Age: 28
Hometown: Huntsville, Texas
Career Earnings: $1,146,410
NFR Qualifications: 4 (2021-25)
Major Rodeos: Texas Circuit Finals, Gooding, Parker, Cleburne, San Angelo Cinch Chute-Out, Nacogdoches, Hempstead, Livingston, Fort Smith, Weatherford, Pleasant Grove, Omak, Burley, Ellensburg, Homedale, RodeoHouston, Killeen, Cave Creek, Canby, Hugo, Heber City, Guymon, Salinas, Casper.
Star Horsepower: Peponchek Royalspade (Tomcat), Kid Lena Boon (Bo)
By the time John Douch was in high school, the Huntsville, Texas, cowboy already had a National Junior High Rodeo Association tie-down roping title from 2012 and the kind of background that made his future in the sport all but certain.
Raised in a rodeo family, Douch spent his teen years at Joe and Jenna Beaver’s 8X Ranch, learning the mental and mechanical side of the game from the Hall of Famer himself.
“Joe and Jenna have taken me in like their own son, and there’s nothing they haven’t done for me,” Douch said in a CalfRoping.com interview with Kendra Santos in 2023. “Horses. Rigs. Entry fees. Meals. The roping. They’ve done it all, and if it wasn’t for them, there’s no way I’d be here. Joe and Jenna are family.”
Now 28, Douch has turned that foundation into four consecutive NFR qualifications and more than $1.1 million in ProRodeo career earnings. His 2025 season alone included wins at the New Mexico State Fair & Rodeo, Yakima Valley Fair and Rodeo, and the Texas Circuit Finals, plus a co-championship at Gooding Pro Rodeo.
Career Highlights
In 2024, Douch placed ninth in the world standings with $217,965, earning $62,161 inside the Thomas & Mack and finishing 11th in the average on nine head. He stacked wins across the map, from Owyhee County (Idaho) and Rodeo Celina (Texas) to San Angelo, Nacogdoches and Waller County.
The year before, Douch ended 10th in the world with $199,344 and marked a milestone with his first NFR round win, stopping the clock at 7.7 seconds.
“I got a very good start; I had a good calf but I didn’t tie very good, so I didn’t know what to expect,” Douch said after his first NFR round win in 2023. “As the third guy out,, I didn’t think that would end up first.”
That same year, he also outlasted World Champion Shad Mayfield to win the Texas Circuit Finals average in Waco.
“I drew four really good calves and won four really good checks,” Douch said after his Texas Circuit win in 2023. “It’s always great to rope against someone who is roping so well and to come out on top.”
In 2022, Douch finished fifth in the world with $254,376, highlighted by a 6.6-second run in Round 6 at the NFR that earned him second in the round and $87,647 at the Finals. That year, he also captured the RodeoHouston title. His rookie NFR appearance came in 2021, where he finished 10th in the world with $166,367.
Star Horsepower
The horses beneath Douch have been just as key to his success. In 2023, Pistol carried him to his first NFR round win and a Circuit Finals title, but it’s Tomcat—an 11-year-old black gelding registered as Peponchek Royalspade—who’s been the 2025 game changer.
“He’s so easy—he’s good in every setup,” Douch told CalfRoping.com in 2025. “From stronger calves to calves I need to turn around, it doesn’t matter, he fits every setup and every calf. From Calgary to Cheyenne, he’s been the best horse. I’ve won a lot of money on him this summer.”
Tomcat’s reliability and quite nature has made him a reliable partner for Douch.
“I usually don’t practice on him; I just pony him or have my girlfriend exercise him,” Douch said. “He’s really a laid-back horse. After I rode him all last summer, he started coming up to the front of the stall for treats. He gets one every time I ride him and after the rodeos.”
Early Career
Before buying his ProRodeo card, Douch made his mark at Hill College in Hillsboro, Texas, finishing as the 2017 NIRA Reserve Tie-Down Roping Champion. He also captured the Permit Holder of the Year Challenge in 2016 and won major rodeos like Guymon, Salinas and Casper early in his career.
By 2020, he’d added another Texas Circuit Finals title and set the stage for his steady rise into the sport’s upper echelon.