Tim Hearden
Mary Simmons of Great Basin Seed in Ephraim, Utah, talks with Casey Sever during the trade show at the Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale. Social interactions at the Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale provided a sense of relief from the isolation of recent months.
The Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale has always been a social gathering. The five-day extravaganza of livestock auctions, a trade show and other activities has long been a chance for people who’ve been coming for years to reconnect with friends they’ve made in the industry.
But this year, the mingling brought an extra sense of relief for the hundreds of buyers, consigners and livestock-related businesspeople who’ve been isolating since last March because of the coronavirus.
Tim Hearden
Bob Hickman, owner of Hickman Saddlery in Post Falls, Idaho, operates a display at the Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale. He normally does 20 trade shows a year, but this was his first one since last year’s Red Bluff event. Work continued for ranchers, while others spent more time with their horses.
Many businesses suffered in 2020, but Bob Hickman’s saddlery shop in Post Falls, Idaho, more than held its own.
“This last year was the best year we’ve ever had,” Hickman, owner of Hickman Saddlery, said at the Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale. “No. 1, Idaho is wide open, and we had all these Washington customers because we’re right on the border.