Rockk Star Leads Old West Futurity Heeling for Hunter Koch & X Performance Horses
Hunter Koch pats Rockk Star at the 2026 Old West World Championships in Amarillo, Texas. | TRJ File Photo
Chelsea ShafferOct 13, 20261.4k views
The first time Hunter Koch got on Rockk Star, it was about 30 degrees at Chad Masters’ place, and the colt lapped the return alley ‘about 72 times’ while Koch tried to swing a rope on him.
Now, Rockk Star, a 6-year-old sorrel gelding owned by X Performance Horses’ JD and Lindsey McGuire, is the high callback in the Futurity Heeling at the Old West World Championships with 686.16 on three head, 0.45 points ahead of Jeremy Buhler and DT Hickorys Stinger.
He was third in Round 1 with 228.21, won Round 2 with 230.21 for $2,000 and marked 227.74 in Round 3. The finals are Saturday, Oct. 17.
“I was lucky enough, I was the first person to get to swing a rope on him,” Koch said. “The first time I ever got on him was at Chad Masters’ house, in his return alley. It was about 30 degrees, and he lapped the return alley about 72 times when I was trying to swing my rope on him, because he didn’t like it. And now here he is. You know, he’s been just special.”
Monday, he was the easy part.
“The first steer was a really, really good steer, just a medium steer, and I just caught him, and I think we ended up third in the round,” Koch said. “The second steer, another really good steer, and we went 230. And the third steer was a little stronger, but I was a little more conservative just because, I mean, we had a pretty good lead, and just caught him. But this horse, he’s pretty easy. Just kind of got to focus about roping, and we don’t have to worry about managing him or riding him, so it was easy. It was fun.”
Hunter Koch and Rockk Star in Amarillo, Texas. | TRJ File Photo
Everybody’s horse
The colt that wouldn’t take a rope turned into the horse everybody wins on. McGuire, who co-owns X Performance Horses, said Trevor Brazile stopped him in Amarillo to talk about the horse.
“He sure has been good for every single person. I mean, Trevor just stopped me, talked to me about it. I mean, you know, he won on him, Paul [Eaves] has won on him, I’ve won on him, Hunter’s won on him,” McGuire said. “He’s good for every kind of crazy. Exactly what we need more of, you know? He hasn’t been to the vet in I couldn’t tell you how long. He’s so sound. He just wants to be your friend.”
Koch hadn’t shown him in a futurity since March of his 5-year-old year.
“I rodeoed on him last winter. I rode him in, made the short round at San Antone on him, made the semis at Fort Worth on him, and so I rode him most of the winter, and then JD took him back,” Koch said. “He’s been at my place for about three weeks now. JD had him ever since Heber, and jackpotted on him, rode him, used him. And then I got him back when I got home to get ready to go here, and I just started riding him again, because the plans are to go back rodeoing on him this winter.”
QData has him earning $16,189 at PRCA rodeos in 2026, including $9,908 at San Antonio and $3,500 at Fort Worth. McGuire won the jackpot money on him: third-place checks at two #11.5 handicapped ropings and a fourth in the average at the Ashford Memorial for $8,500.
“It’s just a good team effort by both of us. We both have the same goal and the same vision as far as, you know, what we want to do with our horses—make them go beyond just the futurity world,” Koch said. “So, like, when I’m gone rodeoing, or, you know, going somewhere, JD takes them and gives them confidence and jackpots on them, ’cause JD rides really good, too, and they get good reps. And then they can get realistic reps from me, and we bounce back and forth. There’s a trailer coming from Stephenville and Midland every week.”
Second to Crypto
Rockk Star was never the first horse in the barn. That was Canteburys Cherrey, a 2018 sorrel gelding by Cantebury Cat known as Crypto, the first horse McGuire bought when he got back into roping. Koch rodeoed on him, and he had to be put down after an injury this year.
“That was hard on all of us. You know, that was JD’s first horse he bought back when he started back roping. It meant a lot to him,” Koch said. “When me and him partnered up, you know, he was gracious enough to let me take him rodeoing, and then me and Cody made the Finals, and I rode that horse, and he was exceptional there. And then, you know, he ended up having to put him down because of an injury. But, you know, this horse has always been a second favorite, because we’ve had him since he was two. So he’s kind of been my second favorite to Crypto. And then when Crypto passed away, this horse is just—I tell JD all the time, this is my spirit animal. I love this horse. We’ve been through a lot.”
McGuire said the two of them built the program.
“Between him and Crypto, they pretty much made our whole program,” McGuire said.
X Performance Horses brought nine horses to the Futurity Heeling, with Koch, Paul Eaves, McGuire and Colton McCarley riding. Two more made the top 13 in the average: Rubys Stylish Cat with Eaves, ninth at 676.63, and Hes A Rowdy Rebel with Koch, 13th at 672.42.
Who’s chasing him
DT Hickorys Stinger, Jeremy Buhler, 685.71: by Hickory Holly Time out of DT Sugar Chex Whiz, bred and owned by DT Horses LLC. He won Round 3 with 229.98 for $2,000 and was second in Round 2.
Miss Peppys Rebel, Dakota Kirchenschlager, 679.37: mare by Metallic Rebel out of Miss Peppys Moped, bred by GCH Land and Cattle and owned by Jared Crain.
Smart Frisky Pepto, Paul Eaves, 678.8: stallion by Psalm 91 out of Sassynfrisky, owned by Colton and Preslea McCarley.
The cutting papers
Rockk Star is by Peptoboonsmal, the 1992 red roan son of Peppy San Badger, out of Aristocratic Star, by High Brow Cat. His second dam, Aristocratic Cookie, is by Smart Aristocrat. That puts Smart Little Lena on the bottom side twice: he sired Smart Little Kitty, High Brow Cat’s dam, and Smart Aristocrat. Star C Land & Cattle Co. LLC bred him.
One horse away
McGuire said the money going into rope horses is a bet he’s comfortable making.
“I think, you know, just the momentum that the industry has is crazy right now,” McGuire said. “I don’t think it’s going anywhere anytime soon, and if we just keep following kind of how the cutters have been going, and the reiners, and the cow horse guys, we’ve got a very steep upward trend, I feel like. It is a lot of gambling, for sure, but it’s worth it as much as you need to get just one horse like that.”
He’s had two.
“You’re just one horse away from just changing your entire life, you know?” McGuire said of Rockk Star, who he bought on a whim from Solo Select. “You’re just one horse away from changing your whole life, you never really know. And I hate to just put it on a horse, but it really is a human deal, for sure.”
Pedigree
ROCKK STAR PEPTOBOONSMAL x ARISTOCRATIC STAR x HIGH BROW CAT Sorrel gelding, foaled 2020 Breeder: Star C Land & Cattle Co. LLC Owner: JD and Lindsey McGuire (AQHA record); entered as X Performance Horses Earnings: $153,568 in QData earnings as of Oct. 13, 2026, plus a $2,000 Round 2 check at the 2026 Old West World Championships not yet on his QData record.
This article was originally published on Team Roping Journal — Horsepower. View original article →
