Our life together began 30 years ago when we met at a roping/barrel racing jackpot. It continued from there. Married 25 years now, we've owned, raised and sold a lot of nice horses over the years. Although many have come and gone, we hold dear to our hearts the special horses of our past, along with the especially talented bunch we love so dearly today.

Marsha O'Rourke

My old barrel horses, Debby & Palleo's Troy, along w/ some of Mike's rope horses, Brownie and Kansas City were very special to us. Debby, trained by Gary Johnson and Lee Cockrell, was named after Gary's wife, Debby. Debby took Dean Oliver to the NFR, and after she was through with that career, she turned the corner on calf roping and became my first WPRA barrel horse, another talent she had, thanks to Gary. "Troy" was purchased from Linda and Kenny Fields as a 6 yr. old and was qualified for the AQHA World that year. He took us to the AQHA World, WPRA rodeos, and the pay window countless times. He won our hearts every trip out, as he gave his to us every day of his life. The older he became, the greater he became, as he taught and took care of our daughter, Megan as she entered the barrel racing world.

Luckily, Mike loved barrel racing along with Megan and myself.  We were proud owners of many good futurity horses. "Annie", our Mr. Master Bug futurity and derby horse, "Am I A Jones", our dream bred Pa Jones and Firewater Flit mare, "Kippy's Princess", another Firewater Flit mare are just a few of some of our four-legged kids. On this path, we have met so many wonderful friends and had many great experiences. We've had great trainers and riders, such as Lenn Noble, Kelly Yates, Kim Thomas, George Williamson, Connie Combs, & Tommy Wells. We've made lifelong friends who have shaped our life, such as Melissa Farmer Keller, who guided us to Troy, Karen Noble who has taught us about the delicate balance of keeping a horse healthy and competitive (along with ourselves!) and Sherry Baker, who guided us to our dear "Munster", that Megan and I run today. So many steps - all invaluable and too many to recall, we are who and where we are today because of all the wonderful people and horses we've had contact with. To quote Karen, "First they touch our horses, then they touch our hearts". "They" - referring to Spirit, and how led we are without realizing it makes us know that horses were truly a gift that we received from God in order to travel our path in life.

I started riding at Benjamin Stables in Kansas City, Mo., 45 years ago (yikes!). I took lessons and was inspired by Margie Benjamin, a beautiful barrel racer, who touched the hearts of many. As a youth, I showed open and AQHA shows and boarded at Phyllis and Darroll Edwards training stables. There I fell in love with barrel racing and the rodeo scene, even though pleasure horses was where I started. After college, the first thing I had to do was look for a barrel horse. I took out a loan and bought "Jolly" from Tommy Wells from Sulphur, Oklahoma. The irony is we are still friends with Tommy and Phyllis Wells today, and have several colts out of their palomino stud, Alive 'N Firen, by Firewater Flit.

We've been blessed with the ability to teach and share horses who came to us - and went on through us - to many kids that I gave lessons to. That is still happening today, and our hearts have been touched by how horses share and give so much to those who love and choose to learn through them.

I have to say, because Mike won't, that he has an awesome ability to pick the good ones.

Mike O'Rourke

I started riding horses as a kid on "Domino", my paint pony, on our working farm in Lenexa, Kansas. We farmed and worked at our family's construction company well into our adult life. Still operating a rock business, the horse business has been the real joy, along with our three children, Bridgett, Brennan and Megan. Bridgett and Megan are still involved with horses and Brennan has made many cowboys happy with his tattoos, as he is the owner of A-1 Tattoo in NKC, Mo.

Some of the more talented horses we owned weren't qualified for the World, but entertained our family (like Dutchman), allowed our kids to learn and win (such as La Rancha Zee, Pony Girl and Chigger) and some loaded up in the back of the pickup with no side racks, like the infamous "Cowboy", who used to cruise into Lenexa and cause quite a scene just because he could! We've had ponies, race horses, mediocre horses, futurity horses, Superior horses, winners, losers and horses that broke our hearts when they left this world and went on to the next. We don't regret one day we lived on this earth because horses made the hard parts a little bit easier.

We have three great offspring out of Zan Par Barbie, an own daughter of Zan Parr Bar that we were lucky enough to own. Barbie was a great mare we bought from Mike and Jan Wilson. Bing, Jr. and Carmy are the results. I guess I should say that Zan Parr Bar is one of my personal favorite horses and I'm lucky enough to have some great lineage to pass on.

One of Barbie's colts that we have is Zan Par Cisco, a great roping horse, by Cisco Lena . Thanks to Brad Lund, who broke, trained and showed him he's been a real joy to own. Purchased as a six month old stud colt from Wilsons, we left him a stud after he showed so much promise as a junior heading and heeling horse at AQHA shows. He earned his Superior in heading and heeling and was qualified for the World 2 years in a row. We decided to geld him, as he was unable to breed. After his roping career at the AQHA World, we brought him home and in 6 months he was showing as much promise as a barrel horse as he showed in the roping pen. He has a long future ahead of him, and we are very grateful to Brad and Amy for making "Bing" the special horse that he is.

See HORSES FOR SALE to view more two and three year old horses with Zan Parr Bar breeding, along with All Probability gelding, "With All Zansability", alias, Jr.