Occasionally, there would be resentment that the auctioneer was not local, but Harry found it easy to overcome that with a system he developed that he calls a "rehearsal preparation." Harry smiles as he recalls his system: "You know, a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy probably knows more about what’s going on in the area and who is doing it. So I would find a kid like that and make his friendship and invite him up into the auction box with me. I would have a list of the consignors and potential buyers, and as the crowd would assemble, I’d ask the kid about those and take notes. When the sale got going, I could rattle off just about everyone’s name who was there." The people were impressed. That kind of rehearsal preparation would carry over and be useful in rodeo arena directing years later. Along with the auction business, the Volds continued to buy, sell, and trade all types and classes of horses. It was a good business, as mechanization had not yet replaced the important role horses played in agriculture.

      One of their customers for horses was Leo J. Cremer of Big Timber, Montana. Cremer had come from the East as a teenager with his family and had homesteaded in Sweet Grass County near Big Timber around 1911. Through the years, he had struggled to make a living and in the Depression years had gotten into rodeos, contesting and furnishing bucking stock. By 1934 he was seriously involved in furnishing and producing rodeos in Montana.

      Because the Volds were buying, selling, and trading all kinds of horses and putting together packages, it was natural that Leo Cremer began dealing with them. Around 1950, Harry helped Cremer’s right-hand man, Shirley Hussey, buy seventy head of wild horses in a deal with the Blood Indian tribe of Alberta. Out of that group, a dozen turned out to be bucking-string quality.

      Harry knew what kind of horse Cremer wanted for bucking stock, so he was on the lookout to fill and order horses for him. In 1952 Harry had twenty head ready to ship to Cremer. They were to be sent by rail from Ponoka to Melrose, Montana, a railhead near Big Timber. However, unbeknownst to the Volds, an outbreak of hoof-and-mouth disease in Mexico and possibly in Canada, had closed the borders between both countries. The horses were, of course, stopped at the border.

      Harry called Cremer and asked, "Now what do we do?" Cremer said, "Keep them up there and buck them if you can until the quarantine is lifted."

      Harry brought the horses back to Ponoka, where incidentally there was going to be a rodeo. He went to the rodeo committee and inquired if they would be interested in using the horses. The committee had already made arrangements with some local people to furnish horses, so they didn’t think they could use them. Then Harry offered to let them use the horses for nothing. That was too good for them to turn down, so the rodeo committee let Harry bring them in. The horses they had previously contracted to use were tired from being moved around a lot and

      Besides impressing the local crowd, the horses also impressed a rodeo committee from Stettler, Alberta, seventy-five miles away. They asked Harry if he would furnish horses for their upcoming rodeo. Harry negotiated a price of $8 each. With the twenty head of horses that were to be delivered to Cremer, Harry threw in twenty of his own. The combined group would bring a total of $320—a significant amount for the time. Harry and his brother trailed the horses the 75 miles, and the show was a success.