Many thanks to EN reader Denya Massey for sending us this recap from Kendal Lehari’s Horse Sale Extravaganza in Ontario, Canada. It sounds like it was a great event for both buyers and sellers alike!
From Denya:
As mentioned in EN a few weeks ago, Kendal Lehari was organizing a “Horse Sale Extravaganza” for early October where horses would be shown in a setting similar to a competition, under saddle with an order of go for jumping and dressage, complemented by a full program about each horse. On a somewhat overcast but dry day, 35 horses were shown, and prospective buyers could approach any seller to make further arrangements – this was a “show’n’tell” opportunity for the sellers and excellent window shopping for buyers.
Martha Griggs, who competed in the 1984 Olympics, pointed out the great advantage of this set up is sellers get to evaluate how their individual pricing compares with other horses, with all the relevant details in the program and the actual horse under tack. Often sellers don’t get to see what “the competition” looks like. For buyers, they had the opportunity to watch two or more interesting horses work side by side, and they were able to get a feel for their budget – is it realistic or not? As one generous but puzzled father asked me: Why are two horses who look the same (to him, and he’s the wallet in the group) and doing the same things, priced so differently? Good question, and I encouraged him to ask the seller that very question – which to his credit he went off to do.
The idea to organize this horse fair was sparked by an occasion last year when a buyer flew in and Kendal had arranged several horses at one venue for the buyer, so this is the first official year. Kendal was encouraged to include some dressage horses next year. Kendal created the silent auction and 50/50 draw as a fundraiser to support her efforts to ride at the 2014 WEG’s in Normandy. With great parking, friends, vendors, trainers, silent auction, and lots of sport horses, it would be a great yearly tradition – a very effective way to see eventing prospects by connecting buyers and sellers in one spot – a true Horse Fair!
Go Horse Fair! Go Eventing!
