Annual Quarter Horse Sale

The annual Penn State Equine Science Showcase and Registered Quarter Horse Sale is a Penn State tradition held on the last Saturday in April.  It is run by Penn State students enrolled in the Equine and Livestock Marketing class.  The event includes a demonstration of sale horses, training demonstrations, educational exhibits, and tours of the Penn State horse farm.  This year's sale will be held on April 26th in Penn State's Snider Agricultural Arena.

The Penn State tradition of breeding and selling horses has developed over many decades.   Our American Quarter Horses were originally sold through private treaty sales every year until 2002.

After the last private treaty sale in 2002, the Equine Science department decided to hold a student run horse sale.  A class was developed for the spring semester of 2003 to give Penn State students hands-on experience in equine marketing.  The class was modeled after the Polled Dorset Flock Livestock Sale that takes place every few years. 

Student involvement in this class starts in the fall, with the Student Horse Sale manager and continues through spring with the training and handling class, which focuses on preparing the fillies and colts for the sale.  The Equine Marketing class focuses on everything that needs to be done to run a successful operation, including advertising, public relations, sale operations, food and facilities, event planning, working with outside breeders and preparing the horses for sale. 

The original sale had 36 students.  In 2008’s sale there are 37 students registered in the Equine Marketing class with an additional 14 returning students to help with the sale, along with two assistant sale managers and the sale manager, with a total of 52 Penn state students involved. 

  In 2005, consignment horses were added to the program.  It gave friends of Penn State a chance to sell any of their Quarter Horses in the sale.  This tradition continued until 2007.  In 2008, it was decide to switch from consignments to a select breeders sale, thus giving an opportunity to other successful Quarter Horse breeding programs to showcase their program alongside Penn State’s.

 Every year the sale continues to grow and be successful.  It has truly become a part of the Penn State tradition.