Name-brand and fancy, famous performance pedigrees packed the weekend’s sale selection as Billings Livestock welcomed their annual session of “Sons and Daughters” of AQHA Champions and Money Earners as part of the “February Special Catalog Sale” February 24-26.

The expanded three-day sale format offered 897 horses and hosted 761 registered buyers sending horses from sea to shining sea - including 22 states, two Canadian provinces, Mexico, and Venezuela.

A cornerstone of the cowhorse industry and sire to $24 million in money earners, Peppy San Badger’s influence was confirmed in the top selling horses - nearly one-half of the horses gracing the BLS Top Twenty Sellers list packed his genetics including three sired directly by “Little Peppy”, one by his famous son “Dual Pep”, and grand-get by “The Dualler” and “Dual Rey”.

Stallions by Young Gun, Smart Chic Olena, Smart Mate, Playboys Remedy, Just Plain Colonel, and Topolena also made top ranking, in addition to daughters of Shining Spark, High Brow Hickory, and Genuine Doc.

Top Sale Honors went to Hip 315 “One Smart Peppy” a 1995 AQHA sorrel stallion x Peppy San Badger and out of the high-powered mare “One Time Soon”.

The $700,000 producing daughter of Smart Little Lena is also the dam of One Time Pepto, Peptotime, and Faith and Risk.

Strong and pretty, “One Smart Peppy” was out of Little Peppy’s last foal crop, and brought $42,000 selling to Tom Atwood, Colma, CA.

His mother was also a Smart Little Lena daughter, and stallion number two “PCR Cancandos Gun” a 1999 AQHA sorrel by Young Gun came with $7,450 in NCHA earnings.

Offered by Dallas Talkington, McCook, NE and shown by Clark Geary, the 15.1 hand, ready-to-show stallion sold to William Retterath, Center, ND for $23,000.

She brought $18,000 and shine she did and hip 338 “Shine A Shine” a 1997 AQHA Buckskin mare x Shining Spark and out of a Doc O Dynamite daughter was the weekend’s top selling mare.

Consigned by Jeff/Margaret McCoy, Burke, SD she was purchased by Ben/Dana Russell, Morgan, UT.

The top five selling horses - four stallions and one mare- averaged $22,000, the top ten averaged $16,850; Top 20 brought $12,737; top 50 averaged $8,701, while the top 100 head of horses sold averaged $6,456.

A mighty gelding market saw strong trade on the geldings where the number one seller brought $11,500, top five averaged $8,350, and the top ten “geldings only” brought $6,785.

The weekend’s top gelding Hip 290 “Blueboys Hammer” a 2000 AQHA red roan gelding x Blueboy Quincy and out of a Ribbon Page daughter came consigned by Pat and Kay Lynn Beard, Walla Walla, WA.

Big, bona fide, and shown in the rope horse preview, the well started head horse went home with Sonny and Maryellen Cook, Camp Verde, AZ.

The loose horse trade ran wide open with 269 head offered “as is, where is, how is” each horse offered one by one, loose - no rider, no speech, no preview - with the high selling loose horse cashing in at $1,850.

Secure and solid, loose horses averaged $1,590 on the top five, $1,308 on the top ten, top 20 coming in at $1,106, top 50 at $878, and the top 100 - that’s well over one out of three horses - fetching $709.

Billings Livestock’s next sale event will be the “Spring Special Catalog Sale” March 25 - 26 and will feature the annual “Outfitters, Guides, Guest and Dude Ranch” offering in addition to a special session of “Roans Only”. All classes of horses will sell.