The MMHBF 24th Annual Stallion Service and Silent Auction Events were held February 28 and March 1st in Middlebury, Indiana, and welcomed approximately 70 diehard Morgan Horse enthusiasts. We were very fortunate weather wise, as our events scheduled for Friday were barn type events. Temps were very mild in northern Indiana, and the large group was ready for a day filled with activities focusing on ALL FOR THE LOVE OF THE MORGAN.
Our Friday morning began with guests being invited to shop at two local Amish owned tack shops—M.D.Y. Horseshoeing & Harness Shop, owned by Mahlon Yoder; and LS Equine Supplies, owned by Lamar Schlabach. Both shops welcomed everyone and provided excellent products, and some of those hard-to-find horsey items, along with excellent service.
Our afternoon activities took us to Stardust Morgan Farm, owned by Joe & Elaine Zehr, where everyone was treated to coffee, doughnuts and a copy of the 2025 MMHBF Stallion Service Program. The program showcased every one of the 60 stallions available in our SSA. Dennis Schlabach, Romp-N-Play Stables joined forces with Joe, so everyone in attendance had an opportunity to see several more stallions, along with a mare and five-day old foal by World Champion NS Fame & Fortune (Roberto Cavalli x Abby Lane). The stallions presented included Caffeinated (Spellcaster x Annika), Clayhill’s Creed (Mizrahi x Wide Eyed Innocence), NS Fame & Fortune, Roberto Cavalli (Hollybrook Stage Rage x Schiaparelli), and RPS Authorized (CBMF Crown Prince GCH x Annika), all under the direction and care of Dennis Schlabach of Romp-N-Play Stables. Joe Zehr and his team presented the stallions MEM Intoxicated (Noble Flaire x Liberation Starbrite), Newmont’s Get Real (Get Busy x ALB Starry Night), SDMF American Icon (Dragonsmeade Icon x Whispering Confessions), SDMF High Majestic (Burkland High Octane x Shez Got No Regrets), VL Positive Expectations (Ledgefields Jagged Edge GCH x WRR Miz Wildfire), and Out All Night (Liberation First Star x Queens Starfire). We also saw several prospects from some of these top sires.
We then switched gears and our in-hand clinic began, conducted by the best of the best in-hand professionals, John Hufferd of Triumph Stables in Roanoke, Indiana. As many Morgan and Saddle Horse people know, there is no one in our breed who has won more big money in-hand classes than John Hufferd. He has already surpassed the $500,000 mark, and he shows no sign of backing off. Guests were treated to detailed explanations, examples, techniques, and effective strategies to implement when starting to work horses for in-hand classes. Some techniques sounded very simple and straight forward, and one might ask, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Other techniques focused more on the minute details of training and prepping a horse to be shown in- hand. John answered everyone’s questions in depth, and even further explained things that he sees when he is judging horse shows. His assistant, Jacob King, also shared ideas, thoughts, suggestions, and very capably demonstrated many of the techniques as John was explaining. The mare used for demonstration purposes was none other than 22 year old Raintree Celine (Stonecroft Byzantine x FCF Dearest Illusion), who won the $25,000 Morgan Breeders’ Sweepstakes many years ago, and still believes she’s the queen of all she surveys!
After a busy day of shopping, everyone was invited to the home of Dennis and Anita Schlabach for a delightful homemade dinner consisting of soups, cornbread, a variety of salads, and desserts. Cornhole board games were set up, and kids of all ages enjoyed a
wonderful evening filled with family, friends, and comradery. This day was a true testament of ALL FOR THE LOVE OF THE MORGAN!
Saturday’s 24th Annual Stallion Service and Silent Auction started just before noon, and our turnout of people exceeded everyone’s expectations. Shortly after the auctions opened, everyone got fueled up with a delicious pork chop dinner, complete with baked beans, cole slaw, and an array of delicious Amish baked pies, cookies, and ice cream. Now, everyone was ready for an afternoon of bidding on some wonderful Morgan stallions from all over the country. Bidding moved along and the top stallions went live with professional auctioneer, Aaron Detweiler was very ably assisted by long time Morgan owner, breeder, and exhibitor, Ron Sipes, who introduced the top stallions and provided everyone background details, including winnings, top offspring, pedigrees, and other pertinent information.
The top selling stallion this year was once again Merriehill After Hours GCH (Mizrahi x Merriehill Dusk To Dawn, BHOF). This was the fourth consecutive year “Puck” has been the highest priced stallion in the MMHBF SSA. Congratulations to Afterhours LLC, and a huge thank you for your continued support! Puck sold for $6,100, and Debbie LaMay was the winning bidder on this top stallion.
Next up was RWF Gettysburg (Get Busy x SPR Music By Starlight), followed by the 2024 MGN World Champion Stallion MJS Dressed In Roses (Dressed Up GCH x MJS Wild At Heart). To date, we have sold services for 56 of the 60 stallions listed in our program, and the remaining sires can be found on our website at MIchiganMorgans.com through March 31, 2025. Those remaining services are all priced at $600, and it’s first come, first served, with payments processed securely online.
We had the privilege of working with many wonderful and generous sponsors and donors. Net proceeds from this year’s MMHBF SSA will be paid out in the 2026 Weanling Spectacular Class. We are so grateful to the stallion owners who generously donated their stallion(s), the bidders who bid high and often, to help make 2025 our second best year ever of 24 years producing this popular event. We also are very appreciative to the MMHBF Silent Auction donors, who donated so generously and the buyers who purchased some highly valued items, and opportunities.
To date, our 2025 MMHBF SSA has raised $66,900, and our Silent Auction has raised $8,360. Our MMHBF Weanling Spectacular Class offers $50,000 in prize money. MMHBF also awards $1,000 to the SSA donor of the sire of the sweepstakes champion and reserve champion weanling. The prize money for this weanling class is second only to the Superior Morgan Weanling Sweepstakes. Dates for the 2025 MMHBF Fall Horse Show are September 5-7, at the Michigan Farm Bureau Pavilion (commonly referred to as the MSU Pavilion).
Our top five years for the SSA have been EVERY year we have held our event in Indiana, and we do appreciate our local friends who turn out to make this event so successful. This is a huge volunteer effort, and we do this… ALL FOR THE LOVE OF THE MORGAN!