Stallion Showcase 2026 | 2025 Black Hills Stock Show Farm Credit Services of America Horse Sale Review

 

The Black Hills Stock Show Farm Credit Services of America Horse Sale attracts sellers and buyers from all corners of the horse market. From the ranch to the arena, and from the breeding barn to the winner’s circle, there is an opportunity for virtually anyone looking to take home high-quality horses. 

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Last year’s top three high sellers were indicative of the variety of horses sought by prospective buyers. In descending order, they were a gelding, stallion, and mare.  

MISSTERISH, 2020 Red Roan Gelding by Hottish 

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Hardy White of Torrington, Wyoming, sold Missterish by Hottish (Earner of $301,843 and NCHA Open Derby Champion) to Cathy Whetham for $53,000 at last year’s Farm Credit Services of America Black Hills Stock Show horse sale.  

White purchased the horse from Kenny Platt, the 2024 NCHA Open Futurity Champion. 

“He was one of his client horses. That horse just got too big and stout to be a really good cutter, and Kenny knows what I’m kind of looking for. I was down there one day, looked at him and he offered him to me, and so I bought him and just thought he’d make a nice rope horse switch. He dang sure did,” said White.  

White explained why he thought the gelding was a good fit for the Black Hills Stock Show horse sale.  

“He’s just a really good-looking horse, really gentle, and fit a lot of people, just an all-around nice horse. I thought it was a good fit for him there. Very talented enough to be a top performance horse, but yet if somebody just wanted an extremely nice ranch, horse, trail, horse, any of that, that horse would do it.” 

White began consigning horses to the BHSS horse sale 25 years ago. “I’ve been there about every year since,” he said. “I just try to buy quality, nice horses, rope on them, ranch on them, and resell them. 

White has ample opportunities to expose his horses the ranch and the arena. “I have a guy that I day work for… It’s more than day work. It’s pretty steady. We run about 3,000 yearlings in the summer and about 1,200 cows, so my horses see a lot of miles,” he said.  

White describes what he looks for in a prospect. “Of course, color matters. Conformation is a big thing to me: good legs, good feet, and ability. They don’t all have to be world beaters, but they have to fit a wide variety of people in order to be sellable again.” 

When asked how it felt to top the 2025 Black Hill Stock Show horse sale, White responded, “It felt really good. I’ve sold some there, good in the past, but never quite like that.” 

TIME MARKER, 2016 Red Roan Stallion by One Time Pepto 

When the gavel dropped on the Wagonhound-raised stallion Time Marker, he was sold to Josh and Lynn Nixon for an even $50,000 last year.  

Nixons, of Alzada, Montana, were looking for a stallion to replace their aging one. While they looked at several other stallions consigned to the same sale, Nixons decided to purchase Time Marker, if possible. 

“We were right at our limit,” Lynn Nixon laughed. “I just love him and I’m glad that they put him in that sale because I’m glad he’s mine.” 

Time Marker was a favorite sire at Wagonhound Land & Livestock in Douglas, Wyoming. “They loved his colts and the cowboys out there really liked riding him on the ranch, and they were some of their favorite colts,” said Nixon.  

Wagonhound Equine Breeding Manager Heather Sanchez concurred. “We knew he was something special, and at the time, we were in need of pasture stud. That’s why we decided to use him 

 for our breeding program, and he gave us some really nice offspring,” she said. 

Sanchez knew the home-raised stud intimately, as well as his dam. “She’s just outstanding. Shiny Miss Marker is her name. She’s produced performance earners and I mean, how can you go wrong crossing on One Time Pepto?” 

With Wagonhound purchasing Fiddle N Steel in 2021 and continuing to advance their program, the time came to let Time Marker improve someone else’s breeding program.  

“We always strive for the best,” said Sanchez. “And with a business, you’ve always got more coming up the line. Our hope is that anything that we sell and put out in the market can make somebody else’s program stronger, whether that’s their breeding program, using them, whatever it may be. We just thought based on Time Marker’s conformation and disposition, and the fact that he was such a good using horse and also a good successful breeding stallion, that would go well with the market and the crowd that the Black Hills Sale attracts. And it did. It worked well. We were very thrilled with it.” 

Wagonhound breeds around 40 mares per year. “We’ve grown over the last few years, and we strive for a couple different goals. One of the goals is to just make a good all-around horse, a good using horse, a good ranch gelding, one that serves a purpose on the ranch. We take pride in producing all of our own cowboy horses. But then the other goal in mind is we produce performance horses too, mainly reined cow horses, and we’re starting to get into the cutting as well,” Sanchez said.  

While Wagonhound only used Time Marker “Gordon” as a pasture stud, Nixons easily taught him to hand breed. “He’s great. He has tons of manners and respect and he’s great to hand breed. So yeah, we definitely don’t regret our decision. We’re pretty in love with him and he is really fun to ride,” Nixon said. 

When she first brought him home and rode him, she couldn’t stop smiling.  

It was a bumpy road leading up to the purchase of Time Marker. Nixons had a junior stallion by Paddys Irish Whiskey lined up to replace their older stallion but lost him in a freak accident.  

“I was just devastated when we lost that colt, but I wouldn’t have Time Marker [if it wasn’t for that], so I guess God had a different plan for us, and it’s working out pretty good so far.” 

Nixon has frequented the Black Hills Stock Show for many years and has been on the other end of the sale ring as a consignor.  

“I always go to the sale,” she said. “There’s always some really, really nice horses there. The quality is just so high. And we’ve sold a few horses there, and they’ve all done really well. So, it’s just got a good reputation for having some pretty high-quality horses in it.” 

DTF PROUDEST CHICK, 2017 Bay Mare by Dash Ta Fame 

Karla McDonald and Ron Volk of Lame Deer, Montana, sold DTF Proudest Chick, an own daughter of Dash Ta Fame, to Amanda King for $44,000 in last year’s sale.  

“She was so talented and so fast, almost 16 hands and really lanky, just your typical Dash Ta Fame daughter. She was an amazing mare,” said Karla McDonald.   

The mare was purchased by McDonald with the intention to incorporate her running genetics into their primarily cow-bred horse program. McDonald’s daughter Aleena ranched, roped, and barrel raced on her.  

“She got to be a horse here on the ranch. I’m not sure the mare had ever been out in the hills, so we just kind of gave her a little bit different perspective and she got to rope some calves and she loved it. She did well with that. She was just way more suited to be a barrel horse,” said McDonald. 

Though McDonald had their Metallic Cat stallion, Metallic Shine, in mind for a cross, she said, “It became really clear that she just wasn’t going to match with our cow horse program.” 

“I love barrel horses, their breeding and their physique, I just love everything about them, but we can’t raise barrel horses. So we took the hard road and decided to let her go,” she said.   

McDonald keeps around 30 broodmares and has been in the horse business her entire life, as has her daughter. It is a family affair.   

“My dad’s a 75-year Breeder [in the AQHA] and he’s 90 years old. He’s still living, and my mom is, too. And they started this horse business, which I have kind of taken over,” she said.  

Karla and her parents, Art and Rita McDonald, founded the annual Sugar Bars Legacy horse sale in Sheridan, Wyoming, 27 years ago.  

In addition to raising horses, the family has a cow herd and puts up hay. McDonald’s profession is a chemical dependency and mental health therapist.  

Horses have always been the touchstone.  

“We’ve changed directions a couple of times, but we kind of keep coming back to the performance and cow horse type horses that we raise. So that’s what we do here in Lame Deer. We stand two or three stallions at all times,” said McDonald.  

DTF Proudest Chick’s new owner, Amanda King, continues to run barrels on her, calling her “Vivian.” 

In a recent Facebook post, she said, “I absolutely love this mare. She is the horse I didn’t know I needed: wickedly fast, super sweet, spunky, and truly wants to be a team player.” 

“The last we heard from her, she really liked her, so we’re happy about that. She went to a good home,” said McDonald.  

McDonald possesses a long history with horse sales and was impressed with her experience at the Black Hills Stock Show as a consignor for the past two years.  

McDonald had attended the Black Hill Stock Show for many years, as the Sugar Bars Legacy Sale board meets annually at the event.  

“We’ve been going to that sale forever and ever, but we’ve never consigned to it. From what we saw from the sale, it looks like rope horses are always appreciated there and barrel horses, so we decided to give it a try,” she said.  

“When we sell horses, we try to match them with what we think the sales are going to be. The horse’s skill will match what the sales are looking for. And so that’s what we decided to do,” she said.  

In 2024, McDonald sold Ruffin Em Up, an AQHA World Championship Show qualifier in Junior Reining (by Not Ruf At All by A Sparkling Vintage out of Wimpys Dolled Up), a 2019 AQHA Palomino Stallion for $37,000 at the BHSS sale.  

“We were really happy with it,” McDonald said. “They were really good about our signing process, and everything was very thorough. 

“It was a very successful sale, and I think we’d come back to it.” 

WATCH the interviews on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5gTxtfChrUpBEWhXw1qpc5?si=u4cLhs9kQI20tMnKeExcNw

WATCH the interviews on YouTube: https://youtu.be/X6IPPTkNaU8?si=Rawjpy_RWrU609P1