The Maine Event!
Thursday, May 11, 2006
by Diana Davidson
NEW GLOUCESTER, Maine- Over the past decade Maine Event Morgans under the ownership of George Schott and the management of Rick Lane has become one of the pre-eminent breeding programs in the Morgan breed. The MEM breeding program is based on a select group of the finest mares crossed with some the most successful sires in the Morgan breed. The beautiful foals produced with the MEM prefix have gone on to earn prestigious titles throughout the country and at the national level for George Schott as well as many new owners.
In the fall of 2005, the decision was made by George Schott and Rick Lane to have a 2006 Spring Sale that would hopefully begin another great tradition. The select sale billed as the Maine Event Morgans Spring Event Sale would provide the opportunity for the winning bidders to acquire youngsters, breeding stock and proven show horses. The desire of Schott and Lane was to share a promise for the future of the Morgan breed, both through the horses offered and their desire to give back to the breed. The sale included two lots whose sale proceeds would be directly returned to the breed.
The date of May 6, 2006, was circled on the calendar of many Morgan owners, breeders, trainers and enthusiasts. As the 30 sale lots were publicly announced, anticipation for the upcoming sale mounted. Mother Nature smiled on the event with a sunny and warm spring weekend in Maine as several hundred gathered for the Maine Event Morgans Spring Event Sale. The picturesque setting of Pineland Farms Equestrian Center in New Gloucester, Maine, served as an ideal setting. A number of prospective bidders from coast to coast were welcomed on Friday with a reception as well as an open barn and presentation of a number of the sale entrants. A growing crowd perused the barn on Saturday morning and enjoyed the pre-sale lunch.
As the clock struck 1p.m., it was time for the Maine Event. Debbie Lane welcomed the crowd and thanked everyone for their support of the sale before turning over the microphone to Bill Carrington who, along with auctioneer Jim Price, would be atop the podium as 30 meticulously prepared and presented horses earned the enthusiastic bids of their new owners.
When the final gavel fell on Saturday afternoon the sale recorded a resounding $802,100. The overall average for the 30 lots, all of which sold, was a record $26,737. The top 10 sold for a robust average of $60,200 with the top five bringing in another record-setting average of $92,800.
The sale topper of the afternoon was World Champion Cedar Creek With Bells On. The appearance of this expressive and talented mare on the sale runway elicited the full attention of all present as Rick Lane guided her under saddle for consignor Robin Veghte and Mendonhall Morgans. The rare opportunity to purchase a show mare of this caliber was recognized by the many bidders who fought for the chance to take home the eight-year-old daughter of HVK Bell Flaire and Cedar Creek Jasmine. A large round of applause went up for new owners Robert and Deborah Stevenson and daughter Cassie as trainer Forest Nealon signed the ticket for $150,000.
Cassie Stevenson with sale topper Cedar Creek With Bells On
“We are very excited to be able to purchase a mare of this caliber. This sale was a great event, and its success certainly bodes well for this industry,” enthused Nealon. The Stevensons with Nealon as agent also added the promising four-year-old gelding MEM Playboy that rounded out the top five sellers at $50,000. A grand representative of the MEM breeding program, the lofty bay is sired by Futurity French Command and is out of top-producing Star Lake Ellisa.
MEM Say My Name with new owners Carolyn and
Frank Gibbard was the second high selling horse.
The second high-selling entry was Reserve World Champion MEM Say My Name. The impressive four-year-old stallion sired by Futurity French Command and out of AFF Beulah commanded a bid of $120,000 as Frank and Carolyn Gibbard added him to their outstanding Tarantella Morgan Farm show string.
As Robin Veghte and Mendonhall Morgans sold two of their top champions (Cedar Creek With Bells On and MEM Indecent Proposal) on this day, it was only fitting that two exceptional youngsters would fill their place. The well-named MEM Thriller showed the promise of the next generation as Mike Carpenter guided the son of HVK Bell Flaire and AFF Beulah down the sale runway in harness. Robin Veghte hopes the four-year-old stallion will follow in the footsteps of Mendonhall park harness stars that have included Liberation Starbrite, Lamborghini In Black, SpringMill Sequel and Cedar Creek With Bells On. Thriller earned a bid of $80,000 from Veghte who also purchased the sporty three-year-old stallion MEM Tazer (Futurity French Command x Liberation Starbrite).
Richard and Donna Evans added the 2004 Open Pleasure Driving World Champion Medomak French Invasion to their show string with a bid of $64,000. Rick Lane rode the bold-trotting son of Futurity French Command and Vega Sweet Dreams for consignors Mary Wilson and Dorothy Blackwood. Nicole Evans will be aboard the eight-year-old gelding under the direction of the Morrells of Moreland Farm.
In addition to the 28 horses that sold, there were two special lots that made the grand total of 30 offered. The first special offering was that of 50 doses of Futurity French Command frozen semen. The value of this offering was not lost on Ann Hailey as she was the top bidder on this opportunity to add to her Copper Beech breeding collection. The entire amount of her winning bid of $12,000 will be donated back to the Morgan industry to the Morgan organization of Hailey’s choosing.
MEM Shock And Awe with Rick Lane and George Schott
The final lot of the sale was an egg out of the incomparable World Champion AFF Evening Episode. The presentation of her two-year-old daughter MEM Shock And Awe, who is the 2005 Junior World Champion Mare, put an exclamation point on the sale as she represented the true ideal of the Maine Event Morgans breeding program. As the phenomenal filly sired by Serenity Masterpiece struck a pose atop the flower-adorned center stage of the sale runway, the opportunity for a maternal-sibling earned a $22,000 bid from Dale and Barb Nielson. George Schott and Maine Event Morgans donated the entire proceeds of this lot to the New England Morgan Horse Show.
The events of the day were certainly met with enthusiasm by the Morgan industry. Rick Lane remarked, “We are delighted that the sale was so well attended. When you have a breeding farm, it is very encouraging that there were many young, untrained prospects that sold well. This proves that there is a good market for trained and untrained horses with proven bloodlines. This sale was a way to keep the numbers of the herd where we want them, and it is a tool we’ll use in the future for our program.
|