The dispersal sale of Dan McWhirter Quarter Horses was a
success with 86 horses sold for a sum of nearly $400,000. This once in a
lifetime auction was met with an active crowd and many happy new owners leaving
with great horses.
Of the horses sold, 40 horses are available for the Kentucky
Quarter Horse Association Breeders Incentive Fund (KyQHA BIF). The bidding
averaged $4,624.42 with Shes An Encore, a daughter of Good Asset in Foal to
Absolute Investment, bringing the highest individual price of $23,000. The
KyQHA BIF horses brought an average of $4,685 each.
“It was obvious that the McWhirters are highly respected by
the response to the sale,” said Alan Parker of Alan Parker Auction Company. “We
had 300-400 people in the sale at one time, with 250 registered buyers. We had
bidders from Australia, Germany, Sweden, Nova Scotia and many states across the
U.S. both at the sale and online.”
Parker also said the involvement on the Internet and on the
phone required 5 people to be on phones during the sale. He said at least 50
percent of the horses had a bid made over the phone. The Internet activity was
indicative of the profile of the sale’s high profile.
“At one time over the internet, we had over 10,000 views.
That tells you that the whole world knew that it was going on. It also tells
you that people were interested in how important that group of horses were,
because you never get that many hits. I’ve never seen anything close to that
many hits for a horse sale. In comparison, we did a very important production sale
this summer for a major breeder, it was their production sale, and we got 5,200
hits on theirs.”
Vic Clark, who is a lifetime horseman and sale announcer for
Alan Parker Auction Company, said that he immediately recognized the
resemblance of Absolute Investment (pictured left) to his sire, The Invester.
“He is a little deeper through his heart girth, maybe a
little stronger in his loins, he’s straight legged, he’s got good bones, low hocks,
a great top line and he has a gorgeous head,” Clark says. “Through his head and
neck where stallions tend to get a little course as they get older, he’s 15 and
he looks like he’s five.”
The McWhirters sold their herd but kept the prized stallion,
Absolute Investment. Absolute Investment will continue to stand at the Kentucky
Division of Gumz Farms. The McWhirters dispersed their herd but by keeping the
major building block of that herd, they can focus on Absolute Investment’s
impact as a sire.
“We have spent
more than 30 years building a quality herd that brought us great joy and
national recognition,” Carol McWhirter says. “We were ready to step away
completely, but decided to set a reserve for the stallion. Since his reserve
price wasn’t met, we will remain in the business at a much smaller scale. We
will continue to offer the ‘designer genes’ to those that want to improve their
herd with Absolute Investment.”
For more information on the dispersal sale or on Absolute
Investment go to DanMcWhirterQuarterHorses.com
