One of the top 10 reining owners of 2017 will offer a reduction sale in conjunction with the 2020 Legacy Reining Sales.
Officials announced over the weekend that Cardinal Reining Horses of Aubrey, Texas, will offer a selection of horses at the sale, which is scheduled for Sept. 25-26.
Legacy Reining Sales Manager Mandy McCutcheon said the reduction will feature about 40 horses, including prospects, horses in training and breeding stock. A list of Cardinal Reining Horses consignments has not been released yet, but should be available soon.
“He’s definitely staying in the business and he’s going to still be a big part of the [National] Reining Horse Association, and he’s keeping [Dun It For] Whizkey and a couple others like that, but he just wanted to cut back a little bit, so he asked us to help him out with that.”
Cardinal Reining Horses General Manager Jennifer Anderson said the goal of the sale is to reduce the number of horses owned by the ranch, which will continue operation and also maintain its corporate sponsorship with the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA).
“He just has too many of his own, so he’s just trying to get down to a manageable number,” she said.
The ranch also will continue to have horses in training and to operate a stallion station, and current trainer Franco Bertolani will continue to be based out of the Cardinal facility in Aubrey, she said.
Although a final list of consignments was not yet available Monday, Anderson said the sale will include some well-bred offerings, as well as recipient mares carrying foals out of the ranch’s broodmare band.
“We have some great broodmares, so it’s a great opportunity to get some super nice reining prospects out of great mares and by great stallions, too,” she said. “I think it’s an opportunity for anyone either already in the business or wanting to get in the business.”
The ranch’s bloodlines include a number of elite producers, including the late Dun It For Chex, an NRHA Hall of Famer and Equi-Stat Elite $1 Million Dam who passed away late last year at age 23.
Among the horses Cardinal Reining owner Joao Marcos will keep are two sons of the great mare: NRHA Futurity Level 4 Open Co-Reserve Champion Dun It For Whizkey ($259,120, by Topsail Whiz) and Masked Gun ($94,583, by Colonels Smoking Gun [Gunner]), Anderson said.
While competing under the Cardinal Hill Training Center banner, horses owned by Cardinal have earned nearly $600,000 since 2013. Cardinal ranked seventh in the nation in the 2017 Equi-Stat Annual Reining Statistics with $122,480.
Horses from the reduction will not need to go far to make it to the sale ring, as the Legacy Reining Sales are annually held at the Cardinal Reining Horses facility. This is the 20th anniversary of the sale.
“We just appreciate Joao Marcos having faith in our sale,” McCutcheon said.
