Marion Once Had Pony Sales

A 1958 Special Edition of the Press says "Welcome" to Visitors. A special edition of the Press was prepared for the expected 1,000 visitors that would be coming to Marion for the Shetland Pony Sales. City and county information was gathered and printed in this edition of the paper.  Here is a small part of the information taken from the April 18^th, and April 24, 1958 Presses.

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Lingang to Hold Open House For Shetland Pony Sales.

April 20^th will be "Open House" at the new sale barn for West Kentucky Pony Sales, J. W. Lingang, owner. Work was continuing at the sale barn this week, putting the finishing touches on the structure that is expected to draw up to 1,000 visitors to Marion for the three day sale next week.

An open house for residents of the Marion area was held at the barn earlier and several hundred people took advantage of the occasion to view the facilities. They saw miniature stalls, identical in every way with an ordinary horse's stall except they were scaled down to a Shetland's size. 

Many stopped to view a trainer clipping a pony in the clipping room.

Several ponies were already on hand, and visitors unfamiliar with the breed examined them to see just what size they were and how they differed from other equines.

The building, formerly a racetrack barn, has undergone a complete face lifting and more buildings, including a snack bar, lounges and the sale ring, have been added to it. The sale area itself contains 300 theater-type seats from which buyers can view ponies as they are led in.

All buildings are faced with Livingston County building stone. A small ticket house and pillar enclosing a mail box, both also of stone form a gate to the property.

The sale is officially recognized by the American Shetland Pony Club, Inc., a group dedicated to the protection and improvement of the breed. Shetlands are America's third most popular equine breed, according to the club's magazine, The American Shetland Pony Journal. The Breed was founded 70 years ago when the American Shetland Pony Club was created, launching a studbook and protecting names.

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West Kentucky Pony Sales barn just north of the Marion city limits hummed with activity yesterday as final preparations were underway for the first day of the spring sale. J. W. Lingang, owner, estimated some 200 ponies were already on hand early Wednesday afternoon. Some 30 people from 13 states had registered at the desk manned by Mrs. Joe Travis at that time, and many other were on had who had not yet registered.

Among the visitors who had already registered were Perry and Dale Carlile of Perry, Okla., who conduct the world's largest pone sale, and Gene and Oliver Lowery, of Nebraska City, Neb., owners of a Shetland stallion that sold for $60,000 at that sale some two weeks ago.

Spectators also inspected the snack bar, which will be operated through the sale by Marion's American Legion Auxiliary. The sale area was also open, with tiers of theater-type seats rising on two sides flanking the auctioneer's podium.

A number of visitors to the sale will be sleeping in private homes in Marion, offered by the public to help take care of the overflow from commercial hotels and tourist courts.

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Do not have the date this business closed.  The building in later years became Gibson Livestock Sales.  It was a big operation for several years.  Most all local and surrounding area farmers took their cattle here for sales.   It was really nice to have this for local farmers.  It's been close now for several years.  Livingston County Livestock Barns is where most farmers have to take their cattle now to sale.  Another nice convenient place of business that Marion has lost over the years.

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I once had a beautiful set of salt and pepper shakers that were made in the shape of ponies, that was purchased at the Pony Sales gift shop.  As many things go, they got lost somewhere in my lifetime.  Would be nice to have now for a souvenir of this past history of our county.