New York Morgan Stallion Service Auction
Friday, February 15, 2008
For the second year in a row HVK Bell Flaire
earned the distinction as the high-selling stallion
at the New York Morgan Stallion Service Auction
with George Schott purchasing this year’s service.
by Diana Davidson
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008 was a night of celebration for the New York Morgan Horse Society. In addition to this being the 20th anniversary of the club’s stallion service auction, it would also become a record-setting evening. The town of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and the Saratoga Hotel, the site of the evening’s events, are indeed steeped in equine traditions most notably linked to Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing and sales. However, on this night it was the Morgan horse that enjoyed center stage.
The New York Morgan Stallion Service Auction
committee enjoyed a record-setting evening.
(Left to right) Bernard Parker, Lynn Peeples,
Nancy Galusha, Ivan Beattie, Carol Stone,
Jeff Evans and Bob Marshall.
The day’s events began with an informative presentation by Purina Mills with Dr. Randel Raub. The presentation showed the importance of knowing what you are feeding and what actually goes into a bag of feed. The title “Beyond The Feed Tag” was quite an appropriate eye-opener for many.
This was followed by a panel discussion. This year’s topic was “Maximizing Breeding Success with Modern Techniques”. Carol Stone served as moderator and asked the panel some great questions. The panelists were veterinarians Jeff Lapointe, John Davis and Bill Johnson, along with AMHA Registrar Tyler Atwood. The discussion featured important points about frozen and fresh-cooled semen as well as embryo transfers. The information discussed should certainly help many in attendance make more educated breeding decisions.
Veterinarians Jeff Lapointe, John Davis and Bill Johnson
along with AMHA Registrar Tyler Atwood gave an informative
discussion about breeding success and modern techniques.
The evening festivities began with stallion displays and a happy hour. The bar was open, drinks flowed and hors d’ oeuvres were refreshed throughout the evening. The online bidding on the 43 stallions available closed at noon. The phone lines were open and they rang throughout the night as people across the nation placed their bids, or arranged for callbacks when the horse of their choice came to the floor.
The stallion displays drew a lot of attention prior to the
start of the auction as Doug Sluiter, Alex and Deborah
Cojocar and Mary Ann Cole caught up in front of the
Man In Motion display.
Longtime committee member Bob Marshall was first to the microphone to welcome everyone to the 20th annual New York Morgan Horse Society Stallion Service Auction. Marshall then went on to give the audience some history of the event and honored Mary Meixell who said over 20 years ago, “The New York club can do this.” She certainly was right. Thanks to lots of hard work and foresight by the members of the committee and some advisors, the New York Morgan Breeders’ Sweepstakes has promoted the breeding of top quality Morgans and has paid out thousands of dollars to weanlings and four-year-olds who are sired by the stallions offered in this auction.
Mary Meixell was honored prior to the start of
the auction as she helped to champion the start
of the New York Morgan Breeders’ Sweepstakes
more than 20 years ago.
At 7:30 auctioneer John Bennett took over the microphone and opened the auction. Ivan Beattie stepped up to the plate to do a fine job reading the pedigrees as a last-minute replacement for Steve Smith who was unable to attend due to some inclement weather a day earlier.
The stallion lineup represented all of the variety and versatility the Morgan breed offers. The New York Stallion Service Auction strives to have a lineup that is of interest to all breeders. The atmosphere was one of excitement, fun and celebration from the opening bid to the last gavel. Bid spotters for the evening were Bernard Parker, Jaisen von Ballmoos and Scott Neidlinger. Phone volunteers Jeff Evans, Mark Langdon, Ilene Goulette, Roberta Marshall and Sue Evans talked fast and listened hard, communicating with bidders from Oregon to Maine.
In addition to many bidders in the audience, the
phone lines were hopping with Sue Evans, Ilene
Goulette, Mark Langdon and Roberta Marshall
among those taking phone bids.
The top bid of the sale went to world champion show horse and sire HVK Bell Flaire for the second year in a row. George Schott was the final bidder at $5,300 for the service donated by Barbara and Arthur Jones. The exclusive opportunity to breed to AFF Leroy Brown, the sire of Bada Bing, was earned by Charles Buller for $5,200 thanks to the donation by Peggy and Phil Alderman. Charles Buller also added the next two high-selling services for LPS The Boogie Man at $3,200 and CVH Celtic Command at $2,900. The service to Astronomicallee rounded out the top five with William Haines placing the bid of $2,800.
The opportunity to breed to AFF Leroy Brown
brought out many bidders and resulted in the
second highest bid of the evening by Charles Buller.
In addition to stallion services, several other items and services were offered to add to a record-setting night with a total of $70,000 raised. The money raised will go on to be used for prize money in the New York Stallion Auction Sweepstakes held at the New York Regional Morgan Horse Show. All foals by the stallions whose services were sold are eligible to compete for prize money in the weanling in hand classes and in two four-year-old classes: hunter/western/sport horse pleasure and park/English pleasure. The 2009 Weanling Sweepstakes will award a minimum of $15,000 with the 2013 performance classes offering at least $45,000.
Coby Holowacz showed off the wire
horse created by Dan Williams on
which she placed the winning bid.
The New York Stallion Service Auction committee continues to strive to make this one of the premier auctions within the Morgan breed. Their slogan “it pays to perform” certainly holds true given the money that is continually raised at this auction and is paid out each year. Plans for next year’s event are already underway. Check the web site at www.nymorganstallions.com for contact information, updates and news.
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