U.S. Nationals

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October 31, 2009

'Setting' the Standard

From a young age, trainer Joe Reser had his sights set high. Someday, he would be a national champion and travel down the rail in his victory pass with the roses draped across his horse. "When I was a kid, I would go to Louisville and sit in the nosebleeds for the [U.S. Nationals] finals. I remember watching riders like Gordon Potts, Stanley White Jr. and Bobby Hart riding with the roses blanketed on their horses. It always gave me goose bumps. I told myself, 'I want to be that person someday'," recalls Reser, just following his winning ride on Ima Rock Star+/ (Poco Van Star AQHA x Rocky Rhoda II), owned by Drew and Greg Oshanick in the Half-Arabian Western Pleasure Championship at the 2009 U.S. Nationals. Reser became that person eight years ago at age 29, riding the same horse he won with on Thursday. "Rocky" as they call the grey gelding was the first horse bred, born and raised on his farm, Setting Sun Training Center in Wakarusa, Indiana. Rocky has now earned 15 national championships.
Reser's quest began when his mother followed her love for them and bought their first horses when he was about 5. Reser coined him and his family back then as "weekend warriors," traveling to various 4-H and open shows. (His former 4-H leaders attended this year's U.S. Nationals to support him. They too have horses in training with him now.) Once Reser hit his early 20s, it was time to make a decision as to what he would do when he grew up. He still wanted to train horses to become national champions. "I was an amateur at the time and jumped into it with everything I had," Reser says. Working long hours for an excavating company, Reser would then go home in the evenings to work with horses into the wee hours. "I'd do it all over again if I had to."
After about five years as a professional trainer, Reser had been showing horses at local and regional shows and was always on the hunt for good horses. He was working hard to get his foot in the door. It swung wide open in October 2002 when his hard work culminated with a unanimous championship with Ima Rock Star in HA/AA Western Pleasure Junior Horse. "It was everything I had dreamed of when I was a kid. Of course, that moment went too fast," Reser says. Since that national championship, Reser always strives to train his best so he can experience multiple moments. Reser said that his wife, Michele, has been his "rock" during his journey. "He has grown a lot in this industry," Michele reflects. "He started out as a nobody and is now one of the top Western trainers. He's the best in my book."
In November 2008, a group came together and decided to buy Rocky's sire, Poco Van Star. At that time, Reser said he and his clients were the only ones breeding to him. "He's a great sire and is proven," says Reser. "His lines are getting out there. He has a great disposition and his foals have a dependability to be trainable."