November 8-23, 2013, Oklahoma City

3-Year-Old Stallions

After two reserve champion titles, AQHA Professional Horseman Ross Roark and Heza Secret Agent take the gold.

by Allison Grayson
The American Quarter Horse Journal

AQHA Professional Horseman Ross Roark has had a very successful week so far at the 2012 AQHA World Championship Show. His wins include all three of the performance halter classes, as well as yearling geldings.

And now he’s added a win in 3-year-old stallions with Heza Secret Agent.

“I’m fortunate, you know, I got to the heavy end of my horses today that we’ve had fit and shown,” Ross said. “(I’ve shown with) Heza Secret Agent and Cauzin Trouble and they’re really good horses and they’re fit and ready and prepared, and they showed (well). They’ve stayed healthy and lasted the last couple of weeks, so I was fortunate today.”

Many owners have asked Ross to show their horses for them over the last week, but this win holds special meaning for him. He’s been training “Agent” from the start.

“I’ve had him since he was a yearling and I just went in there and he had five firsts, that’s quite a feat,” he said. “He’s broke to ride and we’ve used him around the ranch, I mean, he’s just a really good horse and I think the thing about that horse is he’ll be a breeding horse because of the quality that he has.

“(To have a horse) that you’ve looked for and found, and you went and saw him and could see the future in him, and then taking him to second as a yearling and second as a 2-year-old (is really special),” he said. “And the two that beat him were really good horses, so this year, having five firsts, he got what he deserved.”

Having worked with him since he was a yearling, Ross makes sure that Agent is always ready for the show ring.

“There’s not really a hole or a place that you could pick on him,” he said of Agent. “He’s a very good individual. I’ve been reserve with him two times here. And he finally got what he deserved.”

Ross said that part of what makes Agent a great horse to work with is his temperament. When the pair is back at the ranch in Monahans, Texas, the 2009 sorrel gelding gets ridden on a regular basis.

“He’s kind of a big pet, he’s really good minded,” he said. “We ride him and we turn him out, he spends a lot of time out. I don’t know if he’ll go back to my house now that he’s won the world. Or if the Brinkman Ranch, which owns him, they have a lot of mares and they’ll just take him and breed him. I don’t know what’s in the future.

“He’s never left my place. What he (has going for him) has been through (work in) our program. He’s healthy, he’s sound, he’s good minded and he’s a good individual. That’s kind of what we wanted. You know, horses need to be horses a lot of the time.”

At this point in time, the future is uncertain for Ross and Agent. Ross and the owners are playing it by ear.

“Baxter Brinkman owns him and he doesn’t really want to sell him,” he said. “He breeds his own mares and doesn’t really breed any outside mares, and he’s a big breeder. He’s a big asset to the industry. We need him in our industry and he needs a horse like this that he can breed to his mares and progress in the industry.

“We may bring him next year, but that’s to be in the future,” he said.

Ross said that Baxter was in the stands cheering the duo on as they won.

“He goes to one show a year,” he said with a laugh. “This one. He was here and I’m glad he showed up and he’s a good owner. It’s an honor to show for Baxter because he’s been in (the industry) a long time and has had a lot of good horses.”

After a successful run in 3-year-old stallions with Agent, Ross is hopeful for more wins during the last day of the World Show.

“(We’re going in) every class,” he said. “We’ll exercise (the horses to get ready). We’re fixing to do the Get-of-Sire and we’ll exercise them and get ready for tomorrow. They’re more or less ready, we’ve just got to do the odds and ends and we’ll be ready in the morning.”