Correction: The October 2026 cover of The Team Roping Journal incorrectly identified Relentless PYC as the highest-earning futurity mare of all time. Relentless PYC is the leading money-earning mare in the 2020 foal crop—this year’s class of 6-year-olds. The all-time leading futurity mare is SLR Swinging Hickory, with $218,212 in lifetime earnings. The Team Roping Journal regrets the error.
SLR Swinging Hickory, a 2019 mare by Hickory Holly Time out of Swingin Tule, was bred and is owned by Stump Lake Ranch & Cattle. 2016 PRCA world champion Jeremy Buhler of Maricopa, Arizona, trained and showed her from the start of her career, and the pair landed on the cover of The Team Roping Journal’s October 2025 issue.
She built her record on the heel side of the rope horse futurity industry’s biggest stages, including the 2024 Fall Gold Buckle Futurities 6-&-Under title before the paycheck that changed everything.
The $100,000 Old West
SLR Swinging Hickory and Buhler won $100,000 for the 2025 ARHFA Old West Futurity Heeling on June 20, 2025, in Heber City, Utah. Buhler came back to the short round four deep and roped her from the third callback, marking a 232.06 to top the field with a 923.95 composite. Before that win, she carried $72,760 in lifetime QData earnings.
“She’s a gritty, tough thing,” Buhler said after the win. “She’s a lot of horse. She tries every single time—you will not catch this mare not trying. And she’s been that way since Day 1. So to me, this is the dream. My buddy Todd, he said, ‘This mare’s really in the rough right here, but I feel something; there’s something special there. See if you feel it too.’ And I rode her around a little bit and I said, ‘Yeah, I think I feel it too.’ That was a couple of years ago, so it’s been a long journey. But I’m pretty happy with her.”
Closing Out at the Gold Buckle
SLR Swinging Hickory finished her 6-&-Under season at the 2025 Gold Buckle Futurities World Finals, winning the 6-&-Under Heeling with a 908.00 on four. The title paid $10,000 for the main average, $17,700 from the Elite Stallion Incentive and $7,500 from the Elite Breeders Incentive. Buhler, Stump Lake Ranch and DT Horses, which owns Hickory Holly Time, pocketed a collective $65,449 in that class alone, with Buhler placing on three different Hickory Holly Time horses.
“She’s taught me a lot,” Buhler said. “She’s so honest and wants to be good, but I had to learn how to stay out of her way and let her strength show. The more I focused on balance and feel, the better she got.”
Relentless PYC’s Standing
Relentless PYC, the 2020 mare known as “Nala” by First Prize Diver out of the Playgun daughter Chars Gun, earned $206,574 in her career, according to QData, under Miles Baker for owners the Relentless Remuda, Solo Select Horses and Bob Tonkin. She was the richest 4-year-old of 2024 and remains the top-earning mare in her class. She died Nov. 4, 2025, in an accident at home.
SLR Swinging Hickory Pedigree
SLR SWINGING HICKORY: $218,212
HICKORY HOLLY TIME x SWINGIN TULE
Mare, foaled 2019
Breeder: Stump Lake Ranch & Cattle
Owner: Stump Lake Ranch & Cattle
Trainer/Rider: Jeremy Buhler