one viewer.

While the Nelson’s haven’t updated us on Coconut in a while, a video from 2016 shows her as a full-grown mare – and boy is she a beauty!

Be sure to scroll down below to see her as just a little filly.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: downundercolour via YouTube, Joy V Spicer