///////// MEMBER ROUNDUP
in Walla Walla, Washington, to major in a plant and animal science program. When he graduated, we acquired some cattle to help him get started in a career of raising wagyu and red and white Angus.” Although the Grovers’ children eventually moved on to other careers and interests, Grover had by then become involved in owning and raising reining horses. He didn’t know it, but he was already on a path that would lead him into the world of reined cow horses.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF HORSEPOWER
Grover first became interested in reining horses because his business partner, Josh Dykes, knew a local up-and-coming trainer in Walla Walla and had already purchased a reiner or two for himself. Then Dykes invited Grover along on a trip to visit Oswood Stallion Station in Weatherford, Texas, to look at some promising yearlings. “[Jeff Oswood] ended up selling us a few [reining] horses, and that was really the beginning for us of having a professional career in owning horses,” Grover said. “Later, we met Pete and Tamra Kyle and they had a Topsail Whiz horse for sale. We learned a ton with that horse, and he was the first horse we took to competitions.” Around 2010, Grover met National Reined Cow Horse Association Two Million Dollar Rider and National Reining Horse Association professional Todd Bergen of Eagle Point, Oregon, and a partnership was born. By then, Grover realized that he was interested in raising and developing young horses for competition, but he also knew he had more to learn about what turns a promising young horse into a proven winner. He thought Bergen might be the trainer to show him the ropes.
46 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 | REINED COW HORSE NEWS
I thought it was even more exciting than watching the finals in reining, which were a lot of fun for me. There’s an extra challenge to the sport because you have to predict the cow on top of being a technically correct rider. —Tony Grover “We learned very quickly that in reining, if you want to perform and win, you have to develop a relationship and a communication train that works with your trainer,” Grover said. “That takes time. I learned that a trainer knows what he believes is or isn’t a great horse, and the belief from the trainer that he has the best horse, or that he has a horse that he really loves and thinks he can develop, is 50 percent of winning. Pretty soon, if you pay attention to your trainer, you’ll notice that when a trainer encounters a horse like that, their whole demeanor changes.” Redd Snapper (Master Snapper x A Ruf Mistress x Lil Ruf Peppy) was among the first horses that Bergen selected for Grover, who purchased the colt from Jason Vanlandingham late in Redd Snapper’s 3-year-old year. It was just in time for Bergen to start prepping the horse for the highly competitive 2015 NRHA Futurity. “Redd Snapper was a great horse, and Todd felt good about him and thought he had what it took to become a finalist horse,” Grover recalled. “That was a really great educational moment for me, and it taught me to understand that you have to trust your trainer to make good decisions.” It was a decision that paid off. In the Open Futurity SemiFinals at the 2015 NRHA Futurity, Bergen and the sorrel stallion ended up leading the Level 4 Open division composite scores with a total score of 441.
FROM REINING TO REINED COW HORSE
In addition to training several reining horses for Grover, Bergen introduced him to the sport of reined cow horses and the NRCHA. Attracted to the concept of multiple events, Grover was hooked from the start. “I thought it was even more exciting than watching the finals in reining, which were a lot of fun for me,” Grover said. “There’s an extra challenge to the sport because you have to predict the cow on top of being a technically correct rider. But in reined cow horse events, when it comes down to the top 20 or 30 horses after a week’s worth of work and competition, and then the horses have to go down the fence, there’s nothing like it. Anything can happen. Any horse can show up. Any horse can fall out. Over the years, Todd and I and our horses have been on both sides of that equation. We’ve had great runs down that final fence run, and we’ve had horses where cows jumped out of the way and the horse didn’t make it happen. But that challenge is a lot of fun to watch.” Ready to support a trainer he trusted, Grover took the plunge into purchasing reined cow horses. One of his early horses was Moms High Stylin (High Brow Jackson x Moms Stylish Pepto x Pepto Boonsmal), a mare that Grover hoped might have what it took to compete and become a producer for Bit of Heaven Ranch someday. “Trainers often pick out stallions, but
