"Toddler Dakota McLaughlin is getting one of her first riding lessons on her gentle Quarterhorse, Dose. It's a warm spring day.

Her father Ryan keeps one hand on the tiny girl and the other on the tall horse. He trolls the two around the emerald spring grass of the front lawn.

Ryan McLaughlin: "She doesn't usually; well she does talk a lot. But usually around other people she doesn't talk. (It's) probably the horse that's making her talk."

Dakota takes naturally to the horse. Perhaps it's in her genes. Her father grew up on a 40,000-acre ranch. Her mother, Talia, was an Indian princess in one of the West's last great rodeos, the Pendleton Round-Up.

The family can keep the horse because now they own their own home. It sits on five acres on the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

In fact, Dakota's mother Talia took a tribal education class to learn how to become a homeowner.

Buying property or building on reservations can take up to three or more years sometimes. So, Talia says, finding a good home for sale is rare.

Talia McLaughlin: "There just isn't that much housing on the reservation for sale, and if it is its properties that have a lot of acreage. And acreage is high right now so it's tough finding something within your price range and also something that you really like.""

Get the Story:
Tribal Members Becoming Homeowners, Despite Housing Bust (Oregon Public Broadcasting 7/6)