Perfect 10 and Brian Cox at the 2015 AQHA World Show.

When Bryan Reger of  Volga, West Virginia tried to give his daughter, Alyssa, some pointers at a horse show one day several years ago, she promptly told him that he didn’t know how to ride or show.

So he did what any dad of a teen daughter would do. He bought a horse and learned to ride and show himself.

Bryan and his wife, Carla grew up in Buchannon, West Virginia. Alyssa fell in love with horses at an early age and started riding at 8. By the time she was 12 her parents bought her a horse and she began showing in American Quarter Horse Association sanctioned shows.

Over the years the family has had the opportunity to own and show several very talented horses. Alyssa campaigned on Ben Mito Lucky, a 1995 bay gelding by UK Mito Boss, in the Hunter Under Saddle classes and on the Northern West Virginia Quarter Horse Association Youth Team until he was retired atthe age of 15. Once Bryan got started showing he purchased and competed on Superior Western Pleasure earner, Impulsive To A Te, a 2001 sorrel mare by Impulsions, in Western Pleasure classes. He also competed aboard Get Ready To Rock, a 2008 red roan mare by HH Red Rock in Western Pleasure classes. Get Ready To Rock was Top 10 at the Reichert Celebration and at the Tom Powers Futurity. Both mares have been retired and are living the life of a broodmare on the Regers’ 60 acre farm, complete with a six-stall barn and 80-by-120-foot riding arena.

Perfect 10 and Brian Cox at the 2015 Congress.

The Reger family has had the opportunity to work with Ohio trainers Brian and Maggie Cox, of Mt. Perry, as well as Brian and Sarah Bernatowicz, Canal Winchester, and they consider all of them great trainers and great friends.

“We have followed Brian Cox during his career and were impressed with all he had accomplished,” Reger explained. “We had taken a 2-year-old that we raised to him to break and start under saddle. She still needed to mature so that began the process of looking for another.”

For some time Bryan Reger had been asking Brian Cox to find him a top level Western Pleasure prospect so when Cox called during a trip to Bret and Candy Parrish’s place in Pavo, Georgia, Bryan Reger made sure he acted fast.

“One day he (Brian Cox) called and said he found one,” Reger recalled.

The last horse Cox looked at while at the Parrish facility was a 2012 bay mare by RL Best Of Sudden and out of Im Talkin Sweet (by Sweet Talkin Chip), named

Perfect 10 (Sweetie).

“He called and told us we had better write

the check at that moment,” Reger said.

Bryan and Carla Reger.

And so they did.

“We felt we could put our complete trust in him finding us a nice horse,” Reger said.

Cox said he was immediately drawn to her because she had such outstanding self-carriage and also because she was so pretty.

“Sweetie was fairly easy to train,” Cox said. “It took a bit of time because I didn’t want to push her. It’s all about keeping her back up ad framed where she belongs.”

The pair made their debut together at an AQHA Show in Murfreesboro, Tennessee when Sweetie was a 3-year-old.

Since then they have recorded over 25 AQHA points, numerous circuit championships and over $20,000 in futurity earnings. In 2015 Sweetie earned an AQHA Level 1 Stakes Championship at the AQHA World Show.

Meanwhile, Over the summer Reger was busy competing with his current show partner, Suggest The Best, a 2013 sorrel gelding by Open For Suggestion and out of  AGR Charming Chip. They enjoyed a lot of success this year, including a Reserve Championship in the 3-Year-Old Non-Pro Futurity at the Buckeye Classic.

Then last month Cox and Perfect 10 placed ninth in Junior Western Pleasure at the All American Quarter Horse Congress and this month they will compete in Junior Western Pleasure at the AQHA World Show.

Brian Cox and his wife, Maggie, recently welcomed their first child, a daughter named Vivian Lauretta, and they are completing work on a new house and training facility in Hubbard, Ohio.

But come spring, Perfect 10 will be back in the show arena.

Suggest The Best

“She still has one more year left as a Junior horse,” Cox said. “I will continue to show her in Open events and Bryan (Reger) will start to show her in Non-Pro classes at some futurities and in Amateur Select classes at AQHA events.

When they are not at shows, Bryan and Carla stay busy with their own business,  Pro Contracting, Inc., located in Lost Creek West Virginia.

“We do heavy highway and utility work,” Bryan explained.

They also breed and raise top quality Quarter Horse show prospects.

“We have bred three of our mares that we no longer show and have raised and sold a few babies over the years,” Bryan said. “We actually had one of our fillys, that we bred to a Good Machine, make it to the finals at the 2016 Quarter horse Congress in Junior Western Pleasure.

For additional information on Brian Cox Quarter Horses call (740) 819-5736 or visit www.briancoxquarterhorses.com.

You can contact Reger Quarter Horses through Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/carla.reger.5.