FIX CASE: thirteen-year-old koby douch of houston was beyond excited on July 3, 2018. He was roping at Roy Cooper’s Junior Roping that night, riding Joe Beaver’s good tie-down horse “Ringo,” and life was good.

But just a few hours before the roping, things came to a screeching stop.

That afternoon, while riding his bicycle to his grandmother’s house, Koby was hit from behind by a distracted driver. Koby was launched across both lanes of the road and into a ditch, sustaining potentially career-ending injuries. He broke two major bones in his left leg; the broken bones crushed the major artery in his leg; and he lost part of an eyelid.

“He had his cowboy boots on already – he was getting ready to leave,” says Koby’s mom, Gladys. “Plans changed really fast. He was more upset about not being able to rope that night than he was about how hurt he was. I just told him it was going to be OK, but I needed him to focus on getting well.”

Roping is what makes Koby tick, though, and it’s what would motivate him to push through the recovery process.

Koby first picked up a rope at age 5, though he’d been riding horses prior to that. At age 7, he began taking roping lessons from ProRodeo Hall of Famer and eight-time world champion Joe Beaver.

Joe remembers the young Koby as a Joe met the Douch family at a Whataburger, oddly enough, after one of older brother John Douch’s junior high rodeos. Joe and Gladys began chatting about John, and the relationship between the two families took off from there.

Joe began to mentor John, as well as another brother, Weldon Watson, and Koby soon wanted in on the deal.

“He fell in the groove,” Joe says. “He had a lot of talent, fun to be around, good hearted. I knew he had a bright future.”

By the time he was 13, Koby was riding Joe’s horse Ringo, an AQHA Ranching Heritage-bred gelding registered as JK Dunits Doc. It just about killed Koby to be off that horse.

Five days post-operation, with Joe and his mom at his side, the surgeons told Koby straight: There must be no roping for at least five to six months. The doctors had inserted a rod and four pins in his leg.

Koby began physical therapy to slowly rebuild the strength in his leg. He began with walking, but his leg would swell so much, due to the damaged artery, that he would lose feeling in his feet. Still, the family tried to remain positive that Koby would rope again.

To make sure everyone was on the same team, Joe and Gladys sat down with Koby’s surgeon and physical therapist, showing them videos of Koby tie-down roping. This helped the medical professionals understand the kind of pressure Koby’s leg would be under.

“He had a great team of doctors,” Gladys says. “They listened to us and watched roping video for us. They did their best to make sure he’d have the best chance to rope again.”

The biggest concern was Koby’s dismount and the amount of pressure he’d have to put on the new rod and pins.

During his recovery, keeping Koby quiet and out of the saddle proved difficult.

“The kids would come by the barn to see John and Koby. They’d run down the rope and practice tying calves. Koby would sit on the sidelines and watch, even though at times he was in tremendous amounts of pain. He told me he couldn’t handle the sidelines.

“Once he was on crutches, he was trying to explain to another kid what he was doing wrong tying. The kid told Koby to come show him how to do it. He started hobbling out there on crutches, and I was hollering after him to sit back down!”

But Koby was determined. He was diligent with his therapy, attending it three to four times a week. After four months, he was given the all-clear to start exercising his horse, but that was it.

“Koby asked instantly if he could rope, and the doctors told him he had to wait a little bit longer,” Gladys says. “He needed to start building up strength first. They told him he could do breakaway roping, but he was not having that. He absolutely wouldn’t do it. He wanted to do tie-down.”

So Koby’s physical therapist began him on harder exercises, including jumping down off of things to see if his leg could handle the pressure. The hard work paid off. After almost six months, Koby was given the all-clear to rope again. Joe was extremely leery about Koby doing tie-down, as was his mother. But they knew Koby had to try – his determination was unrelenting.

“The more he wanted to rope, I knew he wanted it,” Joe says. “He had the drive and the dedication.” 

So Koby and Ringo ran their first calf, and all went well.

“My first run back, I felt alive,” Koby says. “It felt like everything. I was ready that first time, I trusted my horse.”

While Koby had been out of commission, he hadn’t wanted anyone else to ride Ringo, so the gelding had been enjoying some down time. John rode the horse twice before Koby got back on, and then the two friends began working to get back where they left off.

“He helps me a lot,” Koby says of the gelding. “He loves to be loved on. He’s a little too quick to make friends with other horses. He’s my partner in crime, though. I’m really thankful Joe lets me use him. (The Beavers) are like my second family, and they’re always there to help me out. They try to help me the best way they can.”

Koby came back slowly, and he came back winning. He won the Texas Junior High Rodeo Association tie-down championship this summer, and he competed in the National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Huron, South Dakota. Koby, now a freshman in high school, has his eyes set on the National High School Finals.

“It’s going to take a lot, a lot of practice. I practice at Joe’s the majority of the time, but I have a few calves at my house, too.”

Joe is proud of his protégé’s comeback.

“I knew his accident would be his defining moment. He was either going to bounce back from it or let it consume him,” Joe says. “He bounced! The talent was there, the comeback was just mental. Once he knew it wasn’t going to hurt and his leg wasn’t going to fall apart, he was fine.” 

For now, Koby’s rod and pins will remain in his leg. As he continues to grow, they may need to be removed eventually, but only time will tell.

“At first, I didn’t think I was going to make it. Then I didn’t think I was going to rope again. And now I feel so confident and ready to go,” Koby says. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure Ringo and I are ready to go.”