Appaloosa history is full of famous horse-human pairs — those pairs whose individual pasts are so tightly intertwined that using one just isn’t right without using the other. One of those Appaloosa pairs is Cecil Dobbin and Bright Eyes Brother, both inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988.
An auctioneer in Colorado, Cecil watched bids for Appaloosas go higher as the breed became more popular. In the mid 1950s, he heard about the blanketed buckskin half-brother of Maddon’s Bright Eyes (AQHA). Maddon’s Bright Eyes was a three-time world champion running mare bred by Maddon Ranch in New Mexico. Her Appaloosa half-brother, with whom she shared three grandparents, was an unregistered rodeo horse called “Frosty.” Cecil followed the stallion’s story for nearly two years before a farrier passed on a tip about shoeing a buckskin Appaloosa stallion.
Cecil took the tip and found the stallion in New Mexico. He went with his life savings and horse trailer, and he brought back the brother of Maddon’s Bright Eyes. On the way home, Cecil made a call to his friend and then-editor of Western Horseman, Dick Spencer. It was Dick who named the stallion. “Call him Bright Eyes’ Brother, because that’s what you’re going to tell everyone,” Dick teased him.
Bright Eyes Brother made only about a dozen show-pen appearances, but his wins include the prestigious Appaloosa grand championship at the Denver National Western Stock Show. Cecil made Bright Eyes Brother the foundation of his breeding program and matched him with Coke Roberds-bred mares. Bright Eyes Brother sired 146 registered foals. His sons and daughters excelled in the show pen, on the track and in the breeding barn. His most famous get include fellow Hall of Fame Appaloosas Bright Starlette, Mighty Bright and Bright Chip.
Cecil owned Bright Eyes Brother until the stallion died after a long life of impacting the Appaloosa breed.
