John Douch won Round 5 of the 2025 NFR with a 7.4-second run worth $36,667, moving to No. 2 in the average at 43.2 seconds on four head.
Douch now sits just .1 ahead of Riley Webb and .5 behind Brushton Minton in the average. Douch also reamins fourth in the world standings with $240,267 earned on the year. The win marks only the second NFR go-round win of his career, following a third-place split last night in Round 4 where he picked up another $18,630, bringing his total Finals earnings to $55,297.
Horse Swap Galore
A unique storyline surrounding Douch this week has been the constant horse changes, with each round bringing a different horse. He started Round 1 aboard Kid Lena Boon, “Bo,” a 17-year-old gelding by Smart Lena Boon and out of DCD No Kidding (Little Badger Kid), then moved to Peponchek Royalspade, “Tomcat,” in Round 2. He returned to Bo in Round 3, rode Popular Snow Resort, “Tootsie Pop,” in Round 4—a mare owned by Shad Mayfield—and intended to stay on her for Round 5 until she came up lame when he arrived at the Thomas & Mack.
“When we got here earlier, Shad’s horse came up lame,” Douch said. “I didn’t want to do his horse like that, so I just got back on my old horse Bo.”
The decision paid off. Douch said he felt sharper from the start after adjusting a few things on Bo to make the gelding more responsive inside the tight setup of the Thomas & Mack.
“I feel like this is the best start I got all week,” Douch said. “I changed some things up on my horse, so he was a little sharper, so it made me a little sharper.”
Winning Draw
The calf he drew had a no-time earlier in Round 2, but Douch liked the way the calf worked in the run-throughs. Walls liked it even more.
“When I was going up the alley, Trent Walls said, ‘Round win tonight,’ and he called it,” Douch said.
NFR Momentum
Momentum from his Round 4 placing also fed into his confidence.
“The first few rounds, I feel like I wasn’t sharp and my horses weren’t sharp,” Douch said. “Riding Tootsie Pop in Round 4 really got the momentum rolling.”
Bo has been a steady for Douch across the past few years, though he spent part of 2025 sore. Douch hauled him all summer, riding him at Cheyenne, Albuquerque and Sioux Falls before giving him time off to recover.
“When we looked at him, he was crippled as heck and I said no way,” Douch said. “My girlfriend talked me into buying him, and three months later I finally took him to a roping, and I started winning.”
With half the Finals still ahead, Douch said the Round 5 win sets him up to keep climbing.
“This gives me a lot of momentum,” Douch said. “I’m just going to keep the ball rolling. If I’ve got a calf to place on, I’ll place, and I’ll just stay in the average.”