United States Eventing Association

Written by Zeb Fry ,Photography and artwork by Robyn West

After months of hard work and preparation, Craig Thompson’s dream of having an event where like-minded horsemen could gather together to search for the next Eventing star finally took place on his Shadow Lane Farm in Aiken, South Carolina. The festivities took place from Feb. 19-22, where beautiful prospects and seasoned event horses could be viewed and then ridden by potential buyers.

It was Craig’s vision to be able to organize an event sale as a type of ‘one-stop shopping’ place. A total of 75 horses were entered for the sale, with a large turn out of spectators and buyers from all over the United States. Some buyers came as far as Ontario, Canada. For months, Craig set out to do an advanced marketing plan for advertising the sale. Publications were posted in The Chronicle of The Horse, The United States Eventing Association, chat forums and a number of eventing web sites.

Who was it that said, "Behind every man stands a great woman."? That could easily be said of Sarah Heffron who is the Co-Organizer of the Aiken Event Horse Sale and is also the Co-Owner of Shadow Lane Farm. Sarah worked tirelessly from the beginning of the sale’s infant stage all the way through to it’s successful last day. Folks didn’t see her much outside of the farm’s office because she was managing the massive amounts of paper work, answering a volume of questions and doing her best to oversee that the event ran as smoothly as possible. Her great attention to detail and managing skills was the perfect ingredient to the success of this big event.

The first day gave horses and riders a chance to settle in and hack around while grooms and assistants gathered armbands, numbers and sale packets. The farm is relatively new and is still under construction, and there is a lovely sand arena set with schooling fences. The nearby field was designed with a variety of cross-country jumps that included a water complex and a colorful stadium course.

All the horses entered were categorized in groups of 4 and 5 riders and each group was designated a time slot as to when the horses were to be jogged in-hand the following day. For a few prospect horses it was their first time ever being in braids or in front of a large crowd of people. The handlers, dressed in business attire, jogged their horses down the long sandy lane while giving potential buyers a chance to look over the sales catalog and compare the potential prospects. It was also an opportunity to see how the horse behaves, moves in-hand and makes for a memorable first impression.

After the jogs, riders went back to their trailers to wait until their ride times. The horses were tacked up and groomed and all the riders were required to wear their ‘seller’ armbands. At the start of the rides, the announcer introduced each of the horses and also read a brief description about each animal. The descriptions included the names of the sire and dam, and information as to the performance record and training history.

Once the warm up time in the sand arena was up, the riders were instructed to move across to the grass field where the stadium fences and cross-country fences were set up. Each group was allotted another 15 minutes of ride time, but this time at a much forward pace. The stadium course was colorful and friendly, with a variety of fences to give every horse a chance to ‘show-off’ their talent.

The new cross-country course gave the viewers a taste of what each horse is capable of doing. There were ditches, big roll-tops, logs, a Training level sized bank, a large water complex, and a couple combination fences. The terrain was sandy and rolling, giving the horses a chance to put in a few gallop rounds as spectators sat under a tent on the hill to watch. Later, after everyone had their rides, it was time for the serious buyers to go to the office and either put in a request to try the horse or to put their offer on the board to purchase.

That evening a cocktail party was hosted at Craig’s home in the historic part of downtown Aiken. After a full day in the wind and sunshine, everyone was ready to relax to some good food and a couple cocktails. Craig went all-out again with an intimate setting on the back patio as a local jazz player was invited to play the trumpet while the guests mingled and enjoyed the gourmet platters.

The weather, although a bit windy, warmed up through the sale with no chance of rain until late on the last day. The sandy footing on the farm was perfect, along with the many fences the horses had to school over.

While standing on the fence line and watching the beautiful horses and their talented riders work in the arena, I couldn’t help but to think of a particular scene in the famous movie National Velvet with Elizabeth Taylor and Mickey Rooney. It was when they arrived at the Aintree paddock area for the Grand National. Velvet was in pure heaven as she watched the horses parade around in their coolers. I remember how she leaned against a flowering shrub, inhaled it’s scent deeply as she looked up into the sky and sighed, “Horses.”

That one word can say it all.