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NRCHA News
COW HORSE AT THE AMERICAN
An innovative, inaugural event turns the spotlight on Western performance horsemen in 2023.
The top three Western performance horse events are headed to The American Rodeo in an unprecedented new event, The American Performance Horseman, debuting on Friday, March 10, 2023, at Globe Life Field. Reined cow horse, in addition to cutting and reining, will be included in Teton Ridges’ 2023 The American Rodeo event in Arlington, Texas, as part of its 10th anniversary celebration.
The announcement came during the 2022 The Run For A Million event on the same day the Cow Horse Challenge and Cowboy Invitational occurred, maximizing the impact of the announcement’s reception. Several of the cow horse competitors in the running to qualify for The American Performance Horseman were also competing that night.
How is it going to work? The top five year-end money earning professionals in cutting, reined cow horse and reining will come together to compete for $1 million in prize money in a competitive exhibition format. The highest show earnings from the 2022 show season, as tracked by each association, will determine the top five. Standings will be finalized and announced following each discipline’s 2022 futurity event.
Fusing the elements of history and competition, The American Performance Horseman is an ode to the past, present and future of the Western performance horse sports. Riders will compete for team and individual prize money but most importantly, the prestigious title of champion as part of The American Rodeo weekend festivities.
“The American Rodeo is an unrivaled celebration of the American West and represents the richest weekend in all of Western sports,” said Joe Loverro, President of Teton Ridge Sports. “As Teton Ridge continues to make great strides to bring the iconic events in the Western industry to a broader audience on an elevated platform, it was only natural to create an event to pay homage to the most prestigious competitors in Western performance sports and their incredible equine athletes.”
The American Performance Horseman is the creation and vision of Teton Ridge. It elevates Western equine sports through multiple platforms, with innovative and interactive technology. The prestigious competitive exhibition is supported by the American Quarter Horse Association, American Paint Horse Association, National Reining Horse Association, National Cutting Horse Association and the National Reined Cow Horse Association. All are excited for their respective communities to be celebrated and showcased in this unparalleled and innovative format.
“The American Performance Horseman isn’t another horse show, it’s a celebration of Western horse sport and our athletes at the highest level,” stated NRCHA Executive Director Anna Morrison. “With a shortened format showcasing the top five riders of the year in each discipline, it will pack the excitement of our industry’s top talent in an hour-long production that will bring the sports we love to an entirely new audience.”
This event offers fans a groundbreaking new way to embrace and support the legacy of the American West. For more information, visit americanrodeo.com.
NRCHA GAINS ITS FIRST THREE MILLION DOLLAR RIDER
By Callie McCarthy-Boevers
The National Reined Cow Horse Association gained its first Three Million Dollar Rider, Corey Cushing, during the 2022 Snaffle Bit Futurity® , presented by Metallic Cat. Following the Open Bridle, Cushing surpassed this benchmark, bringing his lifetime earnings to $3,002,327.
“There is an endless list of people and horses that have helped me get to this spot in my career. I am really proud of this accomplishment. I am truly dedicated to this sport and I take a lot of pride in what I do.” Cushing said. “I accredit much of my success to the equine athletes I get to ride along my wife, Kristen, and my customers I have had throughout my career.”
The NRCHA began recognizing the Million Dollar Rider Club in 2006 and has accumulated nearly 25 riders since its inception. Ted Robinson was the first NRCHA rider to surpass $1 million in earnings, and Todd Crawford was the first to earn $2 million. Ten years after Crawford became the first Two Million Dollar Rider, NRCHA now welcomes their first Three Million Dollar Rider.
“Our association has an incredible history of talented horsemen, many of whom are recognized in our Hall of Fame, and others with million dollar rider banners hanging above our arenas. These banners celebrate countless hard-fought victories and inspire our next generation of greats,” said Anna Morrison, NRCHA executive director. “For the first time, our riders have a brand new milestone to chase. Congratulations to Corey on becoming NRCHA’s first Three Million Dollar Rider.”
For a complete list of NRCHA Million Dollar Riders, visit nrcha.com.
Hesa Dual Bet carried Corey Cushing to the Open Bridle Finals and helped him cross into new cow horse territory as the first Three Million Dollar Rider.
The National Reined Cow Horse Association welcomed two to the elite Million Dollar Rider Club this summer: Matt Koch, of Elizabeth, Colorado, and Nick Dowers of Dyer, Nevada.
Koch crossed the million dollar mark following his run aboard XIT Ranch’s Smart Ladies Sparkle at The Run For A Million in Las Vegas, Nevada. The pair secured a check for $3,500, well surpassing the amount needed for Koch to pass the milestone.
“It was neat to be able to do it on the mare [Smart Ladies Sparkle] here in Vegas,” Koch said. “I have had her for her whole career, and it was good to be able to cross it on a horse that means a lot to me.”
First introduced to the reined cow horse while working with Robbie Boyce, Koch desired to develop a nice all-around ranch horse. That groundwork in his training program led him to a career in the show pen.
“I have to thank all of the different ranches I have worked for who have allowed me to go show and supported me along the way,” Koch said. “Crossing this milestone was never something that was on my mind during my career. You look up at the banners during the Snaffle Bit [Futurity] at all the people who have achieved it, and I still can’t believe I am joining them.”
Koch credits his cow-horse achievements to his wife, Brianna, and the people who have helped and supported him from the beginning, along with good horses that have allowed him to succeed in the show pen.
“Robbie Boyce was one of the first guys to help me in this sport. Chris Dawson has been there since the very beginning along with Darren Miller, Todd Crawford and Brad Lund,” Koch shared. “When it comes to horses, SDP Blue Blood was the horse that got me in the door, and without him I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
When asked about his future goals, Koch joked, “Well, I got this done. Now we can go on to the next thing!”
Nick Dowers first won a premier NRCHA title in 2011. In August, the horseman crossed the Million Dollar Rider earnings mark when he earned the National Stock Horse Association Futurity Open Champion title aboard Cabanna Boy.
With $1,006,910.74 in NRCHA earnings, Dowers is now part of an elite group of reined cow horse competitors. The rancher, horseman and trainer started out working horses on his family’s Triple D Ranches in western Nevada. He attended Feather River College in Quincy, California, and began to focus on training horses through their equine program. He was especially motivated by a guest clinician and renowned colt starter, Bryan Neubert.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a while! I have dang sure wanted it to hap-
PRIMO MORALES
Smart Ladies Sparkle helped Matt Koch cross the million dollar earnings mark.
pen, for sure. I’m happy,” said Dowers. “The one thing I’m most proud of as far as the million dollars is that all but about $40,000 [was earned on] horses I’ve started, trained and done all the work. The other is horses from Annie [Reynolds] that I didn’t start and train. It’s a pretty dang small group of horses for these earnings, and the horses over the years.”
By 2013, Dowers had put the tiny town of Dyer on the map as he and the family-owned horse Time For The Diamond (by One Time Pepto) earned the Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion title that year. The process of starting a 3-year-old and showing it through the bridle years, as Dowers has done on many of his money-earning mounts,
continues to drive his training program.
With the backing of his family and owners that stay the course, like Clinton Marshall and Trigg Marquiss, Dowers says that he has the confidence to continue training a horse even when there are bobbles in the process.
“Along those lines, too, my family, my parents, my wife and everybody that supports me all the way—I definitely couldn’t do it without them! They help where need be and that is crucial,” Dowers continues. “I feel a lot of satisfaction in the fact that of all the horses I’ve bought for Clinton or Trigg Marquiss or myself, the success rate on buying yearlings is super high. We have had very few that have not turned out to be really good horses. That has been fun, learning what to look for and what suits me to work, and replicate that over and over. It’s been cool.”
Despite more than a dozen years of consistent reined cow horse success, Dowers still has show pen goals to achieve. Notably, to earn the Champion title at the NRCHA Derby and the Stallion Stakes. Additionally, he’s gunning for a World’s Greatest Horseman
STACY JUDD
The 3-year-old Cabanna Boy took Nick Dowers not only to the winner’s circle but also into the Million Dollar Rider Club. title. For a competitor from an unincorporated town of less than 400 people, situated 90 miles from where he went to school, he’s made quite an impression on the Western performance horse industry.
“I’ve been out here in the middle of nowhere, doing what I’ve been doing in a place I shouldn’t be able to do it, just by hard work and determination,” Dowers said. “When I was starting out, I remember somebody said I won’t be able to be a top-flight trainer until I move to Texas or Arizona. I thought to myself, ‘You just watch.’
“People should realize they can do it, too, if they put their mind to it,” he continued. “There is nothing holding you back but yourself.”
For a complete list of riders in the NRCHA Million Dollar Rider Club, visit nrcha.com.
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