2022 Breeder's Guide Stud: Tha Rock

Tha Rock

RR Quarter Horses

Bryce Canyon City, Utah

facebook.com; 435-690-0120

RRBarQuarterHorses.com

Stud Fee: $1,000

Rusty Rich was at the Perkins Ranch near Tyler, Texas, looking for rope horse prospects when he noticed this stud at just 3 weeks old on his mama’s side.

“He looked like a little Arnold Schwarzenegger,” said Rich. “Don Perkins trained and rode Mr Sun Olena. They’ve got some of the purest Poco Bueno lines in the country.”

Mr Sun Olena, a Poco Lena grandson, was on the papers of a couple of the best head horses Rich ever rode. Tha Rock is a great-grandson of Poco Tivio, but is also teeming with High Brow Cat, Peppy San Badger and Doc’s Hickory blood. In fact, the stud is only 6 this spring but already scored big in cutting in the AQHA under Kip Denton, and has earned more than $60,000 in paychecks from American Ranch Horse Association (ARHA) and World Series (WSTR) events.

Based in Utah, Tha Rock, at almost 15 hands and 1,200 pounds, will phase out of cutting now and stick to heeling at the rope-horse futurities. His breeding career is just starting, but Rich is excited to see the results of his first crop.

“I bought a couple of broodmares from Don Perkins that are daughters of Mr Sun Olena and great-granddaughters of Sugar Bars that I bred to him, and I’m excited about those,” Rich said. “It’s pretty old-school stuff, but that’s what we like. It works for us.”

With a pedigree this royal, the classy blood bay should become a force to be reckoned with in team roping.

“He’s so gentle that my kids even ride him,” said Rich. “He’s just real pleasant to be around and very athletic. He’s taken to heeling really good.”

SIRE: Cats Rocket

DAM: Miss Poco 167 by Sparta Tiveo

Read: The 2022 Team Roping Journal Breeder’s Guide