Non Pro Boxing Futurity
Tuli Dowers made sweet lemonade from lemons when she took the reins of Tha Rizzler (Metallic Rebel x Starlight Playmate x Grays Starlight) from her dad, NRCHA Million Dollar Rider Nick Dowers, to compete in the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® Non Pro Boxing. The pair parlayed their composite lead in the first three phases–including a monster 225 boxing score–to the Boxing-Only Finals last night. They topped the class with a 222 for a composite score of 882, earning a check for $10,000.
Coming into the Boxing-Only Finals yesterday, Tuli admitted that, even with a large lead, she had some nerves.
“My dad told me to be smart and work the cow I get,” she said.
That turned out to be solid advice for the high-school senior.
“I watched the cows at the back gate, and I thought they looked good,” she said. “The one I got was a little different than I expected. He was a little numb, and I had to get up close. He made me work for it, but it turned out good.”
Tuli has found herself in the spotlight outside the arena, too, with her success in Fort Worth. She’s had constant calls for interviews and after her win last night was a guest on Richard Winters’ podcast. She’s even seen her Instagram following skyrocket. But the humble teen takes it all in stride and looks forward to returning to the quiet of her life on the ranch back home in Nevada.
“My life is all horses all the time,” she said. “The ranch consumes me. I feed cows every morning. I love the quiet of it.”
On the horizon for Tha Rizzler: He’ll be back in Nick’s string, likely showing at the California Reined Cow Horse Association Futurity to have another shot at an open title.
Open Hackamore Champion
Jordan Williams knows many factors contribute to the stars aligning to win a title, and he’s been patiently waiting for his moment in the winner’s circle at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity®. It came yesterday when he claimed the Open Hackamore Championship.
With a reined work score of 215.5 and a cow work score of 222, Williams and Hott And Juicy (Hottish x Smart Kitty Rey RG x Dual Rey) secured the Open Hackamore Championship and $14,660 with a composite score of 437.5.
“Hott And Juicy was bought as a yearling out of the NCHA sale,” Williams said. “April Bonds of Bonds Ranch owns him, and we've had him the whole time. I started him and showed him here at the Futurity, but he didn't really start finding his stride until probably the end of his 4-year-old year. Since then, he's been on a hot streak. He's been really, really good this year as a 5-year-old.”
In the prelims, Williams and the 2020 stallion marked a 148 in the reined work and a 147 in the cow work for a composite score of 295, earning a second-place finish in the Intermediate Open Hackamore and a spot in the clean-slate finals. Prior to the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity®, the pair claimed both the Open Derby and Intermediate Open Derby Championship titles at the National Stock Horse Association show in August.
“We’ve been very fortunate to have him in the barn,” Williams said. “We won the derby out there at the NSHA show and then came here and made the Open Hackmore Finals against some really good horses—those were really tough prelims. I feel so blessed to be able to go in there and compete, and to come out on top and against all my peers is a huge deal.”
Williams has found continued success aboard Bonds Ranch horses, including a championship title at the 2025 NRCHA Kimes Ranch Derby where he piloted 2021 mare Tazzy Es Savvy (CR Gotcha Covered x Mizz Savannah Taz x Pepto Taz) to victory for the owners.
“They're family to me, truthfully,” Williams said about the Bonds family. “Winning the Derby at Scottsdale on a Bonds horse is special. And then to go in here and win an event, it's a dream come true. It's something that, as you come up training horses, you watch these classes, and you sit there like, ‘Man, how cool would it be to make the finals one day.’ So to be able to actually win one? It’s amazing.”
While Williams has been riding a recent wave of success, the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® hasn’t exactly followed the path he envisioned on his Futurity prospects. And though it can be hard as a trainer not to let setbacks define your accomplishments, Williams trusts in his own journey.
“This is what it's all about,” Williams said. “You work for two years trying to get these horses prepared, but it's also just the start of their career, not the end of it. You can have the best horse, and sometimes it's just not gonna go your way. But it’s important to remember if you don't have success here, it's not the end of the world. I didn't make a single horse to the finals here in the Futurity. Hott And Juicy was the only one that we made a finals on here, and it’s a win, and I’m grateful for it.”
Open Bridle Champion
WR Iceman (WR This Cats Smart x Lean Irish Playgirl x Paddys Irish Whiskey) owned by Eric and Wendy Dunn, took NRCHA professional Corey Cushing to a new level, claiming the Open Bridle Championship and securing the pair's legacy in cow horse history.
“This is the first time that I've won the Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Bridle,” Cushing said. “I've been watching it ever since my very first Futurity 25-plus years ago.”
Cushing and WR Iceman have had quite the past together and have been a team since the horse's derby years. Cushing, the first-ever NRCHA Four Million Dollar Rider, achieved that milestone on the back of WR Iceman after placing third at the 2025 Run For A Million Cow Horse Challenge.
“It's awesome for him because he deserves it, and we've been through so much,” Cushing said. “It's awesome for the Dunn family.”
The team marked an impressive composite score of 294.5 (R: 146.5/C: 148) in the Open Bridle prelims on Thursday, landing the pair in the top spot moving on to Friday's finals with 11 other highly competitive horses. WR Iceman and Cushing then marked a composite score of 437.5 (R: 219.5/C: 218) in the finals, claiming victory and crossing off one of Cushing's biggest bucket-list titles.
“For as much as this sport means to me and making the ultimate bridle horse and getting to this point with all these incredible horses and riders here at the Snaffle Bit Futurity, it's definitely one on my bucket list,” Cushing said. “I got a lot more to go, but that horse just put another check on my list as far as what I want to do with my horses, how much I care for them, how much I love this and how hard we work at it. It's not easy, but it makes it all worth it with days like today.”
Cushing said he wouldn't be here today without the support of his family and team—the backbone of his success and his motivation to carry on.
“I want to thank my wife, Kristen, and my team,” he said.” They're so incredible. And thanks to all of my sponsors—everything from what I wear every day to what my horses wear every day. It all means something, and I'm proud to stand behind them.”
