- Who: All Levels of Equine Interest
- What: Trail Competition and Horse Sale
- Where: Virginia Horse Center, 487 Maury River Rd, Lexington, VA 24450
- Why: Educational and entertaining, watch the competition, learn about auctions, buy a horse
- When: Friday, April 15th and Saturday, April 16th, 2016
- How Much: Attendance is free
- Website: http://greatamericantrailhorsesale.com/
This event is for people looking to find their special trail riding horse, however, it’s also a great opportunity to observe and learn about the Western riding world. While Northern Virginia horse country is known for its love of English style riding, there are other avenues of riding to be explored. Trail and pleasure riding make up one of the largest groups of enthusiasts and this event is tailored to them. There will be plenty of vendors on the grounds if you’re looking to purchase Western style tack and accessories.
Friday evening, beginning at 7:00 pm, the Trail Riding Competition will take place, consisting of eight obstacles, trailer loading, and ground manners. This is an exciting event to watch as the viewers try to figure out which horses are likely to bring the highest bids at auction while they try to navigate the course. Will that horse walk over the wooden bridge? Will that one stray while it’s owner is using the outhouse? Come earlier if you would like to watch the parade of horses that will be offered at the sale on Saturday. If you are seriously considering the purchase of a horse, you will want to read up on all of the considerations posted on their website, such as arrangements for transporting a horse – before attending the auction (a service one of their vendors offers). There will be a clinic offered on Friday at 1:00 pm covering How to Purchase the Right Horse for You and Your Family. Horses will be sold through auction to the highest bidder.
Saturday morning at 9:30 am, the 10 finalists will finish the trail competition before the auction begins. Even if you are not interested in buying a horse, the auction itself is quite entertaining and thrilling to see as the bids keep going up.
The drive is approximately 2.5 hours from the Haymarket and Gainesville areas. You could choose which day’s events would interest you the most, or make it an overnight trip and attend both.
