A little tense, somewhat exciting and a tad bit risky, buying a horse at an auction can feel a little like playing the craps table. Roll the dice, take a chance and come up big or lose it all in one shot. You want to try, but you’re not quite sure if it’s worth the money or the gamble.
When Carbondale Farms hosts an auction it’s not a matter of whether buying a horse there is a worthy gamble, it’s a matter of how to choose just one. At Carbondale’s first Sporthorse Auction on May 25 at Leone Equestrian Center in Sacramento, 30 horses went up on the auction block and 27 of those horses were sold. Out of those 27 horses, 24 were bred by Carbondale’s elite Warmblood stallions and broodmares and three were from outside clients.



The auction was conducted by Historic Cobb Ranch Auctioneer, Larry Parker, who has over 20 years of auction experience and is certified by the Appraisers Guild of America. Bidders had the option of attending the auction at Leone or proxy bidding online as the auction was webcast live. The top selling horse was Coriolanus, a 2002 Oldenburg breeding stallion, bought by Alex Nylan. Carbondale Farms will continue to manage Coriolanus’ breeding contracts.
Approximately 150 people attended and every bidder received a premium auction catalog created by California Riding Magazine’s design company, Riding Design. The catalog featured a welcome by Joyce Ranck Nugent, owner of Carbondale Farms, a detailed description of each auction horse, including a color photo, bloodline and personal notes, terms and conditions of the auction and additional in-depth information about Carbondale’s stallions and award-winning bloodlines.
“We are really pleased with how well the auction did,” says Karen Anderson, officer manger for Carbondale Farms. “For our first time it was really successful and we hope to turn the auction into an annual event.”
Karen and the Carbondale staff hope that next year’s event will be even larger with more consignment horses available.
For more information about the auction visit
www.carbondalefarms.com. The auction catalog can be viewed at www.cobbranchauctions.com.