At just 2, Phenomenal Poise already has quite a resume. This sorrel son of Call Me Phenomenal has three AQHA world championships to his name – one as a weanling, one at the Bayer Select World as a yearling and one he just claimed November 20 in the 2-year-old geldings class. For AQHA Professional Horseman Ross Roark of Monahans, Texas, it has been rewarding to see the progression – and the continued success. Here, the horse’s longtime trainer explains why he’s so special:
Q: Tell me about Phenomenal Poise: Ross: He’s a horse that Gerri Leigh Pratt raised. I won the world with him whenever he was a weanling. And then we sold him to Stanley Scott when he was a weanling. He was reserve world champion yearling here last year, and he has won the Select World. He’s a horse that I think has been shown at the major shows, best I can count, seven times, and he has been first or second (every time). That’s quite a record. I sold him (to Scott and Breda Kennedy) right before this show, a couple days before, so he’s going to go to Ocala, Florida. Ronnie Casper will be showing him. He’s just a super individual. He’s real correct, he shows good, he’s pretty. He looks like a mare in places, but he’s got muscling and carries himself like a gelding.
Q: Tell me what he’s like to show: Ross: He’s very easy. He has been in my program since he was a baby, so I know him like the back of my hand. He’s very easy to show; he’s no problem. Actually, a 9- or 10-year-old kid could show him; he’s that good-minded and that easy to show.
Q: How hard is he to get fit? Ross: A horse like him, he’s born with it. My thing that I have to do is keep him sound and get his hair right and just keep him toned up. He gets worked probably every other day and what he’s got, he was born with, he’s just blessed to have it.
Q: How much do you think he weighs? Ross: I won’t be off far, he’ll weigh 1,250, 1,275. For a 2-year-old, that’s big.
Q: He’s a 2-year-old … how much bigger is he going to get? Ross: He’ll probably peak out weighing 1,350.
Fun fact: Ross says, “We call him ‘Turbo’ around the barn, because when he was a baby, you’d put him in his stall and he’d run around the stall just a hundred miles an hour, and then he’d just fall over and go to sleep.”
WINNER STATS
Horse name: Phenomenal Poise Pedigree: Call me Phenomenal x My Telusive Poise by Telusive Exhibitor: Ross Roark of Monahans, Texas Owner: Stanley and Susan Scott of Ocala, Florida Trainer: Ross Roark Breeder: Gerri Leigh Pratt of Winston Salem, North Carolina
Total class entries: 22 Purse: $12,251.80
World Champion Prizes: Custom-designed gold-tone trophy, Montana Silversmiths buckle, neck wreath, gold medallion, Cripple Creek-logo jacket, world champion patch, Tex Tan product, Justin Boots
