Earely Ribbon could unlatch any gate or stall door, and in May of 1959 the 11-month-pregnant mare opened her stall door and disappeared from J & B Stables. Bill and JoAnn Robinson alerted everyone — from the police to the milkman — that their registered Quarter Horse mare had vanished. Then they searched, worried and waited for Earely Ribbon. They’d purchased her almost a year before as a roping horse for Bill. Bred to Hopscotch Reed (AQHA) when they bought her, Earely Ribbon was a two-in-one Quarter Horse package.
Jo Ann says Earely Ribbon traveled 10 to 15 miles from J & B Stables in Pleasant Grove, Utah, to Provo Canyon between the time she escaped and when she was found several days later. When Jo Ann and Bill went to pick up their mare, they surprisingly found a suckling Appaloosa filly at her side. They named that brightly blanketed filly J & B’s Spotted Fawn and registered her with the ApHC. They also found that Earely Ribbon’s sire was double registered with the AQHA and ApHC, so they double registered their roaning Quarter Horse broodmare as an Appaloosa as well.
J & B’s Spotted Fawn placed second in halter as a yearling at the 13th National Show. At the National Show, Bill and Jo Ann networked with Appaloosa owners and learned of their filly’s strong running lineage. The focus of their breeding program changed, and they started concentrating on racing Appaloosa lines. J & B’s Spotted Fawn ran in stock saddle races with the Robinsons’ son Kim. She never made an official start, but her offspring inherited her speed and took it to the track, earning the mare a place in the ApHC Racing Hall of Fame for her production record.
J & B’s Spotted Fawn produced 12 foals, 10 of which made racing starts. Six of her offspring went on to racing wins, four to stakes wins and two to stakes places. Her most famous son, Bar Gill, sired 56 starters and 21 winners.
J & B’s Spotted Fawn stayed with the Robinsons throughout her life. She died of natural causes in 1982 at the age of 23.
