Dakotas Baby Doll~Not Just any old Mare

(Have a listen to the music playing on my playlist. The song is called "America's Horse~Quarter Horse Rider by Michael Martin Murphy". Towards the end of the song, listen for the names of some of the foundation quarter horses. These are my Baby Doll's ancestors!)

I've had my pretty painted mare, Baby Doll, for 9 months now and figured it was about time that I talk about her a little, besides just the same old 'riding stuff'.
I recently read an interesting post on BECG's blog called Save the Mares and it caused me to spend some time thinking about my own beautiful mare.


I bought my marefrom my riding instructor, Lorie, on Feb 18, 2008, while I took lessons for a few months, at her barn. Lorie also dabbles as a horse dealer, finding homes for horses that people aren't able to keep anymore.
Baby Doll was my lesson horse, and is an APHA registered 15 yr old tovero mare.

I had been looking for my first horse for months and had just about given up, and then started taking lessons. Baby Doll had just come available for sale, but I thought her price was a bit high. I think at first I also didn't consider buying her because I had my heart set on a buckskin colored horse.
As a young girl my favorite horses were always either buckskin or palomino, never paints.
But after a couple months of lessons on her, I realized that she and I were a good fit. And, of course, if you know the story behind the name of Laughing Orca Ranch, you will realize that the addition of Baby Doll to our family was just pure fate.


And most importantly, as I became much more educated about horses and horsemanship, I realized that color wasn't important...and that green riders on green horses equal black and blue (bruises, that is).

So I didn't buy for looks, but rather a sound mind, body and good, kind, calm nature.
And my beautiful mare is all that...and more. I just lucked out in the looks department, I think.

Along the way I've become quite interested in the history of the paint horse, too.
In 1519 the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes sailed to the New World to find his fame and fortune. Along with his entourage of conquistadors, he brought horses to help his men search the vast land for riches.
According to the Spanish historian Diaz del Castillo, who traveled with the expedition, one of the horses was described as a "pinto" with "white stockings on his forefeet." The other was described as a "dark roan horse" with "white patches."
These were the first known recorded descriptions of early Paint Horses in the New World.

By the early 1800s, the western plains were generously populated by free-ranging herds of horses, and those herds included the peculiar spotted horse. Because of their color and performance, flashy, spotted horses soon became a favorite mount of the American Indian. The Comanche Indians, considered by many authorities to be the finest horsemen on the Plains, favored loud-colored horses and had many among their immense herds. Evidence of this favoritism is exhibited by drawings of spotted horses found on the painted buffalo robes that served as records for the Comanches.

Throughout the 1800s and late into the 1900s, these spotted horses were called by a variety of names: pinto, paint, skewbald, piebald.
In the late 1950s, a group dedicated to preserving the spotted horse was organized—the Pinto Horse Association. In 1962, another group of spotted horse enthusiasts organized an Association, but this group was dedicated to preserving both color and stock-type conformation—the American Paint Stock Horse Association (APSHA). ((Copied from APHA)

But interestingly enough, when I bought Baby Doll, I didn't know very much about her history and ancestry. A few months ago, my wonderful neighbor friend did some research on Baby Doll's pedigree and we discovered that my mare's bloodlines go way back to some pretty awesome Quarter Horse (and Thoroughbred) Foundation horses, such as Peter, Jack and Buck McCue, Joe Moore, Joe Bailey and Joe Reed, Oklahoma Star, Della Moore, Poco Dell, Little Joe, Fairy Fisher, Steel Dust, Shiloh, Yellow Jacket, Johnny Bull, and Kingfisher McCue. I've spent hours viewing my horse's bloodlines, that go way back to the late 1700's, through this link: Dakotas Baby Doll Pedigree

I was very surprised to discover that my mare's bloodlines even include the legendary Thoroughbred
Racehorse Man O' War. I'm sure glad that those particular boodlines are way back there, though. I have no interest in riding a racehorse. lol!


Much of Dakotas Baby Doll's most well known bloodlines trace back along her paternal great, great grandmother's side, where horses like Man O' War, Yellow Jacket, Shiloh, Steel Dust, Oklahoma Star, and Old Joe Bailey are found.

I'm quite proud of my mare's ancestry and also glad that my girl just didn't end up in a pasture somewhere as a broodmare. I found it interesting that my painted girl has only birthed one known foal, a colt that is now 8 yrs old. I wish I could see her son up close, but that cute picture will have to do. (You can see him, too, if you click on the previous link and then click on 'reports' and then 'photos'. He's a real looker!

I'm also very glad to have Baby Doll's registration papers, which include this darling photo of my girl, as a little filly.

Her registration papers originally called her a Tobiano, but that was changed in 1996, 3 years after her birth.
Tobiano (pronounced: tow be yah' no)
The dark color usually covers one or both flanks. Generally, all four legs are white, at least below the hocks and knees, and the spots are regular and distinct as ovals or round patterns that extend down over the neck and chest, giving the appearance of a shield. Head markings are like those of a solid-colored horse--solid, or with a blaze, strip, star or snip. A tobiano may be either predominantly dark or white. The tail is often two colors.
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Tovero(pronounced: tow vair' oh)
Dark pigmentation around the ears, which may expand to cover the forehead and/or eyes. One or both eyes blue. Dark pigmentation around the mouth, which may extend up the sides of the face and form spots. Chest spot(s)in varying sizes. These may also extend up the neck. Flank spot(s)ranging in size. These are often accompanied by smaller spots that extend forward across the barrel, and up over the loin.(Excuse all these photos. Ranchman John took them, from his truck, as he was driving down the road)

I enjoy riding Baby Doll all around our house, paddocks and neighborhood. We have alot of trees and shrubs to use as obstacles to ride between and circle around. Yesterday Baby Doll and I made huge progress when I was finally able to get her to step over and walk across our large concrete basketball court. We tried it once before but she balked and I didn't feel confidant enough to try it.
This time I was confidant and she trusted me. When she took a step up onto the court, I praised her madly! It felt so good as we walked back and forth over that basketball court several times. I could tell that even she was quite proud of herself, too.There are several empty fields that surround our neighborhood that I also enjoy riding my horse. I've come along way in feeling confidant enough to ride out by myself, and escape the confines of the round pen and arena. I'm so excited to see where our future trails take me and my horse.