A Winning Move For The MMHBF Stallion Service Auction
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Submitted by Muriel Herrick
This year’s Michigan Morgan Horse Breeders’ Stallion Service Auction was a challenge to put on just like everything else has been in the past year. The committee was forced to move the auction out of state to Indiana because of Michigan restrictions on large gatherings. The move was a fortuitous one as the auction was held at the Blue Gate Garden Inn Conference Center in Shipshewana, Indiana on March 6, 2021. All spectators were asked to wear masks and to social distance while attending the event. The committee wouldn’t have been able to pull off this move without the amazing support of the local Amish community.
A huge thank you goes out to Sandra Stearns and Shauna Franklin for all their hard work in obtaining the 81 stallion services that were available for purchase. Fritz Detweiler did an excellent job as the auctioneer and Dave Lengacher read all the pedigrees. Many local people helped with the check in and check out to facilitate those procedures. Between the Stallion Service Auction and the silent auction a total of $53,000 was taken in before expenses. This amount will be used to determine the prize money for the 2022 Appointments USA Weanling Sweepstakes and the 2021 futurity classes.
The 81 stallion services auctioned were from a wide variety of top pedigrees and the MMHBF committee is so grateful to all the stallion owners who donated services to their stallions. The top ten stallions were auctioned off live in a spirited competition to determine the winners. The top ten stallions were Cool Whip, Merriehill After Hours GCH, Minion Millennium, Burkland High Octane, Astronomicallee, Get Your Groove On, Dragonsmeade Sea Dragon, RWF Dralion, Caffeinated, and Superman. Out of the 81 stallion services offered for purchase, 44 services have been sold. The remaining 37 stallion services are still available online at michiganmorganfuturity.com until April 15, 2021. Two name your mare slots were also sold which entitles the mare owner to breed to any stallion and the resulting weanling is eligible for the 2022 weanling sweepstakes.
MMHBF was also very fortunate to be able to offer a Frozen Semen and Artificial Insemination slide presentation given by Sarah Eaton, DVM, DACT, CVA from the Saginaw Valley Equine Clinic in the afternoon before the Stallion Service Auction. There were close to 100 people who attended this informative presentation and the auction that followed.
Every year at the gala, the Pot of Gold winners and the Breeder’s Award winner are announced. Since there was no gala event this year, the awards will be presented at the 2021 show tentatively scheduled to be held at MSU Pavilion from September 10-12, 2021. The Pot of Gold Champion was Idlecreek Say Geronimo, by JDS Paladin Pazazz and out of LVM Ribbons ‘N Roses, owned by Diane Storrick and Audrey Antolovich. The Pot of Gold Reserve Champion was MAV China Doll, by ZZ Top and out of JDS Viviano, owned by Mark and Heidi Nichols. The breeder’s award winners for the 2020 show were Darris and Leslie Garoufalis of Lexicon LLC.
Nineteen weanlings competed in the 2020 Appointments USA Sweepstakes for prize money totaling $28,000. The Stallion Service Auction funds this class so it is so important to get top stallions and sell them for top value. The MMHBF board of directors would like to thank all the stallion owners who donated a service to the auction. All stallion owners who donate a service that sells at the auction will be eligible to enter one weanling by their stallion in the Sweepstakes for potential bonus money. If you are interested in donating your stallion for next year’s auction please contact Sandra Stearns or Shauna Franklin. Contact information is on the website michiganmorganfuturity.com.
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