The object of the sale was a nice individual by a hot young sire. The dam of that individual is one of the best living broodmares in the nation. One of those Champion producers who has had two of her offspring run out more than $500,000 each.

While the buyer, the seller and myself all agreed to never disclose the price on this horse, I do feel safe in saying the check would have bought more than 20 new Chevy Impalas in 1958 when I was a sophomore in high school. And that’s Impalas with a V-8 engine, factory air, automatic transmissions and power steering and power brakes, and power windows.

I believe both of the parties are satisfied with the deal. That pleases me because these guys are both long-time friends.

The buyer is a guy who hasn’t owned a horse in some 25 years. A good horseman, he got out of the business while he was raising and educating kids and making a living.

He had called me earlier in the year and said he wanted to buy a horse that had a chance to win. Maybe not necessarily win the All American Futurity, but a nice horse.

We started looking around and considered several before we honed in on this one individual. And when he got serious about buying it, the time from the decision to make the offer to the changing hands of the money did not take 36 hours. And that included the vet examination.

Shortly after the deal was completed, the proud new owner called me with some good news. He had just learned that on the very day that he bought this horse that Congress had overridden President Bush’s veto of the 2007 Farm Bill.

That simply means that the 2007 Farm Bill is now law and that it includes the Equine Equity Act, a provision that amends the depreciation schedule for race horses to a uniform three years.

Under previous tax law, race horses were depreciated over three years or seven years, depending on their age when “placed in service.”

As I understand it, a horse is generally deemed to be placed in service when it begins training. Race horses over the age of 24 months (from date of foaling) when placed into service are depreciated over three years. Otherwise, they are depreciated over seven years.

The guys in Kentucky tell us that in a given crop of horses that make it to the track, about half will start as two-year-olds and the rest will start at three-year-olds. Other than geldings, most of the horses retire from the track by the time they are five . . . making a seven-year depreciation schedule rather silly. The Equine Equity Act in the 2007 Farm Bill allows an owner to recover costs over the period of time that the horse is most likely to race.

While I admit that I am not an accountant or even a decent bookkeeper, this crucial piece of legislation finally provides fair and equitable tax treatment to the industry.

I am not going to get into the details, I suggest that you get a copy of the bill and get with the guy that does your taxes. The best source for a copy of the bill and overall good tax information for horsemen is the American Horse Council, which you can contact by e-mail at www.horsecouncil.org or at 202-296-4031.

The American Quarter Horse Association has been a major supporter of the American Horse Council for many years. Tell those people that you’re an AQHA member. You’ll find them very helpful.

Before the Equine Equity Act went into law I was pretty sure that we were going to have a tremendous yearling sale season because of the booming purses in several racing jurisdictions. And now I am even more excited about the sales.

This new legislation will help all buyers . . . whether you’re looking at $7,000 colts or $700,000 colts.

Just in case you’re wondering what makes a guy who has started a horse in 25 years get back into the business, sitting here in my office some four months ago he said, “I never found anything else that gave me that feeling I had when I won a race.”

If you’re reading this, you probably know what he was talking about.

And now the Equine Equity Act will help every one of you who wants to achieve that feeling just once more.