If you like equestrian history, then you most likely have heard about Doc Bar, the legendary Quarter horse who has transformed an entire breed. He was born in 1956 and his owner really had some high hopes for him since his sire was Lightning Bar, a son of Three Bars, and his dam was Dandy Doll, a daughter of Texas Dandy.
But, things did not turn out as everyone assumed and Doc Bar wasn’t successful as a racehorse. He simply couldn’t be a good racer and that’s how he has changed the entire breed. The fact that he was not a standard Quarter horse is what made him unique and he became an exceptional sire, cutting and halter horse. His appearance has affected most of his talent.
This astonishing horse won many competitions during his career- 12 first-place, including 10 grand and reserve championships. Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Jensen from Paicines, California bought Doc Bar in 1963 for $30,000. It was the energy, strength, and skill of the horse that pointed to the conclusion of using Doc Bar as a sire and since then, many breeders attempt to include the Doc Bar lineage into their breeding program.
There wasn’t a breeding program that didn’t want to include Doc Bar and he achieved to sire an unbelievable number of 485 foals. He died when he was 36-years-old and has been enlisted into the American Quarter Horse Association. Doc Bar is living proof that sometimes an unsuccessful attempt in a specific breed could solely mean that it is intended to do bigger and more useful things.
