The family has been here before. At the 2025 Snaffle Bit Futurity, Nick lost a cow in the herd work on Tha Rizzler. Crue’s sister, Tuli, then showed the stallion in the Non Pro Boxing and won it. This year it was Crue’s turn, and he was ready.
The Ride Podcast Ep. 127: Tuli Dowers in the Cow Horse World
“I’ve been working my butt off, just trying to get my showmanship better,” Crue said. “This opportunity came up, and it was just perfect.”
Crue already knew the mare from helping his dad at home.
“I’ve ridden her quite a bit, just at the house here and there, trying to take some off my dad’s plate,” Crue said. “I’ve known her, and I got comfortable really fast this week.”
Crue is homeschooled and fits his schoolwork around riding.
“I ride pretty much every day,” Crue said. “I ride a lot, team rope a lot … and then do school just in the early mornings and evenings.”
The Cow Horse Triathlon
Crue considers the reining and fence work his strengths. Going into the finals, the herd work worried him most.
“A lot can happen in the herd work,” Crue said.
He got through it with a 217, then marked a 218 in the reining. His dad watched almost every run, though usually from a distance.
“He always comes by, and he’ll help us, and then he’ll go in a couple before because I know he gets a little bit more nervous than I do,” Crue said.
Before the fence work, Nick kept his advice simple.
“He told me to go work the cow they gave me, do my job and do the work I prepared to do,” Crue said.
Crue led the composite by one point heading into the fence work. He knew the title was within reach but tried not to think about it.
Non Pro Finals: NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Results
“I knew it all comes down to getting down the fence, and I knew anything could happen,” Crue said.
Crue drew a cow that “suited” them and had a game plan for the uniquely shaped Will Rogers arena.
“I was boxing my cow, and [Daisy] was perfect,” Crue said. “She was right with me. I took it down that wall in perfect position, I would say, and I eased by. She kind of stumbled in that first turn, and we were going pretty fast to that second turn; she was a little tighter, and that cow kind of didn’t want to take my turn.”
The cow buffeted Daisy in the second turn, but she held strong and spun over her hocks to go circle.
“It felt like we were just flying,” Crue said. “We were circling so fast. It was just so fun.”
The judges marked the run a 221, the highest cow score of the Non Pro finals.
Built From a Million-Dollar Mare
Daisy Jane is a 2023 sorrel mare by Metallic Cat out of Scooters Daisy Dukes, by Dual Smart Rey. Her dam is one of the most influential producers in the cow horse industry. In 2024, Aaron Cook’s Scooters Daisy Dukes became the NRCHA’s first Million Dollar Dam.
Scooters Daisy Dukes won the Amateur at the 2013 NCHA Super Stakes with Gary Rosenbach. Her best-known foals are two stallions: Scooter Kat (by Kit Kat Sugar), the NRCHA’s all-time leading money earner, and Hazardouz Material (by Metallic Cat), who won the 2025 World’s Greatest Horseman with Erin Taormino.
Crue said the mare is both calm and willing.
“She’s pretty easygoing,” he said. “She’s kind of different. You can push her where you need to be, but she’s also super mellow and easygoing. When working a cow, she’ll kind of get wound up, but she holds it together.”
To tie the family win together, Crue rode Daisy in a snaffle bit his father won at a county fair in 2011, when Crue was a baby.
“This has won most of all of his earnings in the snaffle, and it’s been there, and it’s done that,” Crue said. “It’s really cool.”
For Crue, the win belongs to the whole family.
“I want to thank my family for all their support,” Crue said. “All the early mornings, late nights … it’s what gets me through it and helps us get ready. It’s just such a blessing.”
2026 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Non-Pro Results
