The Doc Bar Heritage

Unquestionably, Doc Bar was more than just another pretty horse. His conformation, passed on to his offspring, allowed them to be the performers they were and are. To view the Doc Bar future, let?s take a look at Doc O?Lena, one of his foals.

Shorty Freeman, after riding Doc O?Lena to his National Cutting Horse Association Futurity championship said, ?Doc O?Lena is a carbon copy of his mama (Poco Lena). He works just like she did. I don’t believe I have ever ridden a better cutting horse, let alone a 3-year-old.?

Nine years after that big Futurity win, Shorty said his comment was still true, ?Doc O?Lena is an exception to the rule, a horse that rarely comes along.?

To have earned such a reputation, Doc O?Lena was small, about 14.3 hands, 1,200 pounds, but according to Shorty, you can’t measure the size of a horse’s heart in hands, and anyway, it doesn’t take a big horse to cut well.

At that time, Doc O?Lena was the only horse to have ever won a Futurity and also sire a Futurity winner, Lenaette (1975 NCHA Futurity). Doc O?Lena also placed third in the NCHA Maturity.

In addition to Lenaette, Doc O?Lena sired Leantoo, the 1974 NCHA Futurity non-pro champion and non-pro co-champion of the 1975 Maturity; Lena?s Bonita, the 1976 NCHA Maturity winner; Montana Doc, the 1976 NCHA Futurity 10th-place finalist, and fifth-place finisher in the semifinals; and Fox Easter, who sold for $30,000 at the National Western Mile-High Select Performance Horse Sale.

Doc O?Lena was bred by Dr. and Mrs. Stephen Jensen of Paicines, California. Trainer Shorty Freeman exercised his option to buy Doc O?Lena only a month after he began training the horse.

Read the AQHA story on the Doc Bar bloodline.

What did you think of this article?

Thank you for your feedback!