Smart Nu Shiner Leads Team Roping Pedigrees at 2026 AQHA World Show
Chelsea Shaffer1 hour ago
Smart Nu Shiner has more sons and daughters entered in the team roping at the 2026 AQHA World Show than any other stallion when the event kicks off Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026 in Oklahoma City.
Eleven of his offspring are drawn to head, heel or both—seven heading horses and 10 heel horses—across all four divisions.
The sire count is only half the story. Shining Spark matches Hickory Holly Time with 10 team roping horses as a sire, then adds nine more as the sire of the dam. Pitzer Ranch bred more of the field than anyone. And a handful of exhibitors are bringing close to a dozen horses apiece.
The first-round draws list 221 heading horses and 257 heel horses. Because 111 of them are entered at both ends, the team roping field is 367 individual horses.
Smart Nu Shiner’s depth comes partly from one program. Pitzer Ranch/Rolling V bred five of his 11 team roping horses: Cisco Primo, Smart Nu Mo, Smart Nu Sunny, Smart Nu Trix and Two Smart For You. Smart Nu Sunny and Smart Nu Trix are full siblings out of Shortys Probability, and both are entered in Junior Heeling.
J.D. Yates rides three Smart Nu Shiners: Smart Nu Trix and Smartjackie in Junior, and Two Smart For You in Senior Heading.
Shining Spark owns the Junior heeling
Nine of Shining Spark’s 10 team roping horses are in Junior. Seven of the 113 horses in Junior Heeling are by him, a 6.2% share and the strongest single-sire concentration in any team roping class at the show. He also ties Woody Be Tuff for the Junior Heading lead with four each.
His influence runs deeper on the bottom side. Shining Spark is the leading maternal grandsire in the team roping with nine horses, one ahead of One Time Pepto. Combine both pedigree roles and he touches 19 of the 367 team roping horses.
The most repeated cross in the team roping also runs through him: Shining Spark on daughters of Colonels Smoking Gun. My Guns Shiney, Rockin Shiney Guns, Shiners Diamonds and TR Royalty are all Junior horses, each out of a different mare.
Senior belongs to Travelin Jonez
Senior tells a different story. Travelin Jonez has five team roping horses, all of them Senior. He ties CD Diamond for the Senior Heading lead at four and leads Senior Heeling alone with three. Hat Six Okie Jonez, ridden by Brad Lund, and Rosie Jonez are entered at both ends.
Dakota Kirchenschlager has two of the five: Travelin For Acrez in heading and Smokin Stilettos in heeling.
Amateur and Select
Smart Nu Shiner leads Amateur Heeling with three of 40 horses. Bet Hesa Cat and Show Me A Song Joes share the Amateur Heading lead at two.
In Select, Hickory Holly Time and Smart Nu Shiner each have three of the 36 heading horses. Michael Boaz brings two of Hickory Holly Time’s Select horses, Acquanetta and Hickory Husker Time, and both are entered at both ends.
The mares and the breeders
Genuine And Stylish is the only mare with three heading horses. Bad As Style, Roo Stylin and Stylish Blu Boon are by three different stallions, and all three were bred by Melissa Ann Miller.
On the heel side, J Lows Glo and Look At Her Glo each have three. All three Look At Her Glo offspring are Junior heel horses, and two of them—Look At Bobby and Shiners Glow—are Shining Spark full siblings bred by Bobby E. Lewis.
Pitzer Ranch bred 10 of the team roping horses, the most of any breeder, including eight heading horses. Lewis bred eight of the heel horses, the most at that end. Jack Bogart is third overall with seven, five of them in Amateur. Pitzer Ranch/Rolling V is recorded as a separate breeder from Pitzer Ranch and is counted separately here.
Who’s riding the most
J.D. Yates won his 49th AQHA world title on Smooth As Catty in the 2025 Senior Heading. | TRJ File Photo
J.D. Yates has 10 heading horses and 12 heel horses drawn. Cade Rice matches Yates with 12 heel horses and adds eight heading horses. Both split their strings almost evenly between Junior and Senior.
Counts come from AQHA’s official first-round working orders as of Nov. 5, 2026, matched to QuarterHorseResource pedigree records for all 465 roping horses. They measure who is entered, not who wins. Scratches, draw revisions and results after Nov. 5 are not reflected.
All roping classes are in the Adequan Performance Arena at the Oklahoma State Fair Park in Oklahoma City and start at 8 a.m., following the order listed. The schedule is tentative and subject to change.
2026 AQHA World Show Schedule
Day
Class
Entries
Saturday, Nov. 7
Junior Tie-Down Roping L3 Prelims / L2 Finals
40
Junior Breakaway Roping L3 Prelims / L2 Finals
17
Senior Heading L3 Prelims / L2 Finals
110
Senior Heading L3 Shootout
15
Senior Heeling L3 Prelims / L2 Finals
113
Senior Heeling L3 Shootout
10
Sunday, Nov. 8
Senior Tie-Down Roping L3 Prelims / L2 Finals
48
Senior Breakaway Roping L3 Prelims / L2 Finals
39
Junior Heading L3 Prelims / L2 Finals
95
Junior Heading L3 Shootout
10
Junior Heeling L3 Prelims / L2 Finals
127
Junior Heeling L3 Shootout
15
Monday, Nov. 9
Junior Tie-Down Roping L3 Finals
15
Junior Breakaway Roping L3 Finals
15
Senior Heading L3 Finals
20
Senior Heeling L3 Finals
20
Tuesday, Nov. 10
Senior Tie-Down Roping L3 Finals
15
Senior Breakaway Roping L3 Finals
15
Junior Heading L3 Finals
20
Junior Heeling L3 Finals
20
Source: AQHA 2026 World Show tentative schedule. Entry counts as listed by AQHA.
2026 AQHA World Show roping draws
First-round working orders for all 16 roping classes in Oklahoma City, 815 entries. Level 2 and Level 3 exhibitors are drawn together in each Junior, Senior and Amateur class. Draws are from AQHA’s Nov. 5 release and are subject to change.
Source: American Quarter Horse Association. L2 run marks a horse’s Level 2 go when it is entered in both levels with different exhibitors. Open denotes an Open (professional) class entry; 4-Year-Old Incentive refers to the Junior Tie-Down 4-Year-Old Incentive. Later rounds are not included.
