Hershberger Performance Horse Sale at Sun Circuit

The 16th Annual Hershberger Performance Horse Sale will be held Friday February 26 at WestWorld as the kick off event to the 2021 Scottsdale Arizona Sun Circuit. It will be followed on Saturday by the ARHFA Sun Circuit Rope Horse Futurity. This is the second year the Hershberger Sale will be held in conjunction with the world-renowned horse show. “Moving the sale to Sun Circuit last year was a huge step for us,” says Jason Hershberger. “Being able to hold the sale in the Equidome at WestWorld is awesome. It’s a climate controlled arena at the best horse facility in the US. It’s a huge advantage for us, our consignors, and most importantly, the buyers. The weather is not a factor, and folks don’t get cold.” There will be 100 performance horses consigned. The preview will start at 9:00 with roping and cow horse. The sale will start at 1:00 PM and will run until about 6.

The Scottsdale Arizona Sun Circuit is a premier show for AQHA, NRCHA, NRHA and NSBA. It draws exhibitors and trainers from around the country and the world to show in events including roping, cutting, reining, cow horse, ranch riding, trail, halter, western, english and jumping. This diverse group provides an expanded market of buyers. Hershberger says, “There are so many people there for the show that are not necessarily looking for a new horse. Yet they have the opportunity to see 100 head of high quality performance horses and might just find their next prospect.”

The Hershberger sale is well known for presenting a solid slate of rope horses. However, buyers will also see reiners, cutters and cow horses as well as horses suited for ranch or VRH classes. Hershberger adds, “These are not your average jackpot rope horses. They are well breed, well broke and athletic. We’ve got horses for pretty much any discipline.” He says that the horses he is personally selling have been exposed to a lot through his training program. For instance, “in a Ranch class, you have to drag a log or open a gate. These horses have done all that and more out in a real ranch setting. They are ready to go.”

Last year’s sale saw some exceptional high dollar horses go through. The top selling horse went for $83,000 and the top ten averaged $41,000. Yet Hershberger insists there are plenty of very good prospects in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. “I tell people if they come to the sale, and do their homework, they can get a very good horse without spending $30,000.” He sites one example of a horse his family bought. “We picked up Ride My Harley for around $12,500 in last year’s sale. My son Gavin went on to win the Junior BFI in June on him. That horse more than paid for himself right there.” Gavin has continued to win many other jackpots on Harley as well. “We try to keep track of how everybody is doing with horses they have bought at our sales. It’s really fun to see customers go on to win a lot and have a good time.”

There is a preview jackpot roping on Thursday the 25th at 2 PM which offers buyers the opportunity to see many of the horses in action. Additionally, Hershberger stresses that all the consignors are easy to get a hold of so that prospective buyers can check out horses before sale day. He adds, “Many of our consignors are here in Arizona, so if people are coming in for Sun Circuit, they can try them out and get a good feel for what they are bidding on.” The Hershbergers are also constantly updating their website and Facebook page with new information on the consigned horses. The Sun Circuit Rope Horse Futurity will be held on Saturday February 27. This ARHFA event has Open, Limited and Non Pro divisions. The Open has $15,000 in added money and the Limited and Non Pro each have $5,000 added. ARHFA has really taken off in the past few years and it appeals to both show horse ropers as well as world champion team roping pros. The ARHFA Futurities are an excellent place to showcase 4, 5 and 6 year old rope horses. It is a unique event because it has 2 judges scoring the run and the time plays into the score as well. Hershberger was a judge at the ARHFA Finals in Fort Worth last year. He shares, “You have to have an athletic horse, there’s no doubt about that. When I judged in Ft Worth, the horse power was insane. I’ve seen a lot of roping in my life and I was literally blown away: the horses and the guys training and showing them. It’s all very impressive.”

He believes that the size and success of the Finals will further propel the entries in the regional shows like Scottsdale. He adds, “A lot of guys I’ve talked to are coming to Sun Circuit from all over. There are also a lot of guys who are newer to the showing side of roping who are getting really excited about these Futurities. It’s pretty cool that our sale gets to kick off the Sun Circuit Futurity schedule.”

Hershberger has noticed an overall trend of top-tier team ropers transitioning into doing more training and thus showing in the ARHFA Futurities. He elaborates, “Many of those same ropers are consigning to our sale. One of our main goals is to showcase the kind of horses that can do well in these Futurity events. We will be selling some very nice rope horses that are more of the show-type horse. We want the horses that have the physical attributes that these Futurity horses need to succeed. For instance, the heeling horse that really drags his butt through the corner and stops really hard. Or that horse that makes you stop and look twice because he has that extra something. Ropings here in Arizona are huge with 300-400 teams. Your middle level roper knows they need to have a really good horse anymore to be in the money

Hershberger has been showing, roping and training horses for a long time and has an extensive network. He knows what kind of horses people need to reach their goals. “Most of our consignors are good friends of mine,” he explains. “I have a lot of trust in them. It’s important to have that kind of relationship with the people bringing horses to our sale. If they say to me, ‘I got this horse and he’s awesome’ I know that’s a horse I want them to consign”.

Details about the Hershberger Performance Horse sale can be found at hershbergerhorses.com. To learn more about the Scottsdale Arizona Sun Circuit and its complete schedule of classes and events, visit suncircuit.com.