Meet Tony Grover

Tony Grover started out with a love for reining horses, and now he’s a reined cow horse convert with an eye on producing quality foals out of proven broodmares.

By Allison Armstrong Rehnborg

Tony and Angela Grover migrated to reined cow horse from reining and have never looked back. They raise show prospects from their Bit of Heaven Ranch in Washington. Tony Grover loves horsepower, whether it’s fueled by gas and diesel or by hay and oats. A career car dealer from Spokane, Washington, Grover has made his mark in the automobile industry for the past 40 years by dedicating himself to the pursuit of quality. Now in his second decade of horse ownership, it’s become clear that he’s applying that same desire for achieving great things to his career as a reined cow horse owner.

“In my career in the automobile industry, we make it a point to do our best,” Grover said. “We want to make sure that no matter what we’re doing, we do our best at it. And with the horses, my wife, Angela, and I want to do just that. Tony and Angela Grover own Bit of Heaven Ranch, which originated in Oregon’s Blue Mountains. Located near Cove, Oregon, on approximately 250 acres, and surrounded by other cattle and horse ranches, Bit of Heaven Ranch proved to be the perfect introduction to the horse world for the Grovers and their three children.

“Our three children were very young when we moved there,” Tony Grover said. “As they grew up, our youngest daughter became interested in horses, so she started riding and taking lessons and then, as a family, we were all interested. Eventually her interest waned, but by then our son had gone to college

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. 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

Todd Bergen rode Thomas E Treble, owned by the Grovers, to ninth place in the Open at the 2020 NRCHA Stallion Stakes in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I knew that great mares existed, and I wanted one,” Grover said. “The only way you can really grow a great mare is to start with a mare, and my wife and I wanted to foal out a couple of horses at home one day. We thought if we started getting some really great mares, we could breed them and market the babies. So Todd picked out Moms High Stylin for us because he thought she had what it takes. She was really the beginning of us wanting to pursue owning and growing mares within our program.”

In 2018, piloted by Bergen, Moms High Stylin tied for third place in the Pre-Futurity Open at the National Stock Horse Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a composite score of 655.5.

Along with Moms High Stylin, Tony now owns two more promising mare prospects: a 3-year-old filly named Metallic Daisy Dukes (Metallic Cat x Scooters Daisy Dukes x Dual Smart Rey), and a 2-year-old filly named Rebel Daisy Dukes (Metallic Rebel x Scooters Daisy Dukes x Dual Smart Rey). Metallic Daisy Dukes is currently in training with Bergen, and both men have high hopes for her performance in the 2021 Futurity later this year.

“Metallic Daisy Dukes is a full sister to Hazardouz Material, the horse who just won the 2021 NRCHA Stallion Stakes with Erin Taormino, and she’s a real nice filly,” Bergen said. “We’re pretty excited about her. Tony purchased both this horse and Rebel Daisy Dukes on his own, and kudos to him. They’re well-bred and they’re both going to be good horses. The parentage is there. I’m excited about these two horses we have coming up.”

Bit of Heaven Ranch also sent Thomas E Treble (Thomas E Hughes x FMR Double The Pepto x Peptoboonsmal) to the 2020 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity® under Bergen, and the blue roan colt did not disappoint. The pair came in ninth place in the Open against stiff competition.

“Todd has this natural ability to look at a horse, get on the horse and find out what he can do with that horse. Then he can go do it,” Grover said. “Thomas has developed into a great horse with Todd, and he’s got a lot of talent and all the moves. He’s also got the ability to win. I think with Todd aboard, this horse is going to win sometime in the next year or two. And it’s going to be the perfect example of taking a horse that everyone else had put aside and making him into a champion, thanks to a really great trainer.”

SETTING NEW GOALS

These days, the Grovers are building a ranch in Green Bluff, Washington, to serve as a new home for Bit of Heaven Ranch. On top of continuing to campaign reined cow horses in the arena, the Grovers hope to establish a group of quality broodmares at the ranch and begin raising a few home-bred foals each year.

“We have a two-fold goal for the future,” Grover said. “One is that we’d like to win. It’d be a lot of fun to have a trophy. We want to keep supplying Todd with everything he needs to win. And we’d also like to raise some quality foals, be able to market them and grow that program as a hobby for ourselves. My wife and I have been tremendously blessed, and we’re very grateful. It’s not often that you get to compete with some of the best trainers in the world. We’re super excited about that and enjoy it very much.”