Natural Resources
Rocky Meadow Ranch: A Paint and Quarter Horse Haven
by Lisa Broadwater

The life that Bob and Elisa Dickson lead at their scenic Rocky Meadow Ranch is a far cry from the frenzied corporate world they inhabited for many years, when Bob worked as an marketing/merchandising executive vice president and then as an independent contractor.
"In the corporate world, I was watching all these people who get up at 5 in the morning and show up at the office before 7, just like I did," Bob recalls. "They generally don't leave before 6, or somebody thinks something's bad wrong. Lots of times you don't leave before 7 or 8, and there are generally events or customers to entertain over the weekend. And it consumes your life.
"As I got older, I didn't want it to consume my life. I wanted to go back and touch and feel some of the things that had felt good to me earlier in life. You have this vision of what you want and what you enjoy your whole life; I think a lot of people lose sight of it."
Luckily for Bob and Elisa, many years ago — back when Bob was principal of the Harrison high school — the two had bought the property that became Rocky Meadow, a beautiful 340-acre tract located next door to what used to be Dogpatch USA.
"I’m very fortunate to have this place," Bob admits. "One Saturday morning, I was driving down Highway 206, and there was an old man on the highway tacking up a 'For Sale' sign. So I stopped and said, 'Mind if I drive over?' I had always looked at that field and thought, 'Man wouldn’t it be wonderful to have that? It's gorgeous.' So I drove to town and made an offer, which they didn’t accept — but they made a counteroffer. Ten minutes later, I bought the place.
"And it’s been a wonderful place to live. It has a lot of history. Over the years, typically on a Sunday afternoon, we’ve had people come by and say, ‘Well, I lived here once upon a time and we wanted to see the place...’ I’ve enjoyed visiting with every one of them."
Located just outside Harrison, the spread is now home to roughly 30 horses (including 11 mares and two or three foal crops), 120 head of cattle, five cats and a couple of dogs. The Dicksons specialize in breeding Paint and Quarter horses, especially those with distinctive sabino markings — although that wasn't their original plan.
"We really had no intention of doing the horse thing," Bob explains. "I just wanted a few horses because I enjoyed riding. When I was committed to the idea that we were going back to the farm, I started looking for horses. I looked for months, I drove all over — I looked at just about every place I could find that advertised a horse between here and Oklahoma City. It was fun. I've heard of everything, as a result of that."
What he wanted, he says, were "horses that had excellent dispositions but also were beautiful. Because I think one of the things that's appealing about the horse is the aesthetics — they're gorgeous animals. But if they don't have a good disposition, what have you got? I was also looking for good-sized animals because I'm a big guy — I'm 6'4"— that could do whatever you wanted them to do, whether it was trail ride or rope or whatever. And I believe that has to do with disposition."
Dickson settled on Quarter horses for two reasons, he says: "The Quarter horse is a beautiful animal, and I like the way they perform. They can do a lot of different things. I know a lot of people like gaited horses, but I don't think they're as aesthetically pleasing. I don't see the beauty I see in the Quarter horse. Also, people who own gaited horses talk about how smooth-riding they are; well, there are some very smooth-riding Quarter horses too."
The pedigrees of the Dicksons' stock include leading bloodlines such as Obvious Conclusion, Sunny D-Bar, Southern Sockett and The Ultimate.
"What you'll find is that most of them are a combination," he says, "and this is kind of on purpose, because I was looking for beauty and conformation, a combination of show (halter, primarily) and performance."
Early on, the Dicksons bought several horses from a woman in Ada, Okla., whose stock included numerous performance bloodlines and who also been breeding sabinos.
"She had won the worlds, I believe, with her stud, The Ultimate," Dickson says. "And she had sold a number of other sabinos to other people that had done extremely well.
"The sabino is an overo Quarter horse," he adds, "Some people will take issue with that and tell you that sabino is a gene, which it is. And it can show up a lot of other places. If it has the gene, it doesn't necessarily have to have the color pattern. When I talk about it, I'm talking about the horse that used to be in the Indian culture, the horse that the medicine man or chief rode."
"I have what's known as an extreme sabino. It's a white horse with medicine hat, a shield on its chest, coloring on its flanks and at least a spot at the head of the tail. They're very beautiful animals."
Last year, the Dicksons donated a 2-year-old sabino filly and weanling to the Dorothy E. King Equine Program at the University of Arkansas. The reason, Bob says: Program director Nancy Jack asked.
"I met her at the Little Rock horse expo two years ago and got to talking with her," Dickson says. "If you can do something to build the university program, you're going to build interest in horses in northwest Arkansas. So it's to my advantage that the university program be strong and viable. And there's a lot of good that can come for kids and people of all ages."
On May 31, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Dicksons are hosting an open house at Rocky Meadow to show off their stock to potential buyers. During the open house, guests will have a chance not only to ride the horses and learn more about each one's pedigree, but will be able to attend a number of equine-related clinics. For example, Richard Dwery will focus on natural hoof care and trainer Richard Hunt will discuss basic horsemanship and training, while Templeton Thompson will do some Parelli round pen demonstrations. All the clinics are free.
"There's not gonna be any pressure put on anyone," Dickson says, "but if you want a horse, there's gonna be some nice ones available. And we'll be selling at reasonable prices. We'll start as low as $500 for the right home, and we've got some that I'll probably ask $5,000."
One requirement, he adds: "You need to have a place to take care of a horse. I'd hate to sell a horse to somebody who said, 'Well, I don't know where we're going to put it but....' Because that's not doing anybody a favor, including the horse. I'd also like to sell them to people who are going to use them, not just stand them out in the pasture for an ornament."
The goal at Rocky Meadow: "We want to raise nice horses that other people want," Dickson says. "And we're not raising them to sell and make a lot of money. We're raising them because we love them; it's that simple.
"This is what makes life fun," he adds. "It's a hell of a lot better than an airplane, a taxi cab and a meeting room. That's the way I spent a huge part of my life."
Rocky Meadow Ranch is located at 9271 Bubbling Springs Road, near the junction of Highway 7 and Highway 206, just south of Harrison. For more information about the open house on May 31, call (870) 743-8409.