Nick Dowers recognized by many as "All Cowboy, All Champion" was announced as the 2013 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity Open Champion on October 5, 2013, at the Reno Livestock and Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
Nick Dowers on ‘Cactapus’ with family
At the National Reined Cow Horse Association's annual Snaffle Bit Futurity, Nick Dowers rose like cream to the top of the finalists and earned the title of Open World Champion aboard his own three-year-old stallion, Time For The Diamond.
© 2013 by Kelsey Pecsek
The Great Basin region has produced generations of working cowboys who have been capable trainers for the type of horse used in that area for all types of ranch work. But there’s one Fish Lake Valley, Nevada native who has gone to the top of the craft of horsemanship and proven his craft in the ultimate cow horse competition.
On October 5th, after a grueling set of go-rounds to earn a place in the highly competitive finals of the National Reined Cow Horse Association's annual Snaffle Bit Futurity, Nick Dowers rose like cream to the top of the finalists and earned without any question the title of Open World Champion aboard his own three-year-old stallion, Time For The Diamond.
For a couple years, Dowers had been trying to purchase a One Time Pepto at the NRCHA Sales in Reno during SBF. However, the prices were always high and it wasn’t until 2011 that Gardiner Quarter Horses presented a young stallion that went through the sale at a price Dower and the family could afford.
It was a bright red colt with the kind of balance and power that Dowers admired so much in that pedigree. Dowers says, "I saw his head and neck sticking out over the stall door and thought he had the prettiest head and neck of any horse in the sale. And that was the look I wanted, so we started bidding."
Dowers bid the horse to own him and he was placed in the family ranch name, as Dowers' family had as much to do with the dream as Dowers himself. ‘Cactapus,’ a name thought of by Dowers daughter Tuli, then an imaginative 5-year-old, has stuck as the barn name for Time For The Diamond.
Dowers and his son of One Time Pepto earned over $120,000 in the three-event competition; herd work, reined work and fence work. All three are examples of the sort of work a trained ranch horse is prepared for. At Snaffle Bit Futurity, it is taken to another level!
The herd work is as precise and measured as a cutting competitor would wish for, while the reined work looks to be a foundation for a National Reining Horse Association prospect.
The fence work, as demanding as the other two combined, puts horse and rider to the test on a level almost unthinkable in a three-year-old futurity horse. These reined cow horses handle it with such talent, and Time For The Diamond took it to another level, illustrating his grit, heart and the toughness that Nick Dowers has been seeing since he first saddled the young colt.
Their finals fence work was straight out of the handbook, and the crowd was on its feet. Here was a true champion in the hands of a great horseman. Nick Dowers won the Championship title hands down! It was a great event, and one for the books. Dowers gave a ‘how to’ clinic right there in those hard-fought finals.
It was almost not the dream come true. Prior to the event, Dowers was approached by one of the big guns of NRCHA fame, who stepped up with a six-figure offer. For a ranch owner in the middle of tough economic times for all ranchers, turning down that offer was almost impossible.
Dowers tells us, “I stewed over that offer for a few days and then called a friend, a true mentor, and asked him what he thought. He asked me what my dream was worth.” That made it possible to turn down the offer and continue on the path. “My dream of winning this event was just not priced.”
We asked Dowers what the fence work finals felt like. “I was hearing the screaming and yelling and it was unreal. At one point I got worried I wouldn’t be able to hear the whistle for the end of my work. It was loud out there! It still hasn’t sunk in. I’ve been telling my wife for a year that I’ve got the horse that can do it all if I just handle it right.” There’s little doubt that Nick Dowers ‘handled it right’ when it counted!
Dowers background, although not much in the show pen, has been built around the young horses that he’s started for friends and other professionals. Andrea Fappani, a top level NRHA trainer, brags that Dowers used to come to the ranch and help start two-year-olds for him.
Another leading NRCHA professional, Annie Reynold's who Dowers worked for in 2010 sends a large group of her best horses to him for their entire two year old year. Reynold's has always believed that Dowers is incredibly talented– her best horse, finishing in 4th place this year at the Snaffle Bit Futurity was also a product of Dowers program.
A Non-Pro friend who had Dowers come to their ranch to help start the babies watched him at work the first day and, “I took the rest of the week off to watch. He is an amazing horseman and gets such cooperation from a young horse.”
Dowers says, “On the ranch, we use our horses for serious work. I have been able to somehow translate that to the show pen and use that environment to test my ability to understand my horses.”
Not every horse reacts to the same process. “I say I tailor-make my horses according to their comfort. One might take it best in the arena while another will need time being ridden out on the desert or up in the mountains before they gain that important level of confidence.”
If there was one statement made by Dowers during the conversation, it was this: “If they’re afraid of cattle, I might ride them in the feedlot till they relax. I look for the level of ability in each horse, not looking for them to fit an exact program.” In essence, Dowers lets the horse show the way.
His SBF World Champion, Time for The Diamond, is a classic example of a horse that liked his trainer and his regime. Dowers let ‘Cactapus’ show the way. A true Champion reflecting the best of a great young trainer.
Nick Dowers hosts several clinics throughout the year on the west coast. If you are interested in attending one of his clinics, please contact Cam Essick at (209) 747-1636