At Rawhide Ranch, we’re uniquely blessed with a family line of horses, led by our special mother/son team!
Bonanza Dart, daughter of sire Ricky Bonanza and dam Chocolate Kisses, stumbled into the world in 1982 and quickly became a beloved member of our Rawhide Ranch family. Through her years at the ranch, Dart, as we like to call her, has endeared herself to many horse-loving ranch hands by sharing their first riding experience.
Dart’s Rawhide Ranch legacy continues with her son, Cutter’s Dart Man, known to his friends as Chico. Dart and her mate, Cutter Freckles, gave the ranch this wonderful addition in 2000. Early on, we knew Chico was determined to become part of the riding program when his little legs grew stronger! Our staff and summer camp wranglers helped Chico through his training, so today, he welcomes ranch hands to the riding arena all year long.
Like most of our horses here at Rawhide Ranch, Dart and Chico are American Quarter Horses. If you haven’t been to the ranch lately, chances are you’ve still seen an American Quarter Horse in a rodeo’s timed event or in a Western movie. American Quarter Horses are very popular for many tasks, including riding in camp programs. That’s because these compact, muscular horses can sprint short distances over a straightaway faster than any other breed—up to 55 mph! Their speed makes them great race horses, and they are most popularly run across quarter-mile distances, which the best racers can smoke in under 21 seconds.
When an American Quarter Horse disappears in a burst of speed, it might be hard to catch its color! American Quarter Horses are most commonly colored sorrel (brownish red), but they appear in 16 other recognized colors, including bay, black, brown, buckskin, chestnut, cremello, dun, red dun, gray, grullo, palomino, perlino, bay roan, blue roan, red roan, and white. Their speed and versatility has made the American Quarter Horse a popular choice since the breed’s beginnings in the 17th century, and in 1940, a registry was formed to preserve the breed.
If you want to learn more about the American Quarter Horse, come visit us at Rawhide Ranch. And if you have a favorite photo taken with Dart or Chico, we’d love to see it!
