With a few early wins and a green horse under his belt, Ike Fontenot is not only leading the Southeastern Circuit in the calf roping, but he’s at the top of the all-around standings as well.
Fontenot, 31, is having a personal best circuit season as this is the most money he’s won at this point in the year with $19,465—a little over $1,000 ahead of second place, Andrew Burks.
Fontenot filled his permit back in 2011 and, since then, has made the circuit finals a handful of times. With this year’s successes, though, the Ville Platte, Louisiana, native has his eyes set on that No. 1 spot when the showdown happens this November in Davie, Florida.
“I’m not sure if it’s from the new horse or just more mature roping, but this is the most I’ve had won in the circuit at this point, and going in [to the circuit finals as] No. 1 would be cool,” Fontenot said. “I know it puts a target on my back, but I’m looking forward to it and we’ll see what we can do.”
Green horse, green checks
When Fontenot tore his ACL in 2022, he and his horses were out for a year, including his 8-year-old gelding, “Slim Shady.” After raising him, breaking him and working cows on him throughout the years, Slim Shady got the call at the beginning of the year at some smaller circuit rodeos in January.
“I knew he was a good horse for a long time, but he was small, and I thought he would max out at a breakaway horse just because he’s not very big,” Fontenot explained. “But every time I’ve ever needed him, he was there and dependable as a using horse, and eventually I just kept roping on him.”
The duo’s first big breakthrough together was the second week in February at the Dixie National Rodeo in Jackson, Mississippi, where the team tied eighth in the first and second round for a combined $1,804, as well as winning second in the average with a time of 15.7 seconds on two, cashing in another $3,336.
“I feel like I’ve had too much success on [Slim] to get off of him yet,” Fontenot said. “Roping’s really easy on him. “He is green. There is green horse issues sometimes, but I feel like we work through them because he just gives me a chance to win pretty much every time, and I’m ahead, so it’s hard to get off of that. We don’t fix stuff that’s not broken.”
Fontenot also won the 85th Brighton Field Day Festival & Rodeo in Okeechobee, Florida, that same weekend, worth $2,245 after clocking in a time of 8.0 seconds—0.4 seconds faster than the competition.
Other wins that have helped Fontenot stay in that top circuit spot include the Southeastern Livestock Exposition in Montgomery, Alabama, worth $3,208, as well as the co-approved Panola County Cattlemen’s ProRodeo in Carthage, Texas, for $1,059 and the Mt Pleasant Rodeo in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, for $1,419.
All-Around Hand Sitting at the Top
Although Fontenot puts his focus toward the calf roping, he has always been able to be a team roper when needed, he said. So, when he got the call to fill in on the heeling side at some rodeos with friend Cyle Denison, the answer was an easy yes.
The team won both rounds and the average with 12.3 seconds on two head at the SW District Fat Stock Show & Rodeo in Lake Charles, Louisiana, for $1,161. Fontenot pulled some more team roping checks here and there throughout the season, inevitably putting him in that first place, all-around spot for the circuit.
“Honestly, I’d love to win the circuit [in the calf roping],” he said. “That’s the goal. The goal is also to get to the NFR Open.”
“If we could win the all-around at the same time, that would be great. It’s not what our sights are set on, but that’s not saying that I wouldn’t enter more in the team roping at the last few rodeos if I’m in a good spot in the all-around, as well.”
Southeastern Circuit Standings (as of Aug. 5)
- Ike Fontenot, Ville Platte, LA, $19,465
- Andrew Burks, Kiln, MS, $18,162
- Booker McCutchen, Harrison, AR, $16,668
- Randall Carlisle, Athens, LA, $14,774
- Roan Hudson, Arcadia, FL, $14,238
- Tatum Miller, Malvern, AR, $12,661
- Macon Murphy, Keatchie, LA, $12,447
- Bart Brunson, Terry, MS, $11,566
- Chance Thrasher, Martin, TN, $10,679
- Jobe Johns, Zolfo Springs, FL, $10,530
- Riley Istre, Vinton, LA, $10,305
- Jerry Easler, Jennings, FL, $10,034
