written by Margo Mossburg

The Fourth Annual Stallion Showcase & Horse Sale featuring Morgans will be held at the beautiful Valley Mission Horse Arena near the freeway at Bowdish and Mission in the Spokane Valley at 11322 E. Mission Avenue. The event will be on April 26, 2008 from 11am to 4pm and parking is free. The horses are always the stars of this event so come out and enjoy a fun day with us. The public will meet fifty or more horses from three states. Come rain or shine our event is a go and free for the audience to attend. And the audience is encouraged to get up close and personal to the horses and to ask questions of area breeders from more than ten or more breeds.

This event is not a horse show or sales auction, but an old-fashioned horse fair and horse open house. There’s fun in the arena all day for the audience to watch such as, the Play Day Classes with prizes for exhibitors as well as clinics in addition to the $100 Jackpot Liberty Class winner take all where the horses are turned loose to show themselves off.

Take better pictures of your horses. There will be free horse photography clinic by Wild Spirit Photos. There is one other horse training clinic, trailer loading by Corkscrew Willow Ranch. You can also have our official event photographer, Lory Sue Enterprises, take your pictures for you and your horses.

Morgan horses are the featured breed, but all horse breeds are always welcome to attend. At press time there are already 8 Morgan, 1 Percheron, 2 Quarter Horse, 1 Mini, 2 Paso Fino, 1 Andalusian, 1 Curly and 2 Welsh, cob and pony, barns are set to attend. The Morgans and Paso Finos will be doing formal breed demos and more breeds are encouraged to do formal demos as well. Local horse club members are always encouraged to set up breed promotion booths to tell the public about their favorite horses for free.

There is a private treaty horse sale with arena time available to test drive the horses. And of course there are the gorgeous stallions at stud showing off too.

Carrie Giannandrea of Formula One Farms Appaloosas in Deer Park said, “Formula One Farms is proud to attend this year’s Fourth Annual Stallion Showcase and Horse Sale. We had wonderful exposure during last year’s event and met a lot of interesting people. I even met my new trainer during last year’s event. The opportunity to speak with the public about horses is so important for the future of the horse. This event gives the public a chance to learn from breeders, trainers and other horse owners. Many folks were looking for horses to buy and one horse in the stall next to mine sold within the first hour of the event! The Liberty class is spectacular to watch. Formula One Farms is looking forward to supporting this event for many years to come. In the first two years of this new event we sold several horses for their owners before and after the event and we sold breedings to area stallions as well.”

Horse and pet-related vendors are encouraged to attend our event with pre-registration. Some of this year’s vendors are Spokane Morgan Club, Dachshund Rescue NW. Northern Meadows 4H is providing food for the day as a fundraiser and Rusty Spur Tack, LLC., for your tack needs. We will have around 10 vendors or more. Quite a few exhibitors will also be selling their used tack.

Exhibitors can attend for $35 per stall or $20 for trailer tie per horse, with the Free Play Day classes (pre-entry required for all horse entries). The Liberty Class is only $5 per horse cash at the gate to enter. Last year’s Liberty Class winner was a gorgeous Quarter Horse stallion named Stallone’s Tan owned by Gary Ferguson of Ferguson Quarter Horses of Rathrum, Idaho. That stud showed his heart out and the three-judge panel had no choice, but to pin him the winner once his owner rode him out bareback after putting on such a show. The crowd yelled their approval when he was awarded the cash at the climax of our open house. There was a lot of yelling for the second place winner as well, a Pinto Arabian stallion, CJA High Khaliber from Inland Farms.

Please bring your cameras and enjoy the day with some gorgeous horses and their proud owners and trainers.

To see the horses already entered for 2008, enter your horses online, get directions, find motels and more on our large event web site with past event photos: http://www.spokanehorsesale.com or call Margo Mossburg, Manager, at 509-796-2140 for more information.