Josie Conner’s “Stylish Drifter,” known as “Dutch,” has been named the 2025 AQHA Nutrena Breakaway Horse of the Year for the second year in a row, making him only the second horse to have been named Horse of the Year twice, alongside Shelby Boisjoli-Meged’s “No Wimpy Turns.”
Despite Conner and Dutch’s banner year, which included wins outside ProRodeo like The American and the Women’s Rodeo World Championships totaling $169,000, Conner was unsure the 16-year-old gelding would win the vote again, especially considering the quality of horses her peers are riding.
“I was nervous about Dutch getting it again, because he’d gotten it last year and, so I am really proud [my peers] still voted for him. They voted for great horses, and I am grateful Dutch is in the mix and is a two-time Horse of the Year.”
Conner added her belief of the Horse of the Year going to a horse that was ridden all season.
“Cheyanne and Aspen have second-string horses, but Lexus and Jigsaw are out there all year long,” Conner said. “Aspen and Jigsaw had a heck of a winter, and Lexus and Cheyanne pecked along all year, that horse was so solid for her, and I think the top three were good votes.”
2025 Nutrena Horse of the Year awards presented by AQHA – Breakaway Results
1. Stylish Drifter “Dutch,” ridden and owned by Josie Conner
2. Aladdins Approach “Lexus,” ridden and owned by Cheyanne McCartney
3. Jigsaw Wildcard “Jigsaw,” ridden by Aspen Miller and owned by Craig Miller
“I am more proud of Horse of the Year than Rookie of the Year. When they interview us, they want to talk about us, but I want to talk about the horses. They are the reason why we’re so successful. These horses are so special and we rely on them so much.” – Josie Conner
Dutch’s origin story
Registered as “Stylish Drifter,” Dutch’s bloodlines pointed him towards the cow horse. Bred by Mike and Linda Silveira, Dutch was purchased by the esteemed Kalpowar Quarter Horses as a 2-year-old.
Resident trainer Jake Gorrell brought Dutch—then called “Drifter”—through the cow horse ranks before he was put into the hands of horse trainer Seth Hopper.
“That line of horses had great minds,” Gorrell said. “I had him and a full brother to him that I won a lot on, and both of them were really strong behind—good stoppers.”
Once Dutch was ready for the tie-down pen, seven-time NFR Qualifier Cade Swor took the reins, riding him in 2017. Occasionally, names including Trevor Brazile and Tuf Cooper catch rode him. Swor took him to Las Vegas as his back up and grand entry horse in 2017. Swor sold him in early 2018 to Casey Butaud.
“Money was the only reason I sold him,” Swor said. “I thank him every day when I walk into my house. When I sold him, it paid for the house we built.”
Dutch first crossed Conner’s path in 2018 when her dad Jade sold the gelding for Butaud. He went to a local Southern Louisiana family and was used for High School Rodeo for three years before they no longer needed him.
Conner remembered him, though, and when he was available, she purchased him in December 2021 as her Resistol Rookie year was kicking off. What followed has been more than four years of learning, growing, and absolute domination.
One Conner and Dutches’ first big wins together was the 2022 BFI Breakaway Championship and WCRA Days of ’47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City for $25,000.
Dutch helped Conner advance to the 2022 NFBR as a Resistol Rookie in the No. 15 position. In 2023, she went pack to primarily riding “Tonka,” before coming out in 2024 and winning a ProRodeo seemingly every week. It was then that Dutch earned his first Horse of the Year title, with Conner finishing No. 3 in the Breakaway World Standings.
Josie Conner & Dutch’s 2025
In 2025, it was about their understanding of each other and the ProRodeo game. They started their winter off strong, winning the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo for $28,017, before racking up a total of $7,878 at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, and a total of $8,098 at Rodeo Austin and the San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo
“I think our partnership has grown over time,” Conner said. “He knows what I’m going to do before I’m going to do it, and same for me. It can be a good and a bad thing, but we have such a good relationship. I have so much confidence when I ride Dutch. It’s a feel I’ve never had before.”
Throughout the summer, Conner noted they didn’t win as many big-name rodeos as they did in 2024, but their consistency was rewarded in the end with a higher earnings total than in 2024.
“Three of us actually passed the regular season earnings record,” Conner said. “Taylor [Munsell] holds it, because she’s No. 1, but all three of us were able to [reach $164,549]. ProRodeo is marathon, not a sprint, and the goal is to have a chance at a World Championship when Round 1 starts in Las Vegas, and we accomplished that goal.”
