Lightning Bar facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Lightning Bar

Breed	American Quarter Horse
Discipline	Racing
Sire	Three Bars (TB)
Grandsire	Percentage (TB)
Dam	Della P
Maternal grandsire	Doc Horn (TB)
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1951
Country	United States
Color	Sorrel
Breeder	Art Pollard
Owner	Art Pollard
Honors
Racing record
10-4-3-1 Stakes: 0-1-1
Race earnings
$1491.00 ($16,308 in current dollars)
Major racing wins
2nd Beaudry Handicap 3rd Juvenile Prep Stakes
Racing awards
American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Race Register of Merit
Other awards
AQHA Champion
Honors
American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame
Last updated on: May 24, 2009.

Lightning Bar was a famous American Quarter Horse. He was a very fast racehorse and later became a stallion (a male horse used for breeding). Art Pollard owned Lightning Bar his whole life.

Lightning Bar's father was a Thoroughbred horse. His mother came from Louisiana, a state known for breeding quick racehorses. Even though Lightning Bar only raced for one year, he was very fast. He earned a top speed rating called an AAA speed index. His racing career ended early because he got sick. After racing, he became a show horse and even a roping horse.

As a breeding stallion, Lightning Bar fathered many important horses. His most famous son was Doc Bar. Lightning Bar passed away in 1960 when he was 9 years old. In 2008, he was honored by being added to the American Quarter Horse Association's (AQHA's) American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame.

Lightning Bar's Early Life

Lightning Bar was born in 1951. He was bred by Art Pollard, who owned him throughout his life. From the start, he was meant to be a racehorse. However, injuries and illnesses stopped him from racing after he was two years old.

His father was a famous Thoroughbred stallion named Three Bars. Three Bars was also later inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame. Lightning Bar's mother was Della P. Her father was a Thoroughbred stallion named Doc Horn. Della P's mother was a mare (female horse) who was never given a name.

Art Pollard bought Della P for $1,750 ($21,315 as of 2025) in the late 1940s. Della P was bred in Louisiana. This state was famous for breeding horses that ran short races between 1900 and 1940.

When Lightning Bar was only about five days old, Art Pollard worried about his legs. He thought the foal might have problems and be "buck-kneed." Pollard even thought about putting the young horse to sleep. But first, he asked for advice from the person he bought Della P from, "Dink" Parker.

Pollard later remembered Parker's words: "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 Lightning Bar grew up, he stood 15.2 hands (about 62 inches (160 cm)) tall. He weighed around 1,250 pounds (570 kg). He was a sorrel-colored horse, which means he had a reddish-brown coat.

Racing and Show Days

Lightning Bar raced ten times in his career. He won four races, came in second three times, and finished third once. He also placed second and third in two important stakes races. His total earnings from racing were $1,491 ($16,308 as of 2025). His highest speed index rating was AAA, which means he was very fast.

He only raced for one year because he suffered from pneumonia, distemper, and leg injuries. Despite this, he tied a track record for two-year-olds at Pomona Racetrack. He ran 330 yards (300 m) in just 17.2 seconds.

After his racing career, Lightning Bar became a show horse. He earned 18 points in open halter classes with the AQHA. In 1955, he won an AQHA Champion award. He also won one grand championship and one reserve championship in halter classes at official AQHA shows.

Becoming a Father: Lightning Bar's Breeding Career

When Lightning Bar first started as a breeding stallion, his stud fee was $250 ($2,724 as of 2025). This was the cost to breed a mare to him. In his first year, only nine mares were bred to him. The next year, he bred 11 mares. But in 1956, he bred 102 mares, with the fee increasing to $500 ($5,382 as of 2025) each.

Art Pollard tried to advertise his stallion in a unique way. He let one of his ranch hands take Lightning Bar to a local jackpot roping event. Pollard thought the employee would just ride Lightning Bar around to show him off. But he later found out more happened.

Pollard said, "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.' " This showed how talented Lightning Bar was.

Pollard also shared that Lightning Bar was very clever. "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 fathered 148 foals during his eight breeding seasons. Out of these, 118 went on to have racing or show careers. 108 of his foals started races, and 77 of them won. Together, they earned a total of $476,949. Lightning Belle was the foal who earned the most on the racetrack, with $60,134 ($574,803 as of 2025).

Five of Lightning Bar's foals earned AQHA Championships: Cactus Comet, Crash Bang, Lightning Rey, Pana Bar, and Relampago Bar. One, Lightning Rey, even earned a Supreme Championship. His offspring also earned $1,163.32 in National Cutting Horse Association competitions. Four more of his foals earned a Superior Halter Horse title.

His Final Days and Lasting Impact

Lightning Bar passed away in June 1960. He died from Colitis-X, a serious illness that spread quickly. This virus infected many of Pollard's horses. Only three horses that caught the disease survived.

Pollard was so heartbroken by the loss that he sold his remaining horses. He did not return to the Quarter Horse business for 15 years. Pollard later said, "it was a nightmare when they were wiped out. Even now, we can still feel the sadness of losing those horses." Another time, he said, "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 American Quarter Horse Association's American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2008. His most famous son, Doc Bar, was also inducted into the Hall of Fame. Two stakes races were held in Lightning Bar's memory. The first was at Los Alamitos Racetrack for one year in 1961. The second ran from 1962 to 1966 at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico.

Lightning Bar's Family Tree