The 2024 Return to the Remuda Sale, featuring horses from the ranches of Beggs Cattle Company, Four Sixes Ranch, Tongue River Ranch, Pitchfork Land & Cattle Company, King Ranch, and Wagonhound Land & Livestock, on September 28 concluded with a total of 148 horses sold. The horses grossed $3,327,700 and an average of $22,484 per horse, marking a 5.5% increase from the previous record of $21,307 and an 18% rise compared to 2023.
The largest gains were seen in the 2-year-old and aged fillies, whose average prices grew by more than 53%. Additionally, aged geldings enjoyed a significant rise, with a 47.5% increase in average sale prices, demonstrating strong market demand for these experienced horses.
Buyers from Arkansas, Colorado, Alabama, Texas, California, Idaho, Oklahoma, Georgia, Utah, Virginia, Kansas, New York, Florida, North Carolina, Nebraska, Wyoming, Tennessee, Arizona, Iowa, and New Mexico participated in the sale. In addition, the sale attracted international interest, with buyers from Mexico, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic adding a global element to the event.
“The Return to the Remuda Sale is comprised of six historic ranches, most of which were established well over a hundred years ago and all American Quarter Horse Association Best Remuda Award winners. Buyers leave confident, knowing that every horse from these ranches has decades of knowledge poured into them. Whether it be through intentional breeding selection, excellent husbandry, or being developed by top cowboys, there is no better source,” stated Four Sixes Ranch Horse Division Manager and Resident Veterinarian Nathan Canaday, DVM.
2024 Top 6 High Sellers#71 Smart Ingredient “Hot Wheels”
Johns Creek, GA • $120,000
2012 sorrel gelding (WR This Cats Smart x Natural Ingredient x Peppy San Badger)
Four Sixes Ranch/Dusty Burson
#133 Bet Its Sunshines “Little Bit”
San Antonio, TX • $110,000
2013 red dun gelding (Bet Hesa Cat x Sunshine Ingredient x Mr Sun O Lena)
Four Sixes Ranch/Zane Herrin
#77 Becaco Will “Willy”
Albany, TX • $68,000
2020 red roan gelding (CD Son Of Magnolia x Becaco Diamond Girl x Doctor Echo)
Beggs Cattle Company/Darren Johnson
#47 WR Future “Vaquero”
San Antonio, TX • $62,000
2015 sorrel gelding (WR This Cats Smart x Stylish Future x Playin Stylish)
Four Sixes Ranch/Joe Leathers
#97 Brims Cat “Chubs”
San Antonio, TX • $60,000
2014 sorrel gelding (WR This Cats Smart x Brims Fever x Playboys Buck Fever)
Four Sixes Ranch/Spur Leathers
#61 Becaco Cat One “Waylon”
Encinal, TX • $58,000
2020 gray gelding (Very Especial Cat x Ms Becaco Goldie x CD Son Of Magnolia)
Beggs Cattle Company/Darren Johnson
Plans for next year are already underway. The dates for the 2025 event have been set for September 26-27.
Participating Ranches2024 AQHA Best Remuda Award Winner, Beggs Cattle Company – Fort Worth, Texas
Today, the Beggs Cattle Company raises commercial cattle and American Quarter Horses. The ranching business is still done the traditional way, using horses. Maintaining and preserving Western Heritage earned Beggs Cattle Company the Charles Goodnight Award in 2005, and the ranch was awarded the American Quarter Horse Association’s Legacy Award in 2003 in honor of the ranches’ 50 years in the registered American Quarter Horse business. They began raising horses in the early 1900s long before there was an association or registry.
1993 AQHA Best Remuda Award Winner, Four Sixes Ranch – Guthrie, Texas
The Four Sixes’ history dates back more than a hundred years to when Captain Samuel “Burk” Burnett founded the ranch in 1868. AQHA bestowed the inaugural Legacy Award on the ranch in 1997 to recognize 50 consecutive years of breeding American Quarter Horses. In 1994, the Four Sixes Ranch was honored with the Best Remuda Award in recognition of its outstanding band of working cow horses that tend thousands of the ranch’s cattle. It’s no wonder why the Four Sixes is known for “Horses with a History; Brands with a Background.”
1998 AQHA Best Remuda Award Winner, Pitchfork Land & Cattle Company – Guthrie, Texas
Its heritage and stature position the Pitchfork Land and Cattle Company among a handful of great American ranches. The Pitchfork’s operations span around 180,000 acres in two states and more than a century of continuous operation primarily under one family. The Pitchfork stands as a testimony to those who have loved the land and its cattle and to those who have dedicated their lives to making it one of the finest ranches in the world.
2011 AQHA Best Remuda Award Winner, Tongue River Ranch – Dumont, Texas
Tongue River Ranch still focuses on many of the traditions that were utilized by the Swenson’s Ranches in 1898. Cowboys still head out for the day on horseback. A day’s work involves roundup, branding and doctoring the herd by dedicated horsemen in the old-fashioned cowboy way. Sleeping in their bedrolls under the stars during roundup also includes meals cooked on the chuck wagon. Tongue River Ranch takes great pride in preserving the land for future generations to come. Continuing tradition and preserving history is a way of life not a job at Tongue River Ranch.
2019 AQHA Best Remuda Award Winner, King Ranch – Kingsville, Texas
In 1853, Captain Richard King purchased a creek-fed oasis in the Wild Horse Desert of South Texas, sparking generations of integrity, preservation, and innovation. The King Ranch now covers 825,000 acres—more land than the state of Rhode Island. Over the course of over 160 years, King Ranch led some of the first cattle drives, developed the Santa Gertrudis and Santa Cruz breeds of cattle, bred the finest Quarter Horses, and produced champion Thoroughbreds—all under its iconic Running W® brand.
2018 AQHA Best Remuda Award Winner, Wagonhound Land & Livestock – Douglas, Wyoming
Wagonhound Land and Livestock’s roots go back to the late 1800s when the cattle drives came up from Texas and the pioneers traveled through on the Oregon Trail. Today, the ranch consists of more than 300,000 acres located along Wyoming’s Laramie Range on the east edge of the Rocky Mountains. Comprised of four divisions, Horse, Cattle, Farming and Outfitting, the horse program’s objective is to build on the pedigrees that have been ever present in top ranch and performance horses. Wagonhound’s philosophy emphasizes conservation at the way to preserve the land, wildlife, livestock and the Western way of life.
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