A historic event is currently taking place in Gainesville, Texas at a ranch belonging to AQHA Hall of Fame breeder and all-time leading breeder of performance horses, Carol Rose. Rose’s complete dispersal sale began early this morning, and by the looks of the numbers thus far this event will be one for the record books.
According to AQHA records, Rose has bred earners of 49 AQHA World and Reserve World Champions, 13 AQHA National All-Around Champions, and earners of more than $3.4 million dollars. Some of the foals that have come out of her operation have earned more than 290 registers of merit, 184 superior awards, and more than 530 all-around titles.
The big event kicked off last night with an Open House, barbeque dinner, cash bar, boot stompin’ live entertainment, and a sale preview. The actual sale began this morning and has boasted numerous high sellers that have gone well into the triple digits. However, the star of the show so far has been A Shiner Named Sioux, a 2006 stallion by Shining Spark and out of Docs Sulena by Doc O’Lena, who sold for a whopping $850,000.
We chatted with our friends at Courtsey Promotions, Courtney Chown and Kelsey Huffman, who are attending the sale to get the inside scoop about what’s happening behind the scenes.
“It’s pretty awesome. It’s huge. When you pull up, there are cars parked all along Highway 35, and there are cars all over the ranch. Carol put chairs in her whole indoor arena, and it’s standing room only. There are people standing everywhere.”
By taking a look at some of the unofficial sale prices thus far early estimates by spectators indicate that the average sale price could be anywhere from $50,000 to $60,000.
“We came here last night for the sale preview,” says Courtsey Promotions. “For the horses that were older, they worked them on cows and did some reining work and roping on a few. Aaron Watson played, and it’s been going on since then. It’s just been crazy.”
“We think this is great for our economy and great for the people in the industry who are spending money to buy this quality of horse. It’s a pretty awesome opportunity for people to be able to own a horse that Carol Rose bred.”
“There are 1,000 plus people here. Everything is organized, extremely well put together, and professional.”
Click here to view live updates from the sale on Carol Rose Quarter Horse’s Official Facebook page.