Poco Bueno wasn’t the first Quarter Horse that the late livestock auctioneer Walter Britten hammered “sold.” Britten conducted the very first Quarter Horse auction, held at Eagle Pass, Texas in 1940, the same year that the American Quarter Horse Association was formed.
As the Quarter Horse grew in popularity, it was Britten who top breeders called upon to sell their stock at auction – outfits that included the Hankins Brothers, Jinkins Brothers, Waggoner Ranch, King Ranch, and Pinehurst Stable. It was at the Hankins Brothers first sale in the mid-forties, that Paul Waggoner purchased Poco Bueno for $5,700. In 1960, Britten sold 40 sons and daughters of Poco Bueno for Waggoner for an average of $8,159.
Raised on a farm in West Texas, Britten was introduced to auctioneering at 16, when the auctioneer at the 1935 Amarillo Livestock Show handed over the microphone and offered him the chance to sell his own 4H steer. The steer topped the sale and Britten used the money as a nest egg toward his college education.
It was while a student at Texas A&M that Britten sold the first Quarter Sale and was invited to conduct the poultry auction at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. Britten, who became a renowned cattle auctioneer, served the Houston show for 46 years and was especially proud of the record 43 grand champion steers that he sold in as many years.
Shortly before his retirement, King Ranch dedicated its 32nd annual sale to Britten, who had sold every one of the King Ranch sales. “Walter S. Britten could be considered the dean of American purebred auctioneers,” read the forward to the 1983 King Ranch Catalog. “We consider him a friend. And we thank him for his years of service, both to King Ranch and to the entire purebred livestock industry.”
Not long ago I happened upon a treasure at the local Half Price books store – a signed edition of Britten’s memoir Sold!