With just a handful of trips down the ProRodeo road, My Frosty Firewater, known as “Skye”—daughter of $750,000-earning mare “Dolly”—has already helped Alicia Bird break into the top five of the Montana Circuit standings.
The late mare Dolly set the standard for mare power before the time of advanced breeding technologies and only has three progeny on the ground. In a July 2025 article The Team Roping Journal published in the wake of her death, it was said that “Dolly was too busy being great to make too many babies.”
Dolly’s biggest honor came when Erich Rogers rode her rode her in six of 10 rounds at the 2017 NFR in route to the heading gold buckle. That, stacked with four other trips to the NFR and a Canadian Title saw Dolly named as one of the highest-earning team roping horses ever, holding her own against the boys.
“She was good from the start,” Dustin Bird said. “Dolly had so much potential, but it happened slow. She started off a little bouncy and high up front, but she just got better and better and more and more calm. Dolly [got] wound up and could get to grinding her teeth on the bit because she just wanted to go 110% all the time.”
The Bird family only managed to raise one foal of their own out of her—a filly by Firewater Canyon they named “Skye.”
Today, at just 6 years old, Skye is following in her mother’s footsteps. With minimal hauling, she’s already landed Bird in the top five of the Montana Circuit standings with $12,767 won.
In this Q&A, Alicia Bird reflects on Skye’s journey, the similarities she sees between her and Dolly, and what the future holds for one of the most unique mares in the game.
Q&A with Alicia Bird
Q: Skye has such a rare pedigree. Can you walk us through her background and how she came to be?
Alicia: Skye is the only one we have out of Dolly. She’s by Firewater Canyon, and we were lucky to have the help of Lisa and Brian Anderson at Copper Springs Ranch when they were in Bozeman. Dolly only took once—she was pretty stingy every time we tried—so Skye is really special to us. We picked her up as a weanling and raised her ourselves. There are only three foals total in the world out of Dolly, so Skye’s definitely one-of-a-kind.
Q: What similarities do you see between Dolly and Skye?
Alicia: Honestly, it’s almost unreal. Standing them side by side, their conformation [was] nearly identical. Even their personalities—Skye will let herself out of gates and even let other horses out, just like Dolly used to. They’re both full of personality, always letting you know what they want.
Q: What’s Skye been like to bring along and start in the breakaway roping?
Alicia: She’s been super easy. Zach Curran broke her as a two-year-old, then Shay Carroll put about 90 days on her. She’s been really good-minded from the beginning. Dustin’s heeled on her a little bit, but mostly I’ve breakawayed on her. Until just a few weeks ago, she had only been to two rodeos and a handful of jackpots, but she handled it all like she’d been doing it for years.
Q: What makes her stand out as a rodeo horse, especially with so little hauling?
Alicia: She’s laid back, nothing seems to bother her. She scores well, she’s really fast-footed—just like Dolly—and she stops hard, which makes her easy to rope on. At Chinook it was muddy and it didn’t faze her at all. She just has a good mind, and that’s half the battle.
Q: You’ve already picked up checks at Cascade, Bozeman, Chinook, Baker and Billings on her. What has this stretch been like?
Alicia: It’s been awesome. I wasn’t having much luck on my other horse, so I decided to crack Skye out and she’s been great. Now that I have confidence in her, I don’t see myself getting off her anytime soon.
Skye and Bird’s breakaway winnings:
- Bozeman Stampede, Bozeman, MT – $756
- Bear Paw Roundup, Chinook, MT – $1,242
- Cascade Pro Rodeo, Cascade, MT – $1,763
- Rodeo Billings, Billings, MT – $1,027
- Fallon County Fair & Rodeo, Baker, MT – $3,794
Q: Do you see Skye crossing over into the team roping pen someday?
Alicia: Oh, I’m sure she will. We’ve just been letting her grow up—she’s a little smaller, probably 14.2 or 14.3—and we want to make her last a long time. Dustin has headed a few steers on her, but we haven’t pushed it yet. For now, breakaway has been her job, and she’s excelling at it.
Q: Do you have plans to breed her in the future?
Alicia: Definitely. We’ve been talking about pulling eggs and preserving her genetics, especially now that Dolly is gone. We haven’t done it yet, but it’s in the cards. We’ve looked at some studs we’d like to cross her on when the time is right.
Q: What does it mean to you to be riding one of Dolly’s only babies?
Alicia: I’m really appreciative of her. I told Dustin I hope she’s my “one horse”—the kind of horse everyone dreams of getting once in a lifetime. It’s been rewarding to bring her along ourselves and now see her starting to shine.
