Picabo horse auction a gem of the Old West

The dust had no time to settle on the dirt road leading to the B-Bar-B Ranch in Picabo, as trucks pulling trailers one after another were traveling to rancher Katie Breckenridge's horse sale. Men, women and children gathered from all corners of the West to attend the sale on Saturday, July 31, which had not occurred since 2002. "Three years ago, I could see the horse-sale industry collapse," she said. "The number of people buying horses had dropped dramatically caused by the closing of slaughterhouses and the over-producing of horses for the number of buyers. And, the U.S. economy was collapsing." Breckenridge said the majority of horse owners make less than $50,000 a year and the market for selling horses has disappeared. In previous years, she said, people would come to B-Bar-B on their own to buy horses. She was able to sell most of her horses on private consignment at the ranch. "Every year, people would come to buy horses for roping, cow-horse events, top dressage and pleasure riding," she said. "I halter-break every horse," Breckenridge said. "I have 110 horses and breed all of them. I have created athletes." Breckenridge said she breeds her horses to have sound mind, solid bones and good footing for trail use. She wants to maintain the cow breed in them. She said the horse of the future is a cow horse that has been trending to be a smaller horse, but she has added speed to the bloodlines...more