Top Five Halloween Costume Ideas for Horses with Spots

When I had my own horse it was one of the happiest times of my life. While there was a lot of work involved in keeping my horse happy and healthy, every job was literally a labor of love. The ultimate reward is that feeling inside your heart when your own horse calls to you and rubs her head on your shoulder as you stand next to her.

I have always loved horses and now that I am horse-less, I spend a lot of time thinking about them. One of my favorite times of year is Halloween and thinking about all the fun costumes to dress a horse in. I have written one long, detailed article "Halloween Costume Ideas for Your Horse and Yourself" which you can read here. After I wrote that particular article though, ideas just kept popping into my mind and I realized that I needed to write another article on Halloween horse costume ideas for horses and their riders.

Since I continue to have so many different Halloween costume ideas for horses, this article will focus on Halloween costume ideas for spotted horses. If you own or lease a horse that is one of the color breeds who have spots such as Paint, pinto, leopard Appaloosa or Knabstrupper, then I have five relatively simple Halloween costume ideas for your horse; Paint by Number, Connect the Dots, Measles quarantine, Holstein cow and Dalmatian dog.

Halloween Costume Ideas for Spotted Horses #1: Paint by Number

If you have a pinto or Paint horse with a tobiano or overo pattern, you can make use of that fabulous pattern to create a very easy "Paint by Number" Halloween costume. All you will need is your horse and stick-on numbers that are easily seen from about fifteen feet or more away. Place a number on each patch of color on your horse and your horses' Halloween costume is done.

Now it's time for your coordinating costume as an artist. You will need a loose shirt with long sleeves and pants which you have splashed and smeared paint on in a few areas. Add one paint brush and artists' palette and you are now an artist riding your paint by number horse art creation!

Halloween Costume Ideas for Spotted Horses #2: Connect the Dots

You can create a "connect the dots" Halloween costume for your horse if you have an Appaloosa or Knabstrupper horse with a leopard pattern. This works for horses whose coats have that flea-bitten look as well. All you need to do is find a marker or paint that will easily wash out of your horses coat and then use it to connect the dots on several areas of your horse's body. If you are riding your horse, obviously you will be unable to connect the dots on your horse's torso where the saddle will be but you can connect the dots on your horse's shoulders, neck, hips and even face. Use a bright color marker or paint and connect the dots in some sort of pattern.

You can also wrap your horses legs in several different colored leg wraps to make it look like pencils or crayons on his legs. The main color wrap can be yellow with a pink eraser (wrap) at the top and then a tan or peach color wrap at the bottom to look like the inside of the pencil. The "lead" of the pencil can be a piece of electrical tape attached at the bottom to look like the lead. The leg wraps are optional but a cute touch.

Your coordinating Halloween costume can be your favorite riding outfit along with a giant "marker" in the color you used to create the connect the dot pattern on your horse. This giant marker can be created with the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels, stuffed with newspaper and covered with construction paper in a color that will make your marker look authentic. The tip of your homemade marker can be created from any round object covered in either construction paper or colored electrical tape and attached at the end of your giant cardboard tube.

Halloween Costume Ideas for Spotted Horses #3: Measles Quarantine

The measles quarantine Halloween costume idea is for the same horses as idea #2; Appaloosa or Knabstrupper horses with a leopard pattern. The idea for this costume is simple; the spots on your horse's coat suggest that he has measles or chicken pox. Create a sign that says "Quarantine: This horse has measles" and hang it around your horse's neck so it rests on his chest. Cut out a large piece of cardboard from a box or use foam core poster board in a square or rectangular shape. Use a bright black or red marker or paint to write the words so they can be easily read from a distance. Punch a hole at the top corner of each side of the sign, tie cord in each hole and attach around your horse's neck. If necessary, you can enhance your horse's spots with washable red non-toxic paint.

To create your coordinating costume, dress as a doctor or nurse in green surgical scrubs and mask. Wear a stethoscope around your neck and carry a doctor bag with MD stenciled on it. You can use the doctor bag toy that is made by Fisher Price Toys available from Toys 'R' Us. It includes all the doctor tools such as a stethoscope, thermometer and more. Or you can use any handheld black bag and stencil MD on the front of it.

Halloween Costume Ideas for Spotted Horses #4: Holstein Cow

Obviously a black and white Holstein cow Halloween costume will work best for a Paint or pinto horse that is already black and white. In fact you won't need to do anything to your horse except for attaching a giant pink udder. For safety's sake, I suggest you add the pink udder to your saddle blanket so that it hangs near your horse's underbelly. Cut two pieces of pink felt in an udder pattern shape which consists of a big circle with four hanging teats. Make it big so that when you attach one piece of the udder shape to each side of your horse, on your saddle blanket, it will hang down far enough to look like an udder.

Your coordinating Halloween costume can go either one of two different ways. You can dress as a milk maid with your hair in braids and in a dress or you can dress as a farmer in blue overalls. You will need a metal milk pail for both costumes. Write the word milk on it with paint.

Halloween Costume Ideas for Spotted Horses #5: Dalmatian Dog

This costume idea will work best for horses with a leopard Appaloosa coat pattern. If your horse's spots are black, that's even better though there are liver-colored Dalmatians so if your horses spots are a shade of brown, this costume idea will work for your horse. Create a giant "dog" collar for your horse out of red fabric. If you have the proper tools, you can create it out of red fake leather but this is more difficult so I suggest using a thick red fabric or red felt. Cut a wide strip, about five inches wide and long enough to go all the way around your horse's neck. Attach a Velcro fastener or other fastener so the "collar" will stay around your horse's neck. Next, cut out a large round circle (you can use a large bowl as a guide for a perfect circle) from foam core poster board and write your horse's name on it with black marker. Punch a hole in the circle "tag" and using twine, attach the tag to the collar.

To go along with your Dalmatian horse, you can dress yourself as a Dalmatian too by using a white t-shirt and black felt pen to make spots on it and then creating a collar for yourself out of the same red fabric and foam core poster board you used to create your horse's '"dog" collar.

The Halloween costume ideas for horses in this article are basic and simple but only if you have a spotted horse such as a Paint, pinto, leopard Appaloosa or Knabstrupper. By using one of these five Halloween costume ideas for your horse, perhaps you will even win a ribbon at your local Halloween horse show this year.