There is evidence that the Plains Cree first became acquainted with horses in the early part of the 18th century. Horses were pack animals, but the Cree also used them for riding and hunting. Most families owned several horses that helped them transport their belongings when they moved camps. Only a few men owned horses trained well enough to hunt buffalo.

Before the Cree moved out of the woodlands and onto the plains, they were middlemen in the fur trade. By the 1790s, the canoe-reliant, fur-trapping Cree traders became horse-owners, travelling across the plains, following and hunting buffalo for their livelihood. Their physical environment, warfare, hunting methods, and other matters of daily life were completely transformed by the use of the horse.

Horses quickly became the standard of exchange and prestige, reflecting both economic and social status. They could be obtained in trade, but the most honourable and common way of acquiring the animals was by stealing them from an enemy tribe. A horse was the best and most praiseworthy gift to offer. When a Plains Cree man died, the manes and tails of his horses were clipped as a sign of respect. If the man had been very wealthy and had many horses, the animals would be distributed to his direct family and to needy families in his band.

For the span of a little more than a century, horses had been a highly valued and integral part of Plains Cree life. By the end of the 19th century, there were no more buffalo to hunt and the nomadic life of the tribes gave way to a new, more sedentary life on reserves.