Recap of Historic VS Dispersal Sale
Kristen and VS Code Red made history 15 years ago as the first horse and non-pro rider to sweep the Congress Championships in the Open, Limited Open and Non-Pro Two-Year-Old Western Pleasure. Photo credit: Impulse Photography
By Delores Kuhlwein
Kristen Galyean won Amateur Western Pleasure at the 2017 World Show with VS Lady In Red, 10 years after winning with her grandmother, Vital Signs Are Good.
The VS Dispersal Sale on August 9, 2023, was indeed an historic evening for the entire stock horse industry. The Glover Galyean family made the announcement of the dispersal on July 1st of their plans to disperse their “their World and Congress Champion stallions who carry on the bloodlines of the legendary Vital Signs Are Good as the family horse business moves their focus to their successful cutting horse breeding and training operation.”
See the original press release from July 1st: VS Dispersal Sale Announced | Equine Chronicle
The family held the sale at their ranch, Wes and Kristen Galyean Quarter Horses, in Claremore, Oklahoma, on August 9th, 2023. In their usual gracious manner, the family announced in advance that a portion of every horse sold in the VS Dispersal will be donated to the Walquist family benefit.
As the sale approached, bidders who couldn’t attend in person also registered online to place their bids for the 26 lots handled by Pro Horse Services LLC.
Bob and Ingrid Miller are the new owners of VS The Fireman.
The impact of the Vital Signs Are Good line on the industry is already immeasurable, so when the hammer fell on the first lot, VS The Fireman, the 2019 Red Roan Stallion by Machine Made and out of VS Lady In Red (by VS Code Red), the stunning price of $2.25 million was the final number, and the buyer of the Multiple World and Congress Champion was Ingrid Miller of Arizona.
The legendary Million Dollar Sire and Multiple Congress Champion, VS Code Red, (Blazing Hot x Vital Signs Are Good) was also another noteworthy sale, this time for $1,000,000 to Katie Van Slyke Mabry of Tennessee, the Breeding Manager at Running Springs QH & Cattle Co. “I’m just so grateful and overwhelmed by the honor of getting to own a horse as legendary as Waylon,” says Van Slyke Mabry. “I’m so thankful to have the support of my husband and parents through this journey, and I couldn’t be more excited!”
The sale of renowned VS stallion, VS Flatline, stunned the viewers and his leagues of fans when he sold for $250,000. The 2010 bay roan stallion by Lazy Loper x Vital Signs Are Good, also a multiple World And Congress Champion and sire of multiple World and Congress Champions sold to Chandler M. Marks of Naples, Florida.
“We are truly excited to be part of the VS Legacy. The history behind this horse and all the people involved is extremely unique. We could not pass up the opportunity to acquire VS Flatline for the cornerstone of our Quarter Horse division,” says Marks. “Even though I was not able to make the sale in person, the energy and excitement I will always remember. Looking forward to the next chapter with “Kobe” and all his fans!”
Mary Roberts and Kelly Wheat
The final lot of the night: KM Suddenly So Easy, aka “Penelope,” arguably the greatest show mare of all time. The 2013 chestnut mare (RL Best Of Sudden x Easy Zippin Machine) is known as a winner of the World Champion Triple Crown: 2YO Open, Junior and Senior Western Pleasure. She also boasts NSBA, Congress and World titles in Open, Amateur, and Small Fry divisions, and is a World Champion Producer.
She was purchased by Mary Roberts of the legendary Roberts family of Ohio and Florida, known by exhibitors as the horse lovers who developed WEC Wilmington and WEC Ocala and for their leading Western Pleasure sire, A Sudden Impulse, among others.
“Penelope is coming home to be a broodmare for the rest of her life,” explains Roberts. “She’s never going to be shown again! Penelope will enjoy her days in her very own outside paddock and will come in every evening! She’s coming home to where A Sudden Impulse lived-and we’re sure happy and proud that she’ll be a part of our Roberts Quarter Horses Family!”
The VS Dispersal Sale was an event that will live long in the minds of Quarter Horse lovers and horse show fans forever, as some get to share in the VS legacy for the future in a whole new way. But the event was also no doubt bittersweet for the Glover Galyean families, but shining above it all, explains Kristen, was humility and gratefulness.
“It was truly humbling last night,” says Kristen Galyean. “The turn out was mind boggling meeting people from across the world and countries all over that flew in to be there in person. It’s a surreal feeling and probably has truly sunk it yet; all I can say is THANK YOU.”
The unofficial totals for each horse (bid lot) are below:
Hip 1- VS The Fireman, $2.25 million
Hip 2- VS The Firefighter, $72,000
Hip 3- Embryo: Machine Made x VS Lady In Red, $37,000
Hip 4- VS The Policeman, $85,000
Hip 5- Embryo: RL BOS X Vital Lines Are Red, $17,000
Hip 6 – Pretty Lil Outlaw, $60,000
Hip 7 – VS The Paramedic, $13,000
Hip 8- Embryo: VS The Fireman x Shesgotawayabouther, $38,000
Hip 9- VS Lady Made, $60,000
Hip 10- VS Suddenly A Lady, $27,000
Hip 11- Embryo: VS Phantom Code x Lexus Made Lady $20,000
Hip 12- VS Vital Lady, $25,000
Hip 13- VS Snap In Code, $20,000
Hip 14 – Embryo: RLBOS x VS Whole Lotta Lucy, $10,000
Hip 15- VS Gone Vital, $12,000
Hip 16- VS RiseAboveTheRest, $10,000
Hip 17- VS Code Red, $1,000,000
Hip 18- Embryo: RLBOS x VS Whole Lotta Lucy, $15,500
Hip 19- VS Blondes Are Vital, $40,000
Hip 20 -VS Sudden Vital Signs, $15,000
Hip 21- VS Flatline, $250,000
Hip 22- VS Snap Krackle Code, $63,000
Hip 23- embryo VS Phantom Code x Fabulicity $11,000
Hip 24- VS Miraculous, $19,750
Hip 25- Cold Snapp, $50,000
Hip 26 – KM Suddenly So Easy, $900,000
