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Smiths holding final horse sale

Bill and Carole Smith of Wyo Quarter Horse Sales are holding their final sale on May 21 at the Fair Grounds. Depending upon the weather, a performance preview will be at 9 a.m. and the sale will occur at 1 p.m. The Smiths said that they had 59 sales events in 39 years. Their journey in this business started in 1983 when they moved from Cody to Hot Springs County. 

Bill said, “We’ve always had horses and we’ve always bred some horses and had some colts and things like that. And we were looking for a place to market, of course. And we took some horses to sales around the state, the country, for a couple of years. And then one day we just decided I really didn’t like the way some of them have run their sales.”

Bill added, “I wanted to make sales events differently. So we decided to try and start this thing.”

The reason Bill and Carole wanted to make their sales event different was because of how other sales events were done. Bill explained, “You wanted to guarantee our product and we wanted to be honest and tell people the truth all the time. And that always didn’t always go that way in the days in the horse business with other businesses.”

Bill had a background as a professional saddle bronc rider and bucking horses. Carole taught at the Lucerne School with grades of third, fourth, and fifth combined. 

Bill and Carole reflected on their journey and explained some of the greatest lessons they learned over time. Bill said, “Oh, you learn as you go and you learn how things change and you have to keep up with the changes. And you’re trying to sell something that somebody wants and back then it was one thing as it went, it changed a little what kind of horses they wanted.  And we tried to keep up with that.

Carole added, “Our clientele were mostly people who just wanted a horse to enjoy. So it’s evolved into a kind of we ride them on the trails a lot. You have to be gentle and pretty and something that they don’t have to worry about if they can let it sit for a while. And then get up on it. And so that’s kind of what we sell now.”

The Smiths also faced challenges in the business. They had to go to the bank and see if they would finance the next sale. Carole added, “one of the challenges we face right now is horses are very high and the market is super for them. But so we want to keep our quality up. So we go out and we buy quality and we pay a lot more for it. And if we don’t buy that horse, the next person will. So that’s a challenge right now.” Another difficulty is that top-quality horses are difficult to come by.  

Regarding what are some of the things they are most proud of, Bill said, “Oh, our reputation. That’s what we’re proud of. We’re going to leave there with a reputation of being honest. And people respect us. They don’t…If you don’t like me, that’s all right. But you’re going to have to respect me if we’re going to do business at all.”

Bill and Carole are now closing the business and they will not hand it off. Bill said he is 81 years old and they are ready to stop. Bill said about the business, “It won’t work with anybody else, We had a little bit of a reputation coming in, and people come to be on our name and things and when we leave, somebody wants to start another one. That’s fine, but they will never get this one, not just one.”

Carole said when it came to their clients’ experiences in Thermopolis, “We’re really pleased with the way the community opened up their shops and the people came here. They just leave here having a lot of fun and they like to shop and go swimming. It’s more like a vacation for a lot of families and they enjoy coming through our place.”

 

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