Lightning Bar
Encyclopedia
Lightning Bar was an American Quarter Horse
who raced
and subsequently became a breeding
stallion. He was bred by his lifelong owner Art Pollard of Sonoita, Arizona
, and was the offspring of Three Bars
, a Thoroughbred
, and Della P, a Quarter Horse mare from Louisiana, then noted for the breeding of sprint horses. Lightning Bar raced ten times, achieving four victories and four other top three finishes. His racing career was cut short by illness after only one year, following which he spent two years as a show horse. As a breeding stallion he sired seven crops, or years, of foal
s, among whom Doc Bar
was the best known. In 1960 Lightning Bar died of an intestinal infection at the age of nine. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Association
's (AQHA) Hall of Fame
in 2008.
later inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. His dam was Della P, a daughter of the Thoroughbred stallion Doc Horn. His second dam, or maternal grandmother, was a mare who was never given a name, sired by Old D. J. Art Pollard purchased Della P from "Dink" Parker for $1,750 (approximately $ as of ) in the late 1940s. Della P was bred in Louisiana, a leader in breeding short distance racehorses between 1900 and 1940, and was taken to Arizona by Parker.
When Lightning Bar was about five days old Pollard was afraid that he had leg problems and was buck-kneed, and considered putting the colt
to sleep. He sought Parker's advice, and as Pollard later related the story, "Dink just looked at me and shook his head. 'Ain't you ever gonna learn nothing? That colt's just what you're looking for.' " When mature, the sorrel
-colored Lightning Bar stood tall and weighed about 1250 pounds (567 kg).
, or comparative rating of his speed, was AAA, the highest achievable at the time. Lightning Bar raced for only one year, as he suffered from bouts of pneumonia
, strangles
, and leg injuries
. He equalled one track record for two-year-olds at the Los Angeles County Fair
race meeting in Pomona, California
, running 330 yards (301.8 m) in 17.2 seconds.
After his racing career Lightning Bar went on to become a show horse
, earning 18 open halter
points with the AQHA, and an AQHA Champion award in 1955. He won one grand championship and one reserve championship in halter classes at recognized AQHA shows.
s were bred to him. The next year, he bred 11 mares, but in 1956, he bred 102 mares at $500 (approximately $ as of ) each. One of Pollard's attempts to advertise his stallion involved letting one of his ranch hands take the horse to a local jackpot roping
. Pollard assumed that the hand would just ride Lightning Bar around and show him off, but he later discovered that more was involved. Pollard said later that "I should have been suspicious when he (the ranch hand) returned with Lightning Bar that afternoon, with a sheepish grin on his face. I asked him how the horse was received and he said 'The stud did good and I won the jackpot!' After congratulating him, I asked which rope horse he had used. He replied, 'The stud.' "
Pollard said of Lightning Bar that "I always had to be careful about the kind of latch I used on a gate with that horse. He could figure them out faster than I could. He would open a gate, and go for a stroll." Lightning Bar sired 148 foals in his eight breeding seasons, and 118 of those foals went on to either race or show careers. Of his foals, 108 started races, and 77 won, earning a total of $476,949. The most successful of his foals, Lightning Belle, earned $60,134 (approximately $ as of ).
Five of Lightning Bar's foals earned AQHA Championships: Cactus Comet, Crash Bang, Lightning Rey, Pana Bar and Relampago Bar; Lightning Rey earned a Supreme Championship. In addition, Lightning Bar's offspring earned $1,163.32 in National Cutting Horse Association
sanctioned cattle cutting
competitions, and four earned a Superior Halter Horse title from the AQHA.
, a disease of unknown origin that can kill rapidly and without warning. It infected many of Pollard's horses; of those affected only three survived. Heartbroken, Pollard sold his remaining stock and did not return to the Quarter Horse business for 15 years. He said later that "it was a nightmare when they were wiped out. Even now, we can still feel the sadness of losing those horses." Another time, Pollard remarked that "Someone once said that a man deserves one good woman and one good dog in his lifetime. To that quip I would add one good horse. I certainly had one in Lightning Bar."
Lightning Bar was inducted into the AQHA's American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2008. His most famous son was Doc Bar, who was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. Lightning Bar's daughter Glamour Bars was the dam of Impressive
, who became well known as one of the leading sires of halter horses. Two stakes races were run in Lightning Bar's memory, the first at Los Alamitos Race track
in California for one year in 1961. The second ran from 1962 to 1966 at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.
American Quarter Horse
The American Quarter Horse is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name came from its ability to outdistance other breeds of horses in races of a quarter mile or less; some individuals have been clocked at speeds up to 55 mph...
who raced
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
and subsequently became a breeding
Horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in domesticated horses...
stallion. He was bred by his lifelong owner Art Pollard of Sonoita, Arizona
Sonoita, Arizona
Sonoita is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, Arizona, United States. The population was 826 at the 2000 census....
, and was the offspring of Three Bars
Three Bars
A famous sire of Quarter Horses, Three Bars was actually a registered Thoroughbred racehorse before going on to become a member of the American Quarter Horse Association's American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame.-Life:...
, a Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
, and Della P, a Quarter Horse mare from Louisiana, then noted for the breeding of sprint horses. Lightning Bar raced ten times, achieving four victories and four other top three finishes. His racing career was cut short by illness after only one year, following which he spent two years as a show horse. As a breeding stallion he sired seven crops, or years, of foal
Foal
A foal is an equine, particularly a horse, that is one year old or younger. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, but these terms are used until the horse is age three or four. When the foal is nursing from its dam , it may also be called a suckling...
s, among whom Doc Bar
Doc Bar
Doc Bar was a Quarter Horse stallion that was bred to be a racehorse, became an outstanding halter horse, and in his sire career revolutionized the cutting horse industry.-Life:...
was the best known. In 1960 Lightning Bar died of an intestinal infection at the age of nine. He was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Association
American Quarter Horse Association
The American Quarter Horse Association , based in Amarillo, Texas, is an international organization dedicated to the preservation, improvement and record-keeping of the American Quarter Horse. The association sanctions many competitive events and maintains the official registry...
's (AQHA) Hall of Fame
American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame
The American Quarter Horse Association has created a Hall of Fame in Amarillo, Texas to honor both people and horses who contributed to the growth of the American Quarter Horse. Any one may nominate either people or horses to be considered. Nominations from the membership are due by October 1. They...
in 2008.
Early life
Foaled, or born, in 1951, Lightning Bar was bred to be a race horse, but injuries and bouts of illnesses kept him from racing past the age of two. His breeder, Art Pollard, owned him for the horse's entire life. Lightning Bar was sired by Three Bars, a Thoroughbred stallionStallion
A Stallion is a male horse.Stallion may also refer to:* Stallion , an American pop rock group* Stallion , a figure in the Gobot toyline* Stallion , a character in the console role-playing game series...
later inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. His dam was Della P, a daughter of the Thoroughbred stallion Doc Horn. His second dam, or maternal grandmother, was a mare who was never given a name, sired by Old D. J. Art Pollard purchased Della P from "Dink" Parker for $1,750 (approximately $ as of ) in the late 1940s. Della P was bred in Louisiana, a leader in breeding short distance racehorses between 1900 and 1940, and was taken to Arizona by Parker.
When Lightning Bar was about five days old Pollard was afraid that he had leg problems and was buck-kneed, and considered putting the colt
Colt (horse)
A colt is a young male horse, under the age of four. The term "colt" is often confused with foal, which refers to a horse of either sex under one year of age....
to sleep. He sought Parker's advice, and as Pollard later related the story, "Dink just looked at me and shook his head. 'Ain't you ever gonna learn nothing? That colt's just what you're looking for.' " When mature, the sorrel
Sorrel (horse)
Sorrel is an alternative word for one of the most common equine coat colors in horses. While the term is usually used to refer to a copper-red shade of chestnut, in some places it is used generically in place of "chestnut" to refer to any reddish horse with a same-color or lighter mane and tail,...
-colored Lightning Bar stood tall and weighed about 1250 pounds (567 kg).
Racing and show career
Lightning Bar started on the racetrack ten times, winning four races, coming in second three times, and third once. Among those finishes, he ran second and third in two stakes races, a type of race for higher quality horses with a higher payout. His total earnings on the track were $1,491 (approximately $ as of ), and his highest speed indexSpeed index
Speed index is a system of rating the performance of Quarter Horse racehorses. The American Quarter Horse Association has used two systems over the history of Quarter Horse racing to evaluate racing performances. The original system used a letter grade, starting at D, then C, B, A and the...
, or comparative rating of his speed, was AAA, the highest achievable at the time. Lightning Bar raced for only one year, as he suffered from bouts of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, strangles
Strangles
Strangles is a contagious upper respiratory tract infection of horses and other equines caused by a bacterium, Streptococcus equi var equi...
, and leg injuries
Lameness (equine)
Lameness in horses and other equidae is a term used to refer to any number of conditions where the animal fails to travel in a regular and sound manner on all four feet...
. He equalled one track record for two-year-olds at the Los Angeles County Fair
Los Angeles County Fair
The inaugural Los Angeles County Fair, now known as the L.A. County Fair, opened Oct. 17, 1922, and ran for five days through October 21, 1922, in a former beet field in Pomona, California. Highlights of the Fair’s first year were harness racing, chariot races and an airplane wing-walking...
race meeting in Pomona, California
Pomona, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Pomona had a population of 149,058, a slight decline from the 2000 census population. The population density was 6,491.2 people per square mile...
, running 330 yards (301.8 m) in 17.2 seconds.
After his racing career Lightning Bar went on to become a show horse
Horse show
A Horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days, sometimes longer for major, all-breed events or national and...
, earning 18 open halter
Halter (horse show)
"Halter" is a term used to describe a type of horse show class where horses are shown "in hand," meaning that they are led, not ridden, and are judged on their conformation and suitability as breeding stock...
points with the AQHA, and an AQHA Champion award in 1955. He won one grand championship and one reserve championship in halter classes at recognized AQHA shows.
Breeding career
The first year Lightning Bar stood as a breeding stallion his stud fee, the amount charged to breed a mare to him, was $250 (approximately $ as of ) but only nine mareMare
Female horses are called mares.Mare is the Latin word for "sea".The word may also refer to:-People:* Ahmed Marzooq, also known as Mare, a footballer and Secretary General of Maldives Olympic Committee* Mare Winningham, American actress and singer...
s were bred to him. The next year, he bred 11 mares, but in 1956, he bred 102 mares at $500 (approximately $ as of ) each. One of Pollard's attempts to advertise his stallion involved letting one of his ranch hands take the horse to a local jackpot roping
Team roping
Team roping also known as heading and heeling is a rodeo event that features a steer and two mounted riders. The first roper is referred to as the "header," the person who ropes the front of the steer, usually around the horns, but it is also legal for the rope to go around the neck, or go around...
. Pollard assumed that the hand would just ride Lightning Bar around and show him off, but he later discovered that more was involved. Pollard said later that "I should have been suspicious when he (the ranch hand) returned with Lightning Bar that afternoon, with a sheepish grin on his face. I asked him how the horse was received and he said 'The stud did good and I won the jackpot!' After congratulating him, I asked which rope horse he had used. He replied, 'The stud.' "
Pollard said of Lightning Bar that "I always had to be careful about the kind of latch I used on a gate with that horse. He could figure them out faster than I could. He would open a gate, and go for a stroll." Lightning Bar sired 148 foals in his eight breeding seasons, and 118 of those foals went on to either race or show careers. Of his foals, 108 started races, and 77 won, earning a total of $476,949. The most successful of his foals, Lightning Belle, earned $60,134 (approximately $ as of ).
Five of Lightning Bar's foals earned AQHA Championships: Cactus Comet, Crash Bang, Lightning Rey, Pana Bar and Relampago Bar; Lightning Rey earned a Supreme Championship. In addition, Lightning Bar's offspring earned $1,163.32 in National Cutting Horse Association
National Cutting Horse Association
The National Cutting Horse Association is an equestrian organization in the United States that promotes and stages cutting events. It was founded in 1946 at the Southwestern Exposition and Fat Stock Show, and put on its first competition that same year at Dublin, Texas.It is currently...
sanctioned cattle cutting
Cutting (sport)
Cutting is an equestrian event in the western riding style where a horse and rider are judged on their ability to separate a single animal away from a cattle herd and keep it away for a short period of time.-Description:...
competitions, and four earned a Superior Halter Horse title from the AQHA.
Death and legacy
Lightning Bar died in June 1960 from colitis-XColitis-X
Colitis X, equine colitis X or peracute toxemic colitis is a catchall term for various fatal forms of acute or peracute colitis found in horses, but particularly a fulminant colitis where clinical signs include sudden onset of severe diarrhea, abdominal pain, shock, and dehydration. Death is...
, a disease of unknown origin that can kill rapidly and without warning. It infected many of Pollard's horses; of those affected only three survived. Heartbroken, Pollard sold his remaining stock and did not return to the Quarter Horse business for 15 years. He said later that "it was a nightmare when they were wiped out. Even now, we can still feel the sadness of losing those horses." Another time, Pollard remarked that "Someone once said that a man deserves one good woman and one good dog in his lifetime. To that quip I would add one good horse. I certainly had one in Lightning Bar."
Lightning Bar was inducted into the AQHA's American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2008. His most famous son was Doc Bar, who was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. Lightning Bar's daughter Glamour Bars was the dam of Impressive
Impressive (horse)
Impressive was born an Appendix American Quarter Horse, however earned his full AQHA registration in 1971. He was the 1974 World Champion Open Aged halter stallion, the first such World Champion in his breed, despite carrying only 48 halter points in total. He is famous for his highly successful...
, who became well known as one of the leading sires of halter horses. Two stakes races were run in Lightning Bar's memory, the first at Los Alamitos Race track
Los Alamitos Race Course
Los Alamitos Race Course is a horse racing track in Cypress, California. The track hosts both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. The track has the distinction of holding four quarter horse stakes races with purses over $1 million, more than any other track in the United States.-Early...
in California for one year in 1961. The second ran from 1962 to 1966 at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.