Never has a rope horse stud won as much as World Champion Patrick Smith's WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena, and this Sunday, March 17, the NFR stallion sells with his Riata Buckle spot only in The Select Online Sale.
Known far and wide as "Rooster," the 2004 dun stallion came from the Adams family's Western States Ranches' famed breeding program, by Hesa Sonofa Dun out of Paulena by Doc Olena, and he's earned well over half-a-million dollars in his two decades at the highest level.
"To tell the absolute truth, I've been super torn because I love this horse," Smith said. "I'm spread too thin to have time to get involved in the breeding and futurity world the way this horse deserves. This is one of the most amazing heel horses of all time. He's strong, he's kind and he's gentle. Everything you want to say about a stud, he is. I get report after report of his colts being gentle, easy to start with a big stop and kind mind. I've got several on the ground I'm going to be working with and promoting in the future. I'm OK with selling him because I'm going to keep the babies of my own. I hate to be a sentimental guy in this business, because this horse has a lot of business in his future. I could brag on him for days, because there's not anything about him that isn't deserving."
Rooster is sound, and he's ready to go—whether that's on the road to make another run at the Finals, to the junior rodeo or to the Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale. With over $3 million paid at this year's Riata Buckle, as a Riata stallion, Rooster is also eligible to compete there this September.
WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena's Career
The Adams started Rooster at their ranch in Dublin, Texas, starting him in the cutting and reining before going to the heeling quickly as a 3-year-old.
“Wade Wheatley saw him as a 3-year-old, and I came around there, with Rooster was being Rooster, wheeling around and dragging his ass, and he said ‘Put that horse up or you’re going to ruin him. No 3-year-old should be doing that,’”Randon Adams laughed. “I said this horse is too good-minded.”
Register to Bid on WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena March 17, 2024
Rooster first carried Randon to a California Rodeo Salinas title heeling for his paternal sibling, WSR Hesa Alive, in 2011. (WSR Hesa Alive—always one of the fastest head horses in the game—carried Kaleb Driggers to the 2023 American Rodeo title and Clint Summers to four NFR go-round wins last year, underscoring the speed and genetic longevity of the Western States' program.)
Along the way, Randon allowed friends—like an up-and-coming young heeler from Colorado by the name of Dakota Kirchenschlager—to jump-ride on his standout prospect.
“The thing that amazed me about him—from the time he was 4 or 5, he never got excited," remembered Kirchenschlager, now a three-time NFR heeler and American Rope Horse Association World Champ. "He was always one of the best-minded horses I ever rode. For a stud or gelding, at the NFR, ropings or rodeos—it didn’t matter where—I can hardly remember him ever doing anything wrong. It didn’t matter who rode him. He would let you heel a steer and then put his head down and walk away. The first time I made the NFR, Randon sent him down out of shape to San Bernardino, Poway and Kingman, and I made it by $3 because of that horse.”
After Kirchenschlager, Cesar de la Cruz, Russell Cardoza, Adams’ brother-in-law Jory Levy and little brother Austin Adams would jump ride Rooster when they needed some help. Adams also sent the horse to San Bernardino, Poway and Kingman to pinch hit for Cardoza, who made the Finals that year, too.
“I saw Dakota use him at those rodeos, and we talked about it, and Randon sent him for me too,” Cardoza said. “He always got you in the right spot, and even though he’d been standing around not getting used, he worked like he’d been ridden every day.”
Cardoza took him to Oklahoma City’s USTRC Cinch National Finals of Team Roping, too, and picked up a check in the US Open, too.
de la Cruz got to show off Rooster on rodeo’s biggest stage, riding him two years at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo when he needed a horse change the last five rounds each year.
“That horse is so fun,” de la Cruz said. “He’s so honest. It’s hard to get a horse, especially a stud, to be honest and give you his all every single time. He gives you a good throw and a great chance no matter the situation. His ability to slide and get on his hind end really sets him apart—he’ll leave 11s at a trot.”
WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena's Legacy
At 20 in 2024, WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena is still ready to compete. He's spent the last two years swapping in and out for Smith's two-time and reigning AQHA/PRCA Horse of the Year Kadabra King. Smith rode him attire rodeos over the Fourth of July run in 2023, placing everywhere he entered against all the best in the world.
Rooster has stood at Highpoint Performance Horses the last two years, and the stallion has gone from the breeding barn to the rodeo trail without missing a beat. He's gentle and easy to ride, and the stallion is ready for the next leg of his storied career.
"WSR Hesa Dunofa Lena was great before there was a rope horse breeding market to speak of," Melanie Smith, owner of Solo Select, said. "He was ahead of his time, really. But he's only 20, and he's got a lot of years left of breeding. It's a bonus, too, that he's still great to rope on and easy to be around. We've never offered anything like him, and I'm excited to see how our customers respond to a legend like him in The Select Online Sale."
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