Several NSBA Markel Insurance Breeders Championship Futurity Yearling Sale graduates have already earned a portion of their yearling sale graduate purse during the NSBA World Championship Show this year in just the first two days of eligible classes in both Two Year Old and Three Year Old classes for Hunter Under Saddle, Western Pleasure and Trail events.

Sara Jackson-Vance has become the first owner of a 2025 NSBA Markel Insurance Yearling Sale graduate to earn a portion of the sale graduate purse in 2026, after her horse Seize The Grey placed in the top ten in the Breeders Championship Futurity Two Year Old Open Hunter Under Saddle futurity class on Monday, August 17. 

Success With Luke

Amber Hanson Pickard showed the gray gelding to sixth place in the class, earning $562.94 in BCF earnings. His sale graduate earnings will be determined after all sale graduates have been shown in this year’s NSBA World Championship Show.

“We call him Luke, and we raised him,” Sara explained. “He is out of one of my show mares, Stealing The Prise and is by Its A Southern Thing. He went through the sale last year, but he didn’t meet his reserve, so we kept him, and how we’re excited to bring him back and see him earn part of the sale graduate purse and continue his career.”

Sara has had success collaborating with Amber on show horses, including horses that Sara has raised. “We’ve had two Congress champions, one of which we raised,” she said. “We’ve also won the BCF Three Year Old Hunter Under Saddle here and had several horses place in the top three. Amber also has another horse here that we raised and sold through the NSBA yearling sale that is showing for sale money today. She has a total of three NSBA yearling sale graduates showing at this year’s NSBA World Show.

“I think the yearling sale is a great place for people to see the yearlings that you’ve raised and for potential buyers to get familiar with your breeding program. You can often get a really good price for your yearlings when you consign them to the sale. Even if you don’t end up meeting your reserve, you can always come back and try to earn some of the sale graduate money with your horse as a two year old or three year old.”

Sara recommends considering the NSBA Markel Insurance Breeders Championship Futurity Yearling Sale for marketing yearlings. “Depending on your skill level, you can enlist a trainer to help you fit a yearling up for the sale for you,” she said. 

“We use Callie Gibbs to prepare our yearlings and take them to her in the Spring. What’s nice is that she gets them into great condition and also trains them in Longe Line, and often times I can have fun showing them in Longe Line in addition to preparing them for the sale. The sale itself is very exciting to watch and to see your horses go through.”

Two Horses In Two Year Old Limited Open Western Pleasure Earn Sale Money

Both Dale Sullens and Melvin Yoder showed horses to a top five finish in the Breeders Championship Futurity Two Year Old Limited Open Western Pleasure.

Melvin Yoder and Dan Lowery unknowingly were bidding against each other in last year’s yearling sale on the horse they co-own, Vacation Mode, but it all came together when Melvin showed the two year old to win the Breeders Championship Futurity Two Year Old Limited Open Western Pleasure and a portion of the sale graduate money. The gelding is by VS Phantom Code. (pictured at top)

“We bought him out of the sale last year, and we partnered on him,” Melvin explained. “I didn’t realize we were bidding against each other at first. I bid against Dan once or twice. His barn name is Flint. We knew we wanted to come back for the sale money but we took our time figuring out which year we would show. He really stepped up hard this spring and we thought we could do it, and he really showed like a show horse today.”

The partners liked what they saw in Flint as a yearling, and they made their investment work. “He was really good legged and we got him for a price we were comfortable with,” Melvin said. “He’s also beautiful.”

“We really looked into the sale class,” Dan added. “Melvin has done a few sale horses in the past in the Trail classes and he likes to get a good sale horse. We really liked the way he went around the pen, and he was at the right place and the right time, and I guess I had some extra money at the time.”

Dan recommended the NSBA yearling sale program. “It’s a very good program, and you can win a lot of money back,” he said. The horses are very high quality that go through the sale. It’s an added benefit even if you’re buying a horse for resale, it’s an added benefit for a future buyer of that horse, and being a sale graduate really adds value to the horse. Having the two years of options to choose a class to designate is really good too.”

Dale showed Heartbrokenghosted, a two year old by A Ghost Machine, owned by Kimberly Evers, to a fifth place finish in the class. “A client of mine bred Heartbrokenghosted,” Dale Sullens explained. “We put him in the sale last year. It’s been such a great program. It’s a great incentive to keep horses coming to the horse show. I’ve always enjoyed it, and it makes a nice little extra kickback to win a portion of the sale money. It’s especially great for the color horses who might not win as much money through their breed associations.

Cabo Earns Sale Money In BCF Three Year Old Limited Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle

Taylor Kokemiller showed Nothin But Beaches to a fourth place finish in the Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Limited Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle. “His barn name is Cabo, since it fits with his registered name,” Taylor said. 

“Wade and Laura Spell bought him in the sale two years ago, and I purchased him this Spring. With him being a sale graduate, it definitely played into my decision to buy him,” Taylor said. “He’s very easy going and he goes out and does his job. Today he went out and really showed well, and did everything I asked.”

Laura added that Cabo caught her eye in the sale. “I loved his color – he’s more of that dark chestnut which is my favorite color,” she said. “He’s more All Around bred by Nothin But Nett, but he looked tall and leggy, and I thought he might make a Hunter and an All Around horse later. We did the string testing, which I’m a big believer in, and he tested to 16.2. He was very growthy and awkward last year, so we decided to wait and show him as a three year old. Having the three year old year as an option to show a sale graduate was definitely beneficial.”

Two other Hunter Under Saddle graduates to earn money on Tuesday were Feverr Dream, shown by Jessica Sunday for Taylor Brumley to third and Perfect Shade Of Red, shown and owned by Jessica Lueth, earning fifth, who both showed in the Color Breeders Championship Futurity Two Year Old Hunter Under Saddle.

Three Year Old Non-Pro Trail Horses Earn Checks

The Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Non-Pro Trail and Color Breeders Championship Futurity Three Year Old Non-Pro Trail proved to be very good to sale graduates. Shayne Gilliam showed Sonn Of A Gunn, owned by Janet Gunn, to BCF championships in both the Three Year Old Non-Pro and Color Three Year Old Non-Pro portions of the class, securing earnings from the sale graduate purse. Ty Paris showed Hey Sara to third in the BCF Three Year Old Non-Pro Trail, also earning a portion of the sale graduate purse.

In the Color BCF Three Year Old Non-Pro Trail, three horses placing in the top ten will receive a portion of the sale graduate money. My Heartz Glowin, shown and owned by Christina Hansen, placed third, while Kinda Special, shown and owned by Sheyenne Winter earned fifth and Counting On Blue, shown and owned by Madison Sigrist, earned sixth in the class, also securing a portion of the sale graduate purse.

How The Sale Graduate Program Works

Yearlings purchased in the 2025 sale became eligible for a purse set aside for sale graduates who compete in a designated Breeders Championship Futurity class in either their two year old year in 2026 or three year old year in 2027. Yearlings purchased in the 2024 sale who did not designate a Breeders Championship Futurity class as two year olds in 2025 can show in a three year old BCF class this year that they designate in order to become eligible to earn their share of the 2024 sale graduate purse. Sale graduates must place in the top ten in their designated BCF class to earn their share of their sale graduate purse.

To date, the NSBA Markel Insurance BCF Yearling Sale has generated an additional $1,693,123.00 that sale graduate owners may earn in addition to Breeders Championship Futurity money.

Held alongside the 2026 NSBA World Championship Show, the NSBA Markel Insurance Breeders Championship Futurity Yearling Sale will take place Friday, August 21, at the Built Ford Tough Livestock Complex in Tulsa, Oklahoma. You can view the sale catalog and/or yearling sale videos on the NSBA website at nsba.com and choose the World Show drop-down, then Yearling Sale.

About NSBA

Established in 1983, National Snaffle Bit Association has expanded from its roots in the Western Pleasure discipline to recognize various disciplines and ten breed associations in competition. NSBA’s mission is to grow the show horse community through various equine programs and events where every activity benefits horses, breeders, owners and exhibitors alike.

National Snaffle Bit Association has more than 20,000 active members and more than 44,000 registered horses across its ten alliance breed organizations. NSBA members earn more than $13.5 million in monetary awards at NSBA-sanctioned horse shows annually, and the association sanctions nearly 600 horse show events and close to 200,000 horse show entries each year.

To learn more about NSBA, please visit nsba.com.