I was born in spring’s glorious sunshine, 1960, in Jacksboro, Texas. Little did I know then the importance I’d bring to the horse world for generations. I was just a “red” sorrel filly out enjoying the green grass that “Mother Nature” had to offer.
My mom, Hobo Sue, was very protective and had a distinctive air, almost an arrogance or a sense of regalness that I admired about her. I soon followed in her hoofprints and took on that “look,” too. Everyone noticed and remarked how I didn’t act like the average foal. Well, of course not, I was going to grow up to be the “Queen” of it all…in the horse world that is.
My father, Poco Pine, was no “average Joe” either. One of the best sons of Poco Bueno is what all the cowboys said. When he was just a weanling, he won every show he entered. Poco Pine was owned by the Curtner Ranch and started under saddle by Pine Johnson, hence my dad’s name “Pine”.
When Mr. Curtner came up with dad’s name, he asked Pine Johnson, the trainer for the Waggoner Ranch, what he thought of the mare and colt he’d just purchased at the E. Paul Waggoner’s Quarter Horse dispersal sale in Vernon, Texas on May 17, 1954. Pine remarked, “He liked the shaggy bay colt,” and from there on, Dad was known as “Pine”. Couldn’t have been named for a better cowboy anywhere.
Dad was a stout mahogany bay, very balanced, but slow to mature, so Mr. Curtner let him mature at his own pace. By the time he was three years old, he was ready to start making a name for himself as a show horse. You had regular Halter classes; no Performance Halter was offered back then. Dad was so handsome, and the judges must have thought so. He showed in several categories of classes over his 9-year show career, amassing 46 Grands and 7 Reserve Championships in Halter Stallions, earning 135 AQHA Halter Points. In 1959, he was awarded his Superior Halter award.
When I was born in 1960, he earned his AQHA Championship. Dad also loved to work cattle and earned 15 Cutting points. Because of his laid-back ways, he earned two Western Pleasure points to round out the desired points to be a Champion. He was always a favorite around the ranch, chosen to be a “working horse,” not just another pretty face.
Hobo Sue, my mom, was a pretty bay, too, so how did I become a “ginger”? God only knows. I always admired her soft black mane; her beautiful long tail was the best fly swatter anywhere. If I got a little rowdy at the dinner table, she’d let me know with a swat from that tail and a nudge from her strong hind leg. Like many others, my mom was a working mom, juggling work and motherhood. She was a ranch hand, and the cowboys admired her grit and toughness. She wasn’t the frilly filly type and did not want to be a show horse.
Back then, stallions were usually promoted in the show world to attract breeding customers. Several of my siblings, on the other hand, and I did go on to do great things on the show circuit. Mom would say we were the “privileged” as we found our new human partners and entered the world.
In the summer of 1960, word had come out that a fine son of Poco Bueno (aka in Spanish as “pretty good”) was producing some real lookers down in Texas. Stunning to look at with the ability to pass that talent on to his offspring, Poco Pine soon climbed the American Quarter Horse Association rankings.
Paul Curtner was faced with the decision to sell or make his ranch famous by breeding Poco Pine. Many substantial offers floated his way, but he took Matlock Rose’s and others’ advice in the end. Keeping the young stallion who became known for his produce and the leading broodmare sire in an evolving industry.
Paul Curtner going Grand with Poco Pine
Paul bred his mares to Poco Pine and decisively planned to get those resulting foals into the hands of capable horsemen. He advertised conservatively in national publications, and much of the talk about my Dad was by word of mouth.
Lloyd Geweke from Ord, Nebraska, raised cattle and quarter horses with his family when he planned to upgrade his livestock. Lloyd was known to have an excellent eye for magnificent horses. He read the publications, and Poco Pine caught his interest. Built the way they should be with good bone, balanced, and they were sure enough pretty. He took his wife, Naomi, and his kids to Texas to look at a youngster and another bred mare that Paul Curtner had in a sale in the spring of 1963. While at the stalls, Don, his son, and his sister, Jean, liked the looks of me – begging their dad to buy. By this time, a friendship was budding between Paul and Lloyd because both men knew and respected good horseflesh.
The bidding began as I walked into the sale ring. It was fast and furious. I hoped the lovely family from Nebraska would be the winning bidders. Naomi had taken a short break from the sale action but heard Lloyd’s name called, knowing her husband must have brought another horse. As she returns to see what the family has purchased, she is met by her son, Don (pictured left). With a big smile, he said, “We got a real good one, Mom.” She laughed and said, “I can’t leave you or your dad alone for a minute!” Well, the purchase of me did turn out to be a “good one,” and I set out for Nebraska.
Nebraska, known as the Cornhusker State, was an excellent place for me. It’s where I learned to be a “Queen”. Being groomed with loving hands and listening to encouraging words helped me develop into a Champion. Don Geweke, Lloyd’s son, did my training. He had an infectious smile, kind ways, gentle hands, and a good seat for bringing along young horses. Jean, his sister, kept me brushed slick and told me how beautiful I was. Secretly, I thought she was gorgeous and so happy when she chose me to be her mount for the Valley County Nebraska Queens Contest. By the way, she was the WINNER.
In 1964, the American Quarter Horse Association awarded me, Dollie Pine (pictured right), an AQHA Championship Award for earning 26 Halter points and 27 Performance points, along with a Register of Merit in Performance. I continued to show with Don and Jean aboard for a few more years.
By 1966, it was decided that the time had come for me to earn my keep and be bred to the farm stallion, Mendigo Chico, a foundation-bred working horse. Lloyd always kept in touch with Paul Curtner in Jacksboro, Texas, and appreciated his advice. With that said, the Geweke family decided to breed me to one of the Curtner stallions, Zippo Pat Bars. The resulting cross in 1969 spurred them to breed me back to “Pat” for another season.
Tragedy struck the Geweke family when Don was killed in an auto accident while coming home from college. With much thought and a heavy heart, it was decided that the entire horse operation would be sold in a complete dispersal on September 13, 1969.
September 13, 1969, was a bittersweet time for us all at the farm in Ord, Nebraska. The Sale Catalog had been put together to showcase 62 extraordinary individuals who were immediate family and friends of mine. To ultimately be sold and dispersed to the highest bidder at 5 pm in the Ericson Livestock Commission Sale Facility, Ericson, Nebraska.
Hoping my friends and family would find their next human partner to love and care for them is the hope of all horses everywhere. A vast crowd supported the sale, knowing many good horses would be under one roof. You rarely see or have an opportunity to engage in a sale with many potential quarter horse winners.
Norman Reynolds and his teenage son, Larry, ran a large cattle operation up in Lexington, Nebraska, and he was looking for some working horses for his ranch. He was intrigued by the breeding that contained Poco Pine. Studying the breed publications, he knew that Poco Pine worked cattle and was pretty. Who wants to feed an ugly horse when you can afford a pretty one was Norman’s philosophy. So, off to the sale they went with trailer in tow, and perhaps they’d find a new prospect.
The sale started promptly at 5 PM Central time, and I sold as Lot #6. It was a scary time, but I didn’t show it outwardly. Mothers always worry about their children and what they will do or become as they grow up…I put it in God’s hands. If only I could have been the last to sell, not the first, but I went to a lovely lady from Indianapolis, Indiana. Lot #7 and Lot #8 also went to loving homes.
Then came my baby boy by Zippo Pat Bars. Such an adorable “ginger” like me, sorrel with one hind sock and a star, strip, and snip. He led through the ring beautifully as Robert Stowell showed him off to the crowd for the Geweke Family. When the hammer dropped, he had found his new home with Norman Reynolds in Lexington, Nebraska.
Norman took him home to turn him out and let him grow up. After all, he’d bought him to be a using horse in his cow-calf and feedlot operations. If he turned out to be any count, he’d leave him as a stud to breed a few mares. His daughter had other plans; she groomed him and made him shine like a new copper penny. Then, they took him to a few AQHA shows as a weanling, and by golly, they won all four he entered.
That’s when Norman thought he might have gotten his money’s worth out of this $1000 purchase. “Zip,” as he was called, was gorgeous and personable, easily the star anywhere he went. After a little growing up, he was sent to Bill Keyser for training. The horse that physically changed the pleasure horse world for generations was about to hit the scene…ZIPPO PINE BAR would become world renowned.
Motherhood was good to me. I had 14 foals, with eight of those to perform in competition. Four became American Quarter Horse Champions, and four received Superior Performance awards. Several were National Snaffle Bit Association money earners and high-point award winners. The one that changed the horse world permanently, Zippo Pine Bar, was on the All-Time Leading Sires List for several years.
“Zip” was a member of the 1992 NSBA Hall of Fame, and in 2000, he was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. Anyone would be proud to see their children excel in the ever-competitive horse show world, but seeing your grandchildren do it is an even more significant honor. Not many can say they have thousands of grandchildren, but I do and have probably lost count.
One grandson who set records in the early AQHA Amateur classes was Melody Zipper, a majestic 1976 gelding affectionately known as “Zipper.” He was a deep mahogany bay like his great-grandfather, Poco Pine. He was walking around at the Florida Gold Coast Circuit when he caught the eye of Don and LuAnn Paul, and they bought him right then. Winning many amateur classes early in 1979 at just three years of age, he caught the eye of trainer Doug Lilly.
Lilly wanted him as his Junior Western Pleasure horse, riding him to wins at the American Quarter Horse Congress in Junior Western Pleasure and the 3-Year-Old Maturity Western Pleasure. LuAnn showed him at the same show, winning the Amateur Western Pleasure, Amateur Horsemanship, and Amateur English Equitation and ending up as the Amateur All-Around Champion.
In 1983 at the American Quarter Horse World Championship Show in Oklahoma, Amateur riders were offered the first All-Around World Champion, similar to the Super-Horse Award. After tabulating points, Melody Zipper and LuAnn Paul rode away with that prestigious award to their credit. Zipper was never finished setting records and picking up classes to show in. Quarter Horses were not as specialized back then but were still very strong athletically and diverse contenders, the epitome of All-Arounders.
The year was 1985, and Zipper learned another class to their repertoire, Working Hunter, with Clark Denton aboard. He piloted him at the Quarter Horse Congress to second place out of 99 entries in the Working Hunter. The next day, LuAnn and Zipper showed in the Amateur Western Pleasure and received second place out of 143 horses. Making a name in the annals for Melody Zipper and earning 1476 amateur division points was a highlight for any grandmother.
I’ve got a family tree full of outstanding individuals, amassing more than 950,000 dollars in AQHA Incentive Fund money paid in their careers and progeny over 1.6 million dollars in NSBA futurity earnings. My descendants have been recognized and inducted into the Hall of Fame. Check your registration papers or extended pedigrees; you’ll likely see my name, Dollie Pine. It all started with me. Nobody would be where they are today without their mom, grandmother, or great-grandmother.
Other grandchildren set records, became Hall of Fame members, and continue to change the landscape today. Five horses in particular made names for themselves and went on to sire, produce, or show in today’s pleasure horse world: Zippos Mr Goodbar, Zippos Amblin Easy, Zippo By Moonlight, Mr Zippo Pine, and Zips Chocolate Chip. With family genetics like these, it’s no wonder my family is so prolific.
“It’s my firm belief that remarkable mares like Dollie Pine served as the key to unlocking the legacy of modern Western Pleasure horses we celebrate today,” said Karen Boxell, Breeding Manager for Richland Ranch
I lived a marvelous life that any horse would be happy with. I was cherished and loved by five wonderful owners. My final owner, Harold “Bud” Mills from Ohio, purchased me in late 1970 and ultimately allowed me to enjoy my old age on the ranch where I was born. He and Paul Curtner were the best of friends. I’m happy to have these memories captured for all to enjoy.
As the story goes, my last morning I had the most delicious, sweet feed and mouthwatering leafy alfalfa hay for breakfast. I pawed gently at the gate to enter the pasture and morning sun. Usually, I headed out to the west pasture but that morning I felt the urge to go towards the east. I didn’t know why but followed my instinct. Nothing hurt in my 30-year-old body that morning, and that seemed odd. A familiar scent filled my nostrils that I couldn’t quite place, but it kept drawing me eastward.
Over a slight rise in the pasture, it suddenly came to me that the smell that was so familiar growing up had been stuck in my subconscious all this time.. It was the luscious smell of my father’s haircoat, Poco Pine. There’s no way that I could have known my dad was buried just over that rise. It seemed so surreal, yet nature had brought me to this place. Knowing this was what God had planned, I laid just short of the fenced-in area near the marker saying “POCO PINE”.
I planned a short nap because walking to that spot had taken all my energy. I reminisced over the times spent on the ranch and all the wonderful people who had filled my life. The “gate” was open, and the pasture was now a lush green sea of grass. Everyone I knew was there to greet me and had gone before me…I found them all, and I knew I’d do the same thing as others joined later…this is “HEAVEN,” and there’s no place like it.
My name is Dollie Pine, and this is my story, skillfully written by Bonnie McCulla for all to see. Maybe I’ll join my family and take my immortal place in the Hall of Fame like any other “Queen”.
