Foaled in 1947, Baby Doll Combs,[2] also known as just Baby Doll,[3] was bred by H. M. Boetick of Bloomfield, Iowa, and registered with the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), as registration number 81,497. At the time of registration, Willard Combs owned her,[2] a steer wrestler or bulldogger who competed in the rodeo circuit in the 1950s.[1] Combs purchased her from Bill Oduum of Pryor, Oklahoma, in 1955, paying $3,200 for her.[4] Combs not only rode Baby Doll himself, but also allowed other wrestlers to ride her in return for a cut of the prize money.[1]
Rodeo career
Baby Doll competed in the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA) which was renamed the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in 1975.[1] In 1955, Combs younger brother, Benny, won the steer wrestling world championship with Baby Doll.[3] Then, in 1957, Combs himself won the world steer wrestling championship with her.[1] Her one and only foal was Checotah Star, a result of an accidental breeding in 1957.[5] Between 1953 and her death in 1960 she earned over $400,000 ($4,119,685 in current dollars) in prize money, and in 1957 when she won the title for Combs, she also carried the riders who finished second, third, fourth and fifth in the standings. Bill Linderman, a hall of fame and famous rodeo cowboy, once said that "Baby Doll knew bulldogging better than some of the guys who rode her."[6]
When mature, Baby Doll Combs was a bay mare who weighed about 1,030 pounds and stood about 14.1 hands (57 inches, 145 cm) high. She had a blaze and a left hind sock as her only white markings.[6] A short horse is an advantage to a steer wrestler, as it's closer to the steer.[7]
Death and honors
Baby Doll Combs died of a ruptured intestine in 1960.[1][5] She died at a Kansas rodeo, but her owner had her returned to Checotah, Oklahoma, where he lived so that she could be buried on his ranch. Many of the cowboys who had earned money off her were present at the ceremony, and a photograph of them at the graveside appeared in Life Magazine.[8]
Baby Doll Combs was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame[9] in 2004.[4] The PRCA honored her in 1979 by inducting her into their ProRodeo Hall of Fame in the inaugural group of inductees.[3]
There is a memorial stone at that Western heritage and cowboy museum in Oklahoma City Oklahoma
^ abAmerican Quarter Horse Association Official Stud Book and Registry Volume 12 entry #81,497
^ abc"Baby Doll". Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
^ abAmerican Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). "Baby Doll Combs". AQHA Hall of Fame. American Quarter Horse Association. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
^ abStaff "Hall of Fame" Quarter Horse Journal p. 50
^ abGroves "Baby Doll" Quarter Horse Journal p. 18
^Lindeman "Quarter Horse in Rodeo" The Quarter Horse Breeder p. 86
^Wohlfarth "Last Rites" Quarter Horse Journal p. 14
^American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). "Hall of Fame Inductees". AQHA Hall of Fame. American Quarter Horse Association. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
Lindeman, M. H. (1959). "The Quarter Horse at Rodeo". In Lindeman, M. H. (ed.). The Quarter Horse Breeder: Basic Text and References on the American Quarter Horse. Wichita Falls, TX: Quarter Horse Breeders Publishing Co. pp. 85–86. OCLC1222832.
Mattson, Paul (1991). The Real American Quarter Horse: Versatile Athletes who proved Supreme. Wamego, KS: Premier Publishing. ISBN1-879984-77-6.
Staff (March 2004). "Hall of Fame". Quarter Horse Journal: 42–53.
Staff (November 7, 1960). "LIFE". Time Inc. Retrieved September 10, 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
Staff (November 18, 1957). "LIFE". Time Inc. Retrieved September 10, 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)