Auction Proves To Be Successful Fund Raiser For BWHA

By Sarah Gee
©Voice, April 2006

For the past 17 years, the Buckeye Walking Horse Association (BWHA) has supplemented its income by holding a very popular auction – The Spring Fever Horse Sale. Featuring horses and tack, the auction attracts buyers and sellers from all over the Midwest and Southeast. While BWHA allows other smooth gaited breeds to be sold at the auction, it is primarily a Tennessee Walking Horse sale. Not only is it the only Tennessee Walking Horse sale in Ohio, it is the only such sale in the Midwest.

The brainchild of former Ohioan Denise Rowland and Ohio trainer Polly Stout, each year the auction brings in about $4,000. All of that money goes to support walking horse shows put on by BWHA. It is the association’s largest fundraiser by far. It is also one of their biggest projects. Over the past 17 years, they have worked out most of the kinks and the auction now sails along quite smoothly. However, it still takes a lot of time and hard work. Preparations begin in earnest in September each year and the sale is held in April. For the past 12 years, BWHA member Diana Clarke has chaired the event. She relates, “ When I first became involved, I talked to several people that ran auctions on a regular basis, Bill Harlin was especially helpful. Now we average about 65 horses each year. We get most of our consignments two to three weeks prior to the sale. That doesn’t leave us a whole lot of time to verify their paperwork, although we’ve just about gotten it down to a science now. We’ve developed a software program to catalog the horses and BWHA treasurer Paul Szucs does an excellent job taking care of the financial side. BWHA President Bruce Vaughn helps out wherever needed and auction coordinator Polly Stout works hard on all facets of the sale. Other BWHA members volunteer to work the day of the sale. Our biggest expenses are advertising the sale and paying for the DQPs. It all pays off though because on the day of the sale the fairgrounds are absolutely covered with trucks and trailers.“

The auction is geared toward the entire horse community – from trail riders to breeders to trainers. The horses that go through the auction run the gamut from trail horses to broodmares to show horses, Because the event’s organizers know most of the horses, buyers are quite confident that what they see at the sale is what they’ll have once they’re back at home. The sale charges a seller-friendly catalog fee of $75 plus a 10% commission on all sales over $750. In order to encourage sellers to consign early, they offer a reduced catalog fee of $60 to sellers that get their paperwork and fee in by mid March. It’s no surprise that the sale boasts numerous repeat buyers and sellers.

We all know how hard it is for state and local associations to raise money, especially considering our often-iffy economy. Hats off to the Buckeye Walking Horse Association for instituting and organizing this terrific money raising and Tennessee Walking Horse-promoting event.

The 2006 Spring Fever Horse Sale will be held April 15, 2006 at the
Guernsey County Fairgrounds in
Old Washington, Ohio.
For more information contact Diana Clarke at
330-239-1724 or Polly Stout at 440-564-1057.
www.bwhaonline.com