Ross Roark Leads Intersection to Win in Performance Halter Stallions

By: Brittany Bevis

Ross Roark returned to the winner’s circle once again this afternoon at the 2013 AQHA World Show. This time, he was at the lead for Dan Fox of Chino, California with the chestnut stallion Intersection. 7-year-old “Scooter,” a stallion by Mr. Elusive and out of A Honey Ofa Page, competes in six different events: heading, heeling, ranch horse pleasure, barrels, poles, and halter.

Although he won’t be competing in any additional events here at the World Show, Fox is aiming for a successful run at a ranch horse pleasure title next year.

“I’ve had him since he was five years old,” Fox says. “He was my first halter horse. I bought him as as two year-old from Kathy Pettit.”

“He’s not [riding] here, but next year we’re going to get real serious about ranch pleasure and see what we can get done with that. I’m going to have Marty Simper riding him, and Marty gets along really good with him. He’s like his best bud, I think. Next year, he is going to be in Utah.”

Fox doesn’t ride Scooter much yet, but he is looking forward to competing in ranch-style events in the future. A versatile stallion, Scooter has seven Highpoint Championships to his credit.

“I don’t ride him a whole lot yet,” he says. “He is a really calm horse so I will be riding him in the future. When I was a teenager, I [rode a lot]. My daughter is on the Texas A&M rodeo team and is doing barrels. I do mainly trail riding and hunting off horseback. I go deer or elk hunting. If you get something, you put it on the horse and ride out. [I don’t hunt] yet [with Scooter]. When he gets to be a teenager, [I] probably [will]. He is beefy enough that he will hold an elk!”

Today was doubly special for Fox because his beloved nine-year-old mare, A Classic Edition, was named the Reserve World Champion in Performance Halter Mares with Ted Turner at the lead. A special announcement was made as the mare walked out of the pen today. This performance was her last time in the show pen before she retires to the breeding shed.

“She was Reserve, and we are retiring her,” he says. “This was her last show. She is going to raise babies now. I got second with her last year, and Ted got third. We thought, ‘she’s better than this. Let’s try one more time.’ It worked. My daughter [Katie] won with her last week, and Ted was one point off from first today. She’s got five World titles, five Reserve titles, four Congress Championships, and five Highpoint Champions.”

Looking forward to 2014, Fox has two A Classic Edition foals that are showing as much promise as their mother.

“We’ve got two right now,” he says. “They’re yearlings that are eight days apart. They’re full brother and sister. They were embryo transfers. They’re both palomino, and they have a little bit of her attitude!”

“They’re by Western Gunslinger, and they’ve got good personalities and are good-legged. The stud is built more like his grandpa, Kids Classic Style. He’s beefy. He’s 120 pounds at one year old. He’s a monster. The mare’s back is as straight as a rail. I’m going to be showing the mare in January for sure. Hopefully, the other one will be ready for later next year.”

Fox has one more horse left to compete here at the World Show. JD Yates will be showing on Fox’s behalf in the Heeling tomorrow.

Performance Halter Stallions–

1-Intersection/Ross Roark

2-Definitely All That/Kathy Smallwood

3-Inspirado/Ted Turner

4-Riginal Cinch Brand/Gene Parker

5-Im A Tuff Bueno/Tim Finkenbinder

6-Unforgettable/Joey Shortino

7-Touchdown Cali/Buddy Laney

8-Two Id Joes Song/Joe Brinkman

9-Dual Spark/Bobby Lewis

10-Do You Think I’m Flashy/ Will Knabenshue