Rio

Rio is a 6-year-old blue roan AQHA gelding standing 16.1 hands and weighing about 1,350 lbs, consigned to the Best of the West Horse Sale in Gladstone, NJ (September 25-26) with a $15,000 starting bid. He's described as a true all-around partner: honest ranch work including pasture roping, doctoring cattle, and gathering out of brush, plus rodeo experience carrying the flag in grand entries, working as a pickup horse, and pulling bulls. He's also been elk hunting in Wyoming's mountains, is one-hand broke with soft, willing maneuvers, and has been ridden English over fences. The seller calls him family-safe and beginner-friendly with a calm, forgiving temperament (rated 1 out of 10 for spiritedness). Photos show a heavily roaned gray-blue gelding with a dark mane and tail, pictured being ridden bareback with a flag, jumping a small fence, and working cattle in a herd of longhorns and bison, all supporting the versatile, unflappable description in the text.