The 14th Annual Van Norman and friends Production Sale will feature weanlings, yearlings, started two-year-olds, broke horses, and broodmares from the reputed Van Norman Ranch of Tuscarora, NV, winner of the 2001 AQHA Best Ranch Remuda Award, and the May 2010 edition of Western Horseman ranked the Van Norman Ranch as #3 on their list of “Top 20 Ranch Horse Programs”.  In addition to the Van Norman horses, several other breeders will be represented:  Rhoads Ranch and Deadwood QuarterHorses (Linda and Randy Bunch) of Tuscarora, NV; Porath Quarter Horses of Rockland, ID; Dennis and Mary Journigan and John and Chris Tueller of Lamoille, NV; were all invited to participate from the beginning based upon their breeding programs which were offshoots of the Van Norman program or for their close association or historical ties to the Van Norman family.  Cory and Casey Shelman of Burns, OR, and Matt Mori of Paradise Valley,NV, were invited to participate in 2007, 2008, and 2009 and will be joining us again in 2010.  The Rhoads and Shelman programs also made the “honorable mention” list in the Western Horseman article.

A total of 112 horses, representing most of the working cowhorse families, will be offered for auction.  Due to the potential restructuring of the Van Norman Ranches, there will be a large offering of horses from that program as they begin the process of reducing the number of horses the ranch runs. This represents a unique opportunity to buy into this historic program.

Prospective bidders can view the catalog on the sale website www.vannormansale.com beginning in mid-August and video of the horses at www.superiorlive.com  Although the sale will not televised this year, video of the horses and internet broadcast of the sale can be accessed at www.superiorlive.com . The telephone bid lines will be open as in the past with the added feature of Superior’s Click-To-Bid which allows one to bid directly from their computer. Those wishing to bid must register prior to placing a bid to make financial arrangements.  This can be done by either going to www.superiorlive.com or by telephone at 800-431-4452.

At 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 17, the Van Norman Stockhorse Challenge which is a three-event working cowhorse competition in which the contestants execute a reining pattern, work a single cow in the arena, and finally rope and face the animal will kick off the sale weekend. It is open to all horses with special awards to horses purchased in previous Van Norman sales or consigned to the current sale.

The preview of all broke horses consigned to the sale will be held at 3:00 p.m. following the Stockhorse Challenge. Participants in the Van Norman Sale follow the vaquero tradition of taking a horse through several levels of training beginning with the snaffle bit at age two culminating in a finished bridle horse at seven or eight. The two, threes, and four year olds will have been ridden in the snaffle bit while the older horses will be either in the hackamore, two-rein, or bridle. Older horses will have been used on the ranch in all aspects of ranch work. Weanlings and yearlings will have been broke to lead and load. The philosophy and training methods of renowned horsemen Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt prevail.
                        
The third weekend in September generally promises beautiful early fall weather with deep blue skies and Nevada blue mountains to complement the fellowship of lovers of good horses gathered to pick out that special addition to their working ranch remuda, their show string, or to their family’s backyard. We hope to see you in person, but if that isn’t possible, please join us on the internet at www.superiorlive.com and over the phone lines.