CSU horse sale generates $330,000

This year’s Colorado State University Legends of Ranching Performance Horse Sale generated more than $330,000 in sale proceeds, organizers said, making it the most successful in the program’s seven years.

A total of 63 American Quarter Horses were auctioned at the B.W. Pickett Equine Center on April 28.

Of these, 34 young horses – 2- and 3-year-olds – were started by Equine Science students with faculty guidance; students trained the horses for seven months. An additional 29 older horses were directly consigned to the sale by 22 consignors, including some of the nation’s best-known Western horse ranches.

The average price for all quarter horses in the sale was $5,376, according to sale records. The average price for young horses trained by CSU students was just over $4,000, The average price for aged horses was $7,424.

Two horses brought $18,500 – a tie for high-seller:

• Sparkling Rendition, a 3-year-old black mare sired by Wimpys Little Step, one of only two horses ever to have won both the All-American Quarter Horse Congress and National Reining Horse Association Open Futurities. Her dam, Shiney Miss Hickory, is a National Reined Cow Horse Association money-earner. Wagonhound Land and Livestock consigned Sparkling Rendition and CSU student Kortney Bahem worked with the mare.

• A 2008 buckskin gelding named WR Cal Pepper, consigned by Wood Ranch. He was sired by BP Smart Little Pep; his dam is Cal Beauty. He came to the sale experienced in ranch work and roping.

Equine students not only train most of the horses auctioned, but also plan and manage most aspects of the Legends of Ranching sale. Proceeds are split among sale costs, consignors and the CSU Equine Sciences Program.

The annual sale caps a program that gives students the unique opportunity to train well-bred young horses, taking the animals from barely halter-broken to working calmly under saddle.

“We like to say that with the Legends of Ranching sale, what matters most is what the students learn,” said Jerry Black, director of undergraduate programs for CSU Equine Sciences, who also holds the Wagonhound Land and Livestock Chair in Equine Sciences. “These students are the future of our industry.”

The diverse horse industry has an annual economic impact of about $102 billion in the United States, according to the American Horse Council.

For more information, contact Gary Carpenter, CSU Equine Sciences industry outreach and liaison director, 970-491-8373 or [email protected].