RAPID CITY, SD – The word in the performance horse sale world is that the Black Hills Stock Show Truck Defender 2-Day Horse Sale is the one to beat in terms of variety, quality, and buyer participation. That’s evident as the annual two-day sale, Friday and Saturday, January 29th and 30th continues to exceed consignments and averages.
Parred down to approximately 177 lots – from initial entry numbers of over 300 – the sale continues to be a jewel in the crown of the Black Hills Stock Show.
While Thursday afternoon (January 28th) starts the horse sale check-in process, there has already been months of work behind the scenes to get to sale day, shares long-time BHSS volunteer and former director, Dean Johnson. “Once all the entries are in, the sale selection takes one day, then another day to review those. Then we start the sale order process and lotting. There’s an important strategy to a sale order that keeps the momentum of the sale going.”
Beginning at 8am on Friday, January 29th, 13 hand-picked horses will compete in the 11th Annual BHSS Ranch Horse Select competition. These horses represent what those making the selection deem as the best ranch ready horses in the sale. A full preview of all lots follows and then it’s sale time at 2pm at the Kjerstad Event Center on the Central States Fairgrounds.
“We have everything in place,” observes Johnson. “High quality horses, good auctioneer, good pedigree guy. Either we’re getting better at it or it’s getting easier to do. It’s just really fallen together. I do believe this sale will be one of the best.”
Both days of the sale offer similar quality of horses, finished to varying levels. On Saturday, January 30th, the preview gets underway at 8am and like the day before, will offer a wide variety through the sale ring beginning at 2pm.
“The Black Hills Stock Show Truck Defender 2-Day Horse Sale is among the top 10 highest averaging sales in the country,” says Johnson. “That statistic represents the seller’s interests. The buyer’s interest is from people seeking high quality horses. Buyers are there because the horse power is there.”
