An auction report sent to me by a reader
Aug 06 2007
Just thought I’d share. Another post coming later, but if you’re wondering what you might find at your local auction, and what isn’t selling, check out this report from one of the readers of this blog of a sale that took place on Saturday. I have copied and pasted – the comments are hers.
Just remember, somebody made the brilliant decision to create everything you see on that list. And then someone else (or possibly the same person) dumped it for the prices that you see.
NS = No Sale. Buyer took the horse back home.
#1 18 yrs + FUGLY Tobiano GRADE mare, with an advanced case of DSLD. Exposed to an arab stallion. 80.00
#2 5 yr old reg Morgan mare green broke. Average looking sorrel. 475 no sale.
#3 Sorrel pony. 8 yrs old, Sound and in good shape 175
#4 4 yr old Tobiano Pinto mare reg. FUGLY running bred BUCKED like a son of a gun and very scruffy and unkempt 250. Needed hoof care BAD
#5 NICE 6 yr old Gaited Morgan mare sorrel with flaxen and socks and a blaze reg. NS at 725
#6 Reg Pinto mare, sor tob, ½ arab with all four pasterns dropped. Hinds looked like they were going to be subluxated in a year or two. BROKE and quiet. 550
#7Blk BS pinto mare. FUGLY foundation looking, running bred. Needed hoof care BAD, 175/ns
#8 16.1 h TB gelding, sorrel decent and pretty quiet. 7 yrs and fairly sound 300.
#9 Cute bay overo gelding rode pretty good. Not fancy but decent. 5 yrs no papers. 400 would have been a good prospect.
# 10 BIG NICE saddlebred gelding 5 yrs BROKE, and very typey and very friendly. 700/ns
#11 18 yr reg appy gelding cool color and a horrid rat tail that he held at a right angle to his body at all times while riding and sway back. BROKE 260
#12 BIG plain looking Palomino Morgan gelding former stallion. HUGE neck green broke and DARK gold palomino. 1,000/ns they wanted 1200
#13 really cute 1/2 morgan ½ qtr mare well broke been camping and to the beach. Liver with Flaxen mane and tail. 675
#14 Yearling colt out of above mare and palomino gelding. Liver with no white and a NASTY SOB. He was nipping the handler while being led in the ring. Cute enough but nutty and nasty together. Wheee! ¾ Morgan with no papers. 60.00
#15 3 yr ½ mor ½ qtr mare, full sister to above not broke. Plain colored red. No papers. 175
#16 FUGLY Tobiano gamer paint mare. Did not look sound in the hind end and hot hot hot 475
#17 FUGLY grade tobiano gamer. A little sweeter than above mare 300
#18 AQHA and FQHA reg mare. Lame, 10x FUGLY with a huge bumpy head, Long ears SHORT croup, dumpy overall and sorrel. With a “lovely†sorrel colt who had a huge hernia. I will say the colt had a super nice shoulder but was already getting long in the back, 175 for the pair!
#19 This is the one I would have brought home…. POA gelding sorrel with a cute blanket. Gamer and real nice to look at. High seller at 775
#20 I wanted to drag this poor fellow home…. 14 yr old, I think app solid but reported to be TB and QH, liver color with skin fungus all over. Never broke to ride 160.00
#21FAT FAT FAT sor toby mare. BIG butt SHORT neck rode well and no sale at 1500. they wanted 1800
#22 Appy mare. Fairly nicely put together. Appeared moon blind. A bit down in the back, big knee, and a great baby sitter. Nice color too. 350.
66 comments to “An auction report sent to me by a reader”
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Why does NONE of that surprise me??
It is all very sad, very, very sad.
My own feelings differ form yours- I really do think we need slaughterhouses but maybe shutting them down was a good way to start as if they do start up again they should have strict rules and rewards- I am all for rewarding good behaviour.
I have no problem with my horse being eaten after it is dead, the only problems I have is with how the animals are treated before death- and this is STILL appalling.]What about all the cattle, Fugly and otherwise that are herded and transported under AWFUL conditions every single day, thousands of miles with no feed or water, to meet a very haphazard and terrible death.
The Farmer over the river form me used to do “organic” cattle- cow reared, fed straight feed etc.
Only barned in winter.
He knew each one and they knew him.
He took them to the slaughterhouse himself and led each one through – he was part of a co-operative so he did not need to take them to market.
After around twenty years of this he has just given up as there is no longer any profit at all in it!!
Now, if horses were slaughtered in the house in the same respectful way mine are done on my field, I could accept it.
And the Fuglies would be out of circulation quite quickly.
Killing a horse, done properly, never hurt it, after all.
I would rather a $50.00 colt was shot than endure the kind of life he would have bought by the kind of people that can afford a $50.00 colt!!
FHD – do you not sleep????
I never go to auctions. I’d buy them all. This auction actually sounds like it has much better quality horses than is typical
I’d LOVE to see “What is the right horse for YOU”??
and a “How to stay on your horse once you own it”
with lots of pictures of mismatched horses and riders.
Every time I see someone hit the ground and here someone say “Oh you have to fall off to be a real rider” I cringe. I know too many people who can no longer ride because of this attitude.
No you DON’T have to fall off and if you do things right you won’t fall off. And the very first step is selecting the right horse for YOU.
Eharmony horse and rider matchmaking service. Guaranteed to find your perfect match. You’ll spend a lifetime of happiness if you use our service.
My first rule in horse ownership – if I can’t jump on the horse bareback without a ladder the horse is too tall.
I love to watch other people ride big tall bouncy horses. If you love big tall bouncy horses and are not rubber boned and have the reflexes of a cat – buy one for your young neighbor and watch them ride it while you ride your 14 hand smooth as silk, can handle anything super well trained but not too beautiful necessarily mount. You’ll still be riding at 80. Will they???
You can not assume that if a horse is sold for $50.00 the buyer is slime.
Rescues sell for low adoption fees often and the horse ends up pampered more than a baby doll. These are the angels. You just have to pick a good buyer instead of selling to the first person that brings cash along.
If i were you, I would take the time to look for these angels for my horses instead of callously loading the revolver or whatever.
Motor i loved your post
it’s just as big a crime to create these animals and then never train them or teach them anything. That may not be the breeder’s fault per se, but it’s another reason they end up down there.
>>it’s just as big a crime to create these animals and then never train them or teach them anything. That may not be the breeder’s fault per se, but it’s another reason they end up down there. < <
I agree completely. A 14 year old unbroke gelding? Probably multiple people have dropped the ball on that one.
I like the idea of the horsey eharmony, but here’s the problem: Just like with the real one, can you even begin to imagine the lying? 6’3 with a J.D. from Harvard and a Mercedes will be the same as “of course I’m a light, educated rider with perfect hands who never loses my temper!”
Put an ad up selling a horse who requires an experienced rider and you will get quite an education on the wide variety of people who think they fit that description! Just about everybody I know has had someone inquire on something like a 3 year old OTTB and ask if it would work out for an 8 year old’s pee wee rodeo horse. As they say, common sense is not so common!
I’m not sure that in any horse market be it auction or private sale that there is a strong correlation between the price of the horse and the quality and ability of the horse.
Training may or may not add anything useful. If I hear one more you “kiss ” to get him to canter I may scream. Why do people have legs or why did they invent perfectly good words like canter or lope?
how do I find out more about the gaited morgan mare listed as #5?
I have 5 horses. I never intended to end up with that many, but 2 are rescues (mama and baby) and 1 was verging on, but not quite, a rescue. I say that because I rescued her from inattention, boredom and being stalled 12 hours a day and probably a death from colic at some point from her very poor diet of HOT feed and not enough forage or water. My husband keeps saying we have to lose at least 2 horses and I know we should but selling any of them scares the living shit out of me. People can sure talk a good game but I’m scared to death of where they’ll end up. I love them all and yes it’s a hardship to feed and care for them and work full time, but by God as long as they are with me they’ll be taken care of properly and loved. I’ve been to one horse auction my entire life and it was quite an experience. I will say I didn’t see anything in that kill pen I would touch with a 10-foot pole. Fugly, rank, nasty damn horses ranging in age from 2 – 18.
Going to the auction today in Bakersfield, California to look for a mini teaser stallion. This is one time I hope prices are down! Need at least a yearling or older for next spring to tease mares!
Last I heard the prices were down to rock bottom with hay prices skyrocketing.
Hope I only come home with a mini, lol.
WTF???? What do peole think they are gonna get when they bring crap to an auction? Oh, I need $1800-better be a reining champ, 5 yrs old, and mows the north 40, too. But you know they’ll just take them back to the neighbors pasture and throw her out with that horrible, ugly stallion and get a foal to sell next year, too! Excuse me, but FUCK.
I’ve had a woman get really pissed at me because I wouldn’t breed my stud to her very cowhocked mare. My stud’s already a little cowhocked. At least if it were a filly she’d not have to cross her legs when she sat down. But I know some breeders that will breed any mare if it has a uterus. Insanely distressed right now w/ a breeder I know breeding everything that comes through the gate to her Fresian. Because they’ll be worth so much money. For how long if you keep doing that? They’ll be like Arabs pretty soon. Sometimes I feel like I should be making that money, instead of the killers. But Then I’d be a killer too
RIPersoneni said…
” I wouldn’t breed my stud to her very cowhocked mare. My stud’s already a little cowhocked.”
Hopefully he has so many other outstanding traits that his admitted cow hockiness does not further sully the gene pool. Unfortunately this is usually not the case. Perhaps he would have been a much better somewhat cowhocked gelding. If not fantastic. Cudos to you for not taking the money and breeding to the horse with legs akimbo.
Pscan11 Reality check here, she is talking an auction not a private sale. They sell to whoever bids the highest and to be honest most times a $50 horse goes to the Meat man and before someone hollers NO WAY ,I am in Canada and we still have horse slaughter. We all know who they are and no matter what you wish there are not enoug “angels” in the world for all the poorly bred, trained or untrained horses out there. As Fugly is trying so many times to say STOP BREEDING. If you dont need it, dont breed it. I had a friend with an fugly STB mare she wanted to breed, I stopped her because the mare was bowlegged in front and toed in on the back legs.And number one reasonI stopped her “SHE DIDNT HAVE A USE FOR THE FOAL” No before you think I am some high class breeder I should let you know I have rescued 2 horses from sales. 1 a lovely Arab( which I sold 6 yrs later to a good home) and a 2 month old colt which I still own 2 yrs later. Would I have rescued them if they were lame or bad behavior “Hell no” We have a so called Rescue here and she is a joke. She will buy a horse for peanuts then ask as amount that is laughable seeing as the horse is mean , broke down etc. Sorry in my eyes she is just a dealer. They are not angels they are money Whores and found a way to tap peoples tear ducts and make money !!!!
The prices at these auctions are due to more than just irresponsible breeding… hay shortages, cost of taking care of the horses, etc. The meat prices have plummeted too as the horses have to be shipped further now (over twenty thousand horses shipped to mexico this year, while less than 5,000 this time last year- closures are driving low prices, which make that mess profitable)… like it or not, low meat prices makes most low end horses worth even less.
Just a big old clusterfuck, really.
Ripersoneni-”Oh, I need $1800-better be a reining champ, 5 yrs old, and mows the north 40, too.”
Wow are there champion reiners selling in your area for $1800 ?? Where do you live I am hooking up the trailer right now! LOL
The slaughterhouse in Chicago has reopened for business, at least temporarily, so right now the horses are not traveling to Canada or Mexico. Just an FYI.
Yikes, the horse market around here has bottomed out. You’d be shocked at what you can get for rock bottom prices.
What a random post Motor. I think a lot of people are two tall for 14H horses. Than a lot of breeds with horses in the 14H range won’t be able to do things like upper level eventing, dressage past second level, etc.
Susspension might be bouncy, but it really helps in performing a lot of movements or having pretty gaits.
horsepoor, they are indeed still travelling to MX. You can check the numbers on the USDA website- the last three weeks in a row have all seen over 1,000 a week going to MX, I have all the numbers since March recorded if you’re interested.
Regalsin, i was not referring to the Rescues as angels but rather the people like yourself who save animals from them. That is provided that they take excellent care of the animals. Furthermore, with regard to the auctions, my point was not to take your animals to the auction or shoot them in the head either. Both these choices are cruel and the people who resort to either method are the ones that should not have horses in the first place. Take the time to find someone who will care for the horse properly if you can’t.
I beg to differ. visit http://www.usda.gov for the latest (last week’s) numbers of how many horses went to Mexican slaugherhouses. Just crossing the border from New Mexico to Mexico:
This week: 1,474
Last week: 1,231
YTD: 21,049
Last ytd: 4,586
The only thing the slaughterhouse in IL does is ensure animals that would otherwise have a 20+ hour ride, have a shorter ride…and means the meat men can afford to buy MORE horses at rock bottom prices for their $$$.
Ok, I stand corrected. My main point was the fact that the Chicago slaughterhouse has been reopened for business. Just in case some did not know that.
If anyone wants to watch a horse auction live on line you can at http://www.dvauction.com/ on Wednesday afternoons. The Centennial Livestock Auction in Fort Collins, CO does horses last (you have to register to log in, but it’s free) after the cattle, hogs, etc. The online help is pretty good (they can tell you when they expect to start on the horses. The killer buyer is #315. When you see a horse sold to “315 straight” it means *straight* to slaughter. If it’s 315-1 or 315-2 it means the killer buyer bought the horse, but might be going to resell it. But straight means it’s pretty much a goner.
There is a rescue out in that area (http://www.shilohacres.org/) that does maintain a civil relationship with that particular kill buyer, so if someone does see a horse go “straight” and wants to buy it, they might be able to intercept it from that particular kill buyer.
I wish everyone would watch at least one auction. There are rank horses, fuglies, not-so-fuglies, quite nice, trained, untrained, pregnant, kid broke, drafts, stock horses, registered, grade, lame sound, etc. etc.
HorsePoor said…
The slaughterhouse in Chicago has reopened for business, at least temporarily, so right now the horses are not traveling to Canada or Mexico. Just an FYI.
I thought the only three in the country were the two in Texas and one in Illinois.
Am I the only one who has the pleasure of signing up for a new google account each time I leave a comment. It says my password is incorrect. What’s going on?
Sorry, you are saying the slaughter house is in Chicago. So, Cavel is Chicago? I didn’t know they were the same.
I want to know why so many people are crossing Morgans and QH. I love the Morgan breed and, in fact, it was said to be used in the development of the American Quarter Horsse. Do people not see that it is tough enough to sell a purebred, nevermind a “grade?” Unless it is a sporthorse breeder whose animals have a good performance record, and there is a demand for the breeding program, do not cross. And if one is going to breed, register the animal! I can’t count how many QH, Arabs, Pintos and others that are being sold at 4 years old, unbroke, and the “papers” are available, but never sent in.
On the list, I found it interesting the owners of the colt colt sold it for $60, but the sire, now a gelding, was not alowed to go for what I consider an excellent price (at a grade auction.) I am assuming the two were owned by the same person.
Thank you to who sent the information in.
I love your blog. I do NOT have a natural eye for conformation so I’m learning tons here.
The backyard breeder intrigues me in a horrified way.
I bought a Belgian mare from a bad situation in May 06 and the seller said if she was pregnant, he wanted the foal back.
She spontaneously aborted her foal due that May with all the other babies. Rather than len let her womb go vacant for a year, the idiot (we’re Pennsylvania) bred her to foal in January (this is a BELGIAN, not a TB), and on Jan 30 we got a great little filly. Thing is, no matter what I agreed to I wasn’t sending her back to him.
We saved receipts for everything we put into the mares pregnancy (18″ of straw in a 14×20 stall for 2 months since he wasn’t sure when she had been bred, bill for vet, barn insulation) so we could prove that we had into the foal more than she was worth to him.. last resort I was going to offer him a stud fee (turned out when we called him he said keep it, fillies aren’t worth feeding, its colts who get the money).
It was EXPENSIVE (& totally worth it) to have a baby! Long as I’m alive she’ll be with me. 6 months old she’s halter broke, & picks up her feet.
But there is a flip side.
Last year I helped a neighbor sell some horses. She had 4 stallions and 1 mare in the same field. Only one stallion was even halter broke.
The one stallion was father to ALL the ponies (haffies).. so the mare was in with dad and 3 brothers. Over the years their mothers died off or whatever and this was what was left.
The mare gave birth to her brother/nephew in the spring, just shot him out in the frozen mud on St Patricks Day. Come foal heat, dad or brother would hop on her back and go to town, then the other bachelors would get excited and hop on, so eventually it was a dirrrty pony conga line.
She couldn’t afford to feed them anyway so I helped her sell them by placing them for sale online and they got new homes.. had to be better than where they were.
4 freakin stallions! Her excuse? “Why geld them when they have such NICE personalities? Such NICE dispositions?”
*head-tilt*
smoke, sign in with the email address, not your username
took me a bit to figure that out too.
Hello Everyone. Newbie here, and I enjoy your blog, Fugly. You do offer a great deal of information about conformation, and I have learned a thing or two from reading here. And I couldn’t agree more that breeding should not be a backyard hobby for extra cash, but that it should only be undertaken by experienced, long-sighted horse people with the resources, support system, and strength of character to provide a good life for every horse they bring into the world, whether that guaranteed good life comes about by knowing the market, making the right match between horse and purchaser, or taking the horse back into your own care if/when the purchaser can’t provide the right home anymore– or, IDEALLY, all of the above. I believe this should apply to breeders of all animals, and,
for heaven’s sake, it should certainly apply to people who CHOOSE to bring human children into this world!!! But perhaps that’s a comment for some other blog…
I am one of those middle-aged, doesn’t-know-shit-about-riding (hence my posting name), loves-her-horsies types that you folks have been cracking on lately. Hopefully the difference between your recently targeted victims and myself is that I ask questions constantly of those who both know and Get It, I read everything I can, and I consider myself neither a Rider nor a Trainer of Horses. I am their caretaker, and I enjoy that role immensely, and our horses appreciate my efforts. My daughters ride well and take lessons with our horses, and that takes care of that. This is not the same scenario as my having learned everything from trial and error and from having paid my dues in multiple stables as I worked my way up, as many of you say you have done, yet it works for us. Our horses are well-cared-for, happy,and have a guaranteed long-term home here. If I can,
one day, no longer provide for them, because: 1. I become too old to do the physical labor involved; or 2. I can no longer afford to provide adequately for the horses’ care (good pasture, good feed, good veterinary care, good farrier care, good exercise through the proper amount of riding for each individual horse’s energy level/exercise requirements), I will GIVE each of our geldings to a younger, stronger, but equally devoted owner who has the resources to provide properly for the horse’s needs. (Although, our horses are useful, mannerly, attractive enough fellows that each would fetch a decent enough price on the market.) I would much rather give a horse to the right person than make a few dollars on his sale to the wrong person. Besides, it has never made sense to me when I’ve heard someone say, “Well, I paid $3500. for Sport here, so I have to get at least that much for him when I sell him.” What about what you’ve paid in vet and farrier bills, feed, hay, transportation costs, tack, training (we can only hope!!) and housing for Ol’ Sporty??? Fact is, Sporty there has cost you WAY, WAY more than $3500. So that’s just a price you pulled outta your ass. Match him to the right owner, take a fair price if you must, but don’t think you’ll ever see a monetary return on “what you’ve got in him.” The fact is, you bought that horse for your own reasons. He had no choice whatsoever in the matter. You are now responsible for him, until he dies a natural death (which is VERY unlikely in this day and age) or until such time as you must choose his fate.
Catastrophic equine injury or illness? Humane euthanasia.
sigh.
I am not capable of attending an auction. While I believe I could select a decent specimen for my family’s purposes (broke horse with good manners, no major issues, and sound for light/moderate riding), I do not have the experience to deal with whatever unforseen baggage a particular horse might be packin’. So I know better than to go to an auction. It’s heartbreaking to read a list like the one you posted today, and to know that that is not EVEN the tip of that iceberg.
I say, breeders need to be licensed, inspected routinely, and to have that license revoked if found in noncompliance of whatever rules have been legislated. Would this be easy to implement? No. Would every well-meaning breeder be able to pass muster? No. Would every asshole who knows that stallion + mare = foal/CASH be prevented from making a buck at some poor horse’s eternal expense? No. Would it help at all? Might.
Just one middle-aged, can’t-ride-for-shit, horse-mommy’s opinion.
Marilyn: Don’t give up. You sound clinically depressed, my friend. Go to your doctor, and go today. Or tomorrow at the latest. Please. Your horses will be the better for it. You can place them, if you need to. Contact horse rescues. Call your local lesson barns, and ask the owners whether they know a responsible young person who is looking for the horse you have available. Call far and wide. Maybe you are overwhelmed by having too many for your energy level. Try placing one or two and reconsider the rest.
WTF — you’re just mean, girl. Sometimes you’re funny. Sometimes you’re just mean. There’s a difference.
Fugly — keep up the good work!
This is just why I don’t go to auction. I would want to “rescue” every last one of them. Then I would become one of those nutty people with too many horses and not enough money. I would become one of “them!”
So what else can we do aside from ranting here? Educate ourselves, yes. Educate others, try.
There’s a man I know (only just met and don’t know a lot about but I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him -one of those guys that makes the short hairs on the back of your neck stand up) who plans to buy an APHA stallion from a backyard breeder. He may have already bought it but it’s still with the old owner. The horse is kept in paddock with rolls of pagewire & rusted and torn sheet metal. So I told the guy to get the horse out of there as soon as possible. But I am convinced the poor horse is going from the frying pan into the fire.
This potential new owner knows nothing, does not plan to geld the horse and is a “cowboy wannabee” complete with the cheap hat, belt and boots. It’s scary! The current owner is an irresponsible breeder for sure and knows enough to get out of it, now. But he obviously doesn’t care where the horse goes.
This horse may or may not be breeding quality. I don’t know enough. He appears ok. But Even if he’s a top quality stallion, this new owner will probably breed it to anything with four legs and a uterus.
What can I do short of stealing this horse?
Smoke, Cavel International is the name of the Belgian company that owns the slaughterhouses. The Illinois plant is in DeKalb, Illinois which is very close to Chicago, so I call it Chicago.
psanc11 said: “my point was not to take your animals to the auction or shoot them in the head either. Both these choices are cruel and the people who resort to either method are the ones that should not have horses in the first place. Take the time to find someone who will care for the horse properly if you can’t.”
I strongly disagree with part of what you said. Unless, of course, I misunderstand your point, which I admit is entirely possible. I have 2 “aged” equines. If something happens that I can no longer keep them, I will not attempt to find a home for them. I will have them euthanized. Shit happens. What if the person I give them to gets hit by a truck on the way to work and his estate ships all his stock to the auction? I’m not willing to accept that risk. The only way I can guarantee that my 2 old equine friends will live comfortably until they die is to make sure that they do not leave my control alive.
motor said: “My first rule in horse ownership – if I can’t jump on the horse bareback without a ladder the horse is too tall.”
Sorry, but I’ve got to disagree with this, too. I’m short, fat, 50 yrs old, with bad knees and arthritis in both shoulders. If I had to restrict myself to horses I could jump on bareback with no assist from nearby objects, I would simply have to give up riding.
On the other hand, I do agree with Motor’s comment about people thinking you have to fall off while learning to ride. I used to teach riding lessons and if one of my beginner or intermediate students ever fell off, I considered it a personal failure on my part. It almost always meant that I had used poor judgment by overmounting them or asking them to do something they weren’t yet capable of doing.
horror-fied said…
took me a bit to figure that out too
smoke, sign in with the email address, not your username
Thanks, horror-fied. I had about resigned myself to only reading.
As to the Morgan gelding that the breeder sold, I assume they gelded him before selling him so that he wouldn’t be reproducing in future. Wonder why they kept breeding him themselves when he was producing less than desirable babies?
Here in East Texas, those prices listed look pretty good. Pretty decent riding horses around $200-$400, sometimes less. Yes, they’re fuglies. Ranch horses (ages 9-10) used for roping, doctoring cattle, etc. in the $600-$1,000 range. (These are the same kind of horses that a few years back you were lucky to buy for $2,500 because of their training). Registered yearlings and weanlings $75-$200. Grade weanlings and yearlings usually $50 to $100. Decently bred (bloodlines) registered broodmares around $200-$300. The only thing bringing decent prices are really good ponies. A good games pony will bring upwards of $1,000.
Dented helmet – just to clarify, I’d never rip on someone who is a fantastic horse caretaker and not a strong rider. My gripe is with those who are not strong riders, yet stubbornly REFUSE to take lessons to become better riders, want to train their horse themselves, and acquire horses who would be a challenge even for an experienced trainer (BLM horses, older spoiled horses with issues, young unhandled stock, PMU’s, etc.).
What these people do is ruin horses out of ego, and they’re responsible for a large portion of the horses going to kill in this country. There is no shame is admitting you are not George Morris and sending something out for training, while meanwhile taking lessons yourself to learn how to ride it. There is no shame in buying finished horses and older horses. But thinking you’re a trainer because you’ve gone to clinics and watched videos and taking on horses most trainers would balk at – that’s not doing the horses any favors.
HorsePoor said…
Smoke, Cavel International is the name of the Belgian company that owns the slaughterhouses. The Illinois plant is in DeKalb, Illinois which is very close to Chicago, so I call it Chicago.
Thanks for the explanation, HorsePoor. I had assumed that Cavel was the name of the city. Does that same owner own the two Texas plants. I believe I have heard they are owned by Japanese, but not sure. I do know all our slaughter horses are now going to Mexico (so I hear) to God only knows what kind of horrific conditions because it is closer. All the southern states are probably sending them to the closest (therefore, cheapest)place for slaughter. I personally wish they would just really closely monitor the plants and insure that the killing is done in a truly humane manner and do it here. At least we would have some ability to police it instead of having no say in the fate of the ones shipped out of the country.
Morris – the auction in question was at the Chehalis Livestock Yard in Chehalis, Washington. If you get someone friendly at the office, they may give you the owner’s contact info. I googled them and the number is (360) 748-3191.
Ok. I needed the sign in help too. Figured it out this morning after resetting my password about 15 times. LOL I shouldn’t be alone…
FHD – this is a tough issue. I have recently been looking into the PMU thing and am struggling with auctions, rescues, kill buyers, and slaughter houses. I own two horses, but feel I would end up 20 if I had more land. Thanks for the info on the auction results. Not sure I want to go, but should as a responsible horse owner. Then I need to figure out how to help. I appears there is a need for some type of rescue that could be called horse heaven. They don’t rehome, they just buy the ones who have done their time and derserve the gift of euthanasia. It is an absolute gift that we can offer this to animals.
Also, I have a request. I am trying very hard to learn more and your site has been great. But, we need a picture glossary of your terms, like “pig-eyed”, “ewe-necked” and others. Also, I am a bit lost on the hip and shoulder comments. Can you do pictures of good and bad of these parts? I now get “back at the knee”, “topline”, fugly head, fox ears, pigeon toed, and a few other gems.
No clarification was necessary, FHOTD. I should have clarified that I was commenting on posts by some of your readers, when I said “you folks” had been cracking on the likes of me. I do agree with your assessment of much of the horse world, although I am seeing the horse world through newer, less experienced eyes.
You’re funny, and you write well, and I appreciate that you’re using those skills to make a difference. Wouldn’t surprise me if you write for an equine publication and much of what you post here is what you wish you could say in print, there. Either way, people are learning something from your insights. I have learned quite a bit about conformation from reading your blog. Thanks.
Smoke, the TX plants are owned by Belgian companies, I believe. Beltex (belgium-texas) and Dallas Crown. One (or both) is still in operation for non-human-consumption once per week, and Beltex is in the process of building a new plant in Mexico (not sure if it’s opened yet or not).
The good news is that if they want to actually export to the EU, they have to follow EU slaughter procedures and standards, so the “knife to the neck” procedure often shown in videos would not be acceptable there. The horses sent to Juarez, on the other hand, are used often for local consumption, mixed in or substituted as other types of meat, etc, and not subject to EU standards.
Either way the longer trips, conditions, and amount of government oversight compared to the US is a bit scary.
I agree with smoke, I think we would be better off to keep the slaughter houses open in the US and monitered. Closing them doesn’t mean the horses will no longer be slaughtered, it means they’ll now have to travel farther, and to conditions which are now totally entirely out of our control to monitor and regulate.
I have never been to one of these types of horse auctions. I am shocked, both at the poor quality sounding horses, and at the low prices. As an upper level dressage professional, I’m feeling very insulated in my own world at the moment! How sad to know what goes on outside of “my” world. In that regard, this blog is a constant eye-opener.
So let me get this straight…out of 22 horses auctioned off, only 6 were the kind I’d take a second glance at:
#5, gaited 6yo Morgan mare
#8, 7yo TB
#9, nice trail horse.
#10, broke!!!
#13 finished Morgan trail mount
#19 the POA
Your average rider doesn’t WANT a green broke horse, not when you can get a finished trail mount like the Morgan mare for less than a weekend trip to Disneyland. The average rider doesn’t want something too unsound to ride. Things like corrective shoeing or riding limits (e.g. no jumping) are OK, but unless you’re talking about a serious competition horse, most folks don’t want to spend the money to keep a chronically lame horse sound.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to sell a horse with soundness problems…the right way is to be absolutely upfront about it and price the horse accordingly. The wrong way to market a horse with issues or jewelry is to price them WAY TOO HIGH and be very nonspecific about their problems. Any savvy buyer will shy away from that like runnin’ from a skunk.
#1: Right now on Dreamhorse there is a polo player in CA trying to sell a former high-goal gelding who was recently diagnosed with minor ringbone. This horse is dead-broke, good steering and brakes, friendly, and a registered Appendix QH. He can’t play polo anymore, but with corrective shoeing and a low-concussion “job” (no jumping, barrels, or polo/crosse) he’ll do fine.
#2: There is a TB for sale in Virginia who “has always been sound but may need maintenance in the future” after competing up to 2’6″ in H/J. This horse is 8 years old and having soundness problems, but the seller does not specify what kind of soundness problems. He is for sale for $5500.
Which of these two horses will get sold, and which ones will end up at an auction? Hmmmmm…..
The polo pony sold within a week of the ad going up. The other horse has been on there a while, and since for $500 more you can get a sound TB of the same age competing in B/N eventing, he’ll probably stay for sale for a while.
Personally, I really think it would be a worthwhile experiance for any horse person to attend one or two of those weekly or bi-weekly auctions that occur all over Canada and the US. They can be real eye openers. I have been to a couple here in Alberta, and can testify that average selling at that point was $250 per head. The kill buyers were reselling out of their pens at the end of the sale – trust me, it is worthwhile to leave the sale arena and walk through the barns/pens. I also go to the weekly auction in my parents town whenever I am down. I find it sad when the same horse goes through week after week after week…tells you something about the poor thing! They also have X horses. Ones which have been sent as slaughter ONLY sales. They run after the regular sale is completed, have large X drawn on either side and only the kill buyers bid. It is a very sad but educational experiance to attend these and more then once I have had to sit on my hands to not take some poor soul home knowing I don’t have the space for them.
This auction result is similar to ones here in Maine. Horses here typically go for around $200 or less unless they have reserves. Many of the ones that sold went to meat dealers (and a nice long ride to Canada) or to other resellers. Most people don’t bother with reserves, except the auctioneer who sells his own horses at his auction. I think this is because most people know they have fugly, dangerous, or finally realized it actually costs money to keep a horse and want to part with it ASAP for whatever they can eek out of it. What makes my fucking head explode, though, is when a pregnant mare with a foal by her side goes through for one of those “3-for-1″ specials. Or worse, when a young foal is weaned AT the auction when one buyer gets the mare and another gets the foal. Happens all the time and its horrid!
It never fails to astonish me how many people think that, while yes they do in fact breed their borderline quality mares, they are the EXCEPTION, not REALLY a BYB, and that THEIR babies are REALLY good quality, not at all like the ones bred by REAL BYB’s. Ugh. If everyone would just NOT breed their horses for a year, that would make a big difference in the horse overpopulation problem and the market could correct itself and these auction houses wouldn’t be so busy. But nobody wants to do that… buncha selfish BYB short-sighted capitalist pig mo’s!
Also, one can find very nice horses at auction, not all are Fugly or poorly trained. The circumstances that cause a horse to arrive in such inauspicious surroundings vary with every case. I bought a very nice drafty cross that was broke to ride and drive, only 6 years old, even temperment, and sweet as all getout at an auction. In fact, I still have him. The reason he was sold through the auction was due to the owner’s divorce and relocation. But one has to know what it is they want in a horse and how to evaluate a horse under those circumstances, particularly how to recognize if a horse has been drugged. Auction buying is not for the weak of constitution or the inexperienced, IMO. One can get into far too much trouble at one!
And I’m sorry, Kirri, but I could NOT help almost falling out of my chair when I read the line “Killing a horse, done properly, never hurt it, after all.” ??? The irony in that statement is very heavy indeed.
Being the last stop on the way to the border seems to help the prices. Check out interior sales.
Down here in Florida the horse market has bottomed out. Your high end performance horses are still selling but your average horse is not. A nice looking registered horse that rides fair are going from $400-$600 at auction. I went to an auction 3-weeks ago and out of 40 horses only 5 sold. Some horses did not even get bid on!!!That is very sad.
Another thing I wanted to comment on is that just because you sell your horse for a good price doesn’t mean they will be taken care of. I know normally if a person can only afford a couple hundred dollars for a horse that they can’t afford one. In my experiance the price doesn’t matter it is the person that buys the horse.
Example:
I sold 2 appendix mares for $6,000.00. These were very nice mares off the track. We had 60-days riding on them and they were going great. The couple I sold them to were kinda novice owners so I took the time and gave them a notebook of what to do (worming, feet trimming, feeding, oiling, etc…) 6-months later I went by their house to check on them. I was in tears!!!!!! The one mare was so poor she couldn’t stand up. The other one was almost as bad. Now mind you these people have a huge home, all new vehicles, own their own company, and are not short on money. When I called them to ask them what the hell was going on?
Her excuse was they had gotten tired of taking care of them because they were so much work and they had lost interest!!!! If I could have reached through that phone I would still be in jail. So I asked her if she wanted to sell them she said sure for $6,000.00***UGH*******Anyway this story has a good end we found new homes for both horses and they are in loving homes and get feed every day!!!
>It never fails to astonish me how many people think that, while yes they do in fact breed their borderline quality mares, they are the EXCEPTION, not REALLY a BYB, and that THEIR babies are REALLY good quality, not at all like the ones bred by REAL BYB’s. Ugh.<
I could not agree more.
I would encourage anyone who is a trainer/experienced rider and truly can handle a horse with issues to pick up a resale project at their local meat auction. There are tons of young stock that will go through, particularly as we close in on winter, that have potential.
A friend of mine rescued a large pony stallion from slaughter a year ago, for a couple hundred dollars. She got him green broke and to his first show and sold him for $2000. He resold for $8000 a few months later. In the space of a year, he went from good-as-dead to an A circuit barn. If you have an eye for conformation and soundness, and the knowledge to resolve the issues, you can change the course of a horse’s life.
As for the “horse heaven” rescue idea, the good rescues already do take in horses they know they must euthanize. I have often thought we should offer a service where squeamish owners can drop off their horse along with the $$ necessary and we will handle the actual euthanasia. I know that people take horses to the sale or give them away on Craigslist just to spare themselves the emotional trauma of seeing the horse drop. I have trouble wrapping my mind around how anyone can do that, but I know it happens.
FHOTD: You are right on about people dumping their older horses because they can’t handle the reality. We sold an aged mare to a friend. She had ring bone but was a dream for a beginner rider. I think she rode her twice, but she loved her and would groom her every day. She had the mare about 10 yrs then she asked me if I wanted her back?? Her reasoning was she was moving and did not want to stress the mare. I know she thought the mare was getting close to the end and didn’t want to deal with it. I took the mare back and she is still going strong at 35. She never once called to check on her I just think she didn’t want to know!
I personally don’t want anybody else there when it comes time for any of mine to go. I want to be holding their head in my lap as they cross Rainbow Bridge. I know everyone is different but that is just the way I see it.
Fugly, my old vet in California does that. Before I left the state, I had to put a mare down. She could not travel and I wasn’t going to try to re-home her. I didn’t have anywhere to dispose of her and didn’t know what to do. For LESS than the price of him coming out to do it, I dropped her off at his clinic. She spent the day in his tall, green grass pasture and had all the cookies she could want. That evening they put her down and had a service haul her away.
He said most vets do offer this. They won’t get buried, but will end up at a tallow plant. Most people don’t have a place or the resources to bury a horse.
spinningpeppy–you are SO RIGHT. I want to be the last thing my horses look at before they die. Yeah, it sucks. I was there for my gorgeous 7-year-old gelding who died of Potomac Horse Fever, for my friend’s 16-year-old who died of anaphylactic (sp?) shock (his owner was also there), and another friend who was putting down her 33-year-old gelding. Yeah, it really, really sucks watching the big guys go down, but there is something profoundly moving about being with them at the end of their lives, and I just can’t imagine not being there for all of my animals.
By the way… great blog–but everybody stop ripping on the friesians! I have a 15-month-old filly who is awesome. This is her youtube video with two of my TWHs (one of whom is a 19-year-old mare and will be with me until the day she dies… when she’s 50!!). PS–am I going to breed the Friesian filly eventually? You’d better believe it! But that baby will be MINE!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=VeG5_XjuJzs
its actually illegal to bury a horse in my country. you have to pay a hunt club to come collect the corpse for hounds.
strangely, i know of a number of secret gravesites masquerading as veggie patches in peoples gardens
Good heavens, I am embarassed to admit I own an Appaloosa stallion!
What rotten examples, and precisely the type I absolutely will NOT breed to (the one stud being the exception there of course)
I cannot tell you the number of people who I have carefully said to: Gosh I just don’t think it’s going to be a good match….
I mean, who needs another daschund with egg beater legs? I bought my horse to *improve* the local Appaloosas…which is all well and good, but only effective if the mare owners will look beyond the empty uterous and stud fee to conformation and disposition.
Sorry, personal rant here…in six of 7 years, we have managed to cover a whopping two mares. And why is that? Because I refuse to cover just any mare.
lifelike001, where are you? I think that’s terrible. Can’t you cremate?
In addition to my rant on an earlier post about what to do with elderly horses, I’d like to add that a lady at my yard had to put down her 26yr old on friday, who had extensive liver failure. He’d been going downhill for a long time, but the last week you could clearly see the change – he was ready to go. She’d had him 22 years, and had come up twice a day for the last few to visit him, change his rugs and give him is food and medicine herself while he was in retirement. She even kept paying a higher livery fee so that he didn’t have to go through the moving stress and she could still see him. She’d had a long discussion with the vet about how she wanted him to go, and what she wanted to do afterwards, and was there with him at the end.
THAT is how you take care of your equine OAPs. Not dump them off at a sale, trying to delude yourself that they might go somewhere nice just so you don’t have to deal with the end.
I’ve been there with both of my cats at the end. It was horrible, but I would never forgive myself if I wasn’t there with them.
I stay away from horse auctions just because I know I’ll bring something home. And I can completely justify it to myself too. “Oh, I just wanted to buy a pony for my seven-year-old (quarter horse).”
Speaking of auction stupidity, my horse was one of those mare and foal deals. A woman who had never owned or ridden before went to an auction with my trainer, who recycled horses. Trainer suggested a few nice ponies for the woman’s daughter, but came back to find that she had instead bought a two-month-old foal. Her reasoning was, “I want them to grow up together!” Then she decided she didn’t want the mare, so they pulled the baby off and just took him home. Would you believe my horse is still screwed up because of this?
mulerider – I said MY criteria for the height of MY horse was MY ability to jump on bareback. Now this really is a short horse since I’m over 60, bad knees and osteoporosis. So my “main mount” is a 13 2 paso fino – but she seriously SMOKES. Gotta ton of ribbons from running allbreed speed events on her.
Why ride a short horse?? It’s simple physics. You double your height and you quadruple the speed at which you hit the ground if you fall off – and think what damage you do to your body at say 20mph vs 5 mph. A soft surface helps but not a
lot unless it’s REALLY soft.
A very physically impaired friend rides a 13 hand haflinger gelding. He’s perfect because he’s stout, strong, low key, smooth gaited and just an overall nice boy.
You’re right about eharmony – they’d lie and post pictures of olympic riders in their profiles and the horses owners would photoshop big time – but it would be fun!!!
Regarding the kiss – I’d much rather kiss for a canter than use a verbal or leg cue. Kisses are international in nature. Everyone understands what they mean. Language and leg cues are variable with trainers and culture. Besides – kisses are the language of LOVE!!
The whole point of kiss for canter and cluck/click for trot is that you can make the noise very softly in the show ring without anyone hearing you. Not so with “can TER!”
It’s just a verbal cue that can help a horse, particularly a green horse, remember what they are being asked to do.
Then you get the old campaigners like I owned, who listen to the announcer and not the rider anyway…I used to have to school him next to the show ring and do the opposite of what was being called to trip him up and get him to listen to me again!
MOTOR: I have just loved and quoted your posts – Now I know why – we have both spent some “time” on the earth (and no I don’t mean getting tossed on our butts)
And to those who would mock the joy of us over-50hot-flashing-empty-nesting-broads enjoying our rides – well – got one thing to say:
Just keep on living…just keep on living …you’ll see what I mean … if you are lucky … you too will soon feel the hand of time(;>)
ABout those auction horses: Heck ya! We should consider the auction house, the horse trader etc BEFORE we go to a breeder. Breeders need to give it a break. No matter how well bred the horse, there are only so many potential horse owners out there. Too many horses suffering because of too much breeding – period.
hi all.i am new here and wanted to post about my horses and horse rescues!.i dont have much experience and am learning everyday. my trusty arab is my teacher bought him as my very first horse when he was 5mo old paid 2500 for him.trained him myself with the help of a instructor i took lessons from with him 8yrs later we trail ride haul kids to school on horseback and he never leaves the showring without a ribbon on him. now my hubbys horse is a backyard bred belgian i found at a garage sale in a tiny little pen for 200 and the lady said he was evil.he wasent evil just not trained and 8mo old.6yrs later hes a trusty trail mount for my hubby.
next we have my yearling.when i got him he was 3mo old had lice,fungus on his coat.resistant worms,lung worms and he was wild.now hes much better but we have to be carful what we feed him becuse hes had problems with his growth plates.when we gelded him i had sevreal people mad at me becuse they wanted to breed to him becuse his dunskin color.i dont want to add to the unwanteds!. we also have a 30yr old percheron with a heart murmur and ringbone and a poor old gelding with no teeth someone bought a brand new truck and decided it was too expensive to feed him. a 3yr old appy with a bowed back leg really short hight and a twisted ankle.shes alright for small kids and have had a trainer look at her.she acts like shes 30 not 3. i also have a paint mare that was waiting to get loaded on a truck bound for slaughter becuse her owners got divoced.poor mare was pregnant too.no one wnows who exactly the father of the filly was. filly got a sour temper i am hoping with work she will improve.the mare is the most nicest thing temperment wise. i have to find a home for the mare though becuse i have too many horses and the reason i chose the mare to rehome is theres nothing wrong with her. my misfits will die here becuse i know no one will spend the money to feed them, though most have problems they are all happy and well fed.
Well I know I paid too much for my latest acquisition then, lol, and I didn’t even have to rescue her out of an auction pen. Unhandled two year old draft cross filly that had a foal this spring (yes, concieved as a yearling), and have no idea wth other breed is in her! Don’t mind at all… I know her last few homes (not the homes at which she was bred), and have come a remarkable way in the last three weeks with her (including untangling a terrifying bucket from her tail this afternoon without getting my head kicked in!)… IMHO, I would rather find something like her and pay a little more to know her history than pick up something with all that extra baggage at an auction. It can be a scary thing getting a psychotic horse home…
Just a question for all of you auction rescuers… what would you do in that situation? Buy a horse you believe to be perfectly normal at an auction and when you get them home they turn out to be psychotic about something or other and utterly dangerous? Who am I kidding – most of you would suggest euthanasia… but what about the less educated? That’s how those horses end up back at auction! Seen it time and time again which is why I would rather find a down on their luck farmer to buy from than touch an auction horse… my parents nearly brought me home a broke to ride and drive clyde gelding for less than $300 today but that’s a BIG horse to hurt you, for sure!
Mary Ann and Motor –
I’m a bit younger than y’all (early 40s) but after a two decade break from horses, I am getting the lesson of my life as a “returning rider.” My body’s different (try the change from AA to D-cup breasts!), I weigh more, I have a bit of arthritis. BUT I am also much more analytical about what I am doing on and around horses.
And yes, it drives me crazy to see people picking on folks like us! We’re part of the market for horses, and a lot of us aren’t all that interested in showing, so will look for a nice well-trained pleasure horse, maybe an older horse or one that can’t compete anymore.
I also like small horses/large ponies because I’m just over 5 feet tall and look ridiculous on a big horse. I walked away from one potential lesson barn because they wanted to “match me to the right horse” which meant, well, I am fat (about 40 pounds overweight) so therefore I need to ride a great big draft cross. My favorites these days are a 13.1 hand pony, a 14.2 hand mustang, and a 15.1 hand TB.
The one thing I did, which I think ANYONE who is returning to riding should do, was find a lesson barn where I was not the only rider over 25 on the premises. (The place with the big draft cross was also full of snotty teenage girls who spent a lot of time picking on a girl who loved horses sooo much but was on her way to being quite curvaceous.) Lessons with other returning riders are fabulous if you can find them.
That auction list is pretty much the norm all over the country.
Just too many unwanted horses in all kinds of condition.
It is nice to have people that want to salvage these horses, but they should put their effort and time in those that can become useful. People really need to quit breeding so many horses…especially those that are really fugly.
rit on
hey smoke, l’m sick of this password crap too, how do l fix it?
hi from Australia all, doesnt matter which country it is, we all have auctions for horses, l admit to buying 2 ponies for myself and one for a friend in the last 15 years.All foals 1 an 11 day old orphan the other 2 weanlings all 3 are still with us and have been used for competitions open showing ponyclub harness and so on, when buying at auction you have to be careful and not allow emotion to rule your choice of animal, you then have to be careful not to buy a drugged animal thats being passed off as a ‘good’ kids pony etc(happens all the time) most people in this country who take their horses to auction are dealer types or those unwilling to face the reality of their animals old age.It’s very sad but also part of everyday life so without changes to laws concerning more humane destruction method these unwanted animals it will continue on.
oh yea…our ‘rescues’ have not been bred with(do intend breeding with the anglo when l can face giving her up as a ridden animal as she’s high quality but it’s soooo hard to do as l take her to ponyclub to share with kids who’s own are not as ‘kind’ to learn from) she’ll be sorely missed if l breed with her but l have no intentions of her being a work AND breeding animal.
breed the best to the best hope for the best,color is just a bonus
BEFORE you all ask!!!
YES she has won numerous times as an open show animal AND as a competitive sport animal and is very worth breeding with altho l have had a hard time finding a good enough stallion for her(laugh)finally l bought my own animal now l have to wait on him to grow for another year
horsepoor “the horse market around here has bottomed out. You’d be shocked at what you can get for rock bottom prices.”
It has here too but really good horses are still selling for more than that and a champion reiner could be marketed nationally and sold for a fair price, far more than $1800.00 at the local auction. Unless of course it is dead lame or 25 yrs old.
Reminds me of an auction I went to in Galt, California. Some jerk with a cute little chestnut/flaxen mare out of “random arab stallion” with a filly by her side out of THE SAME “random arab stallion”! I offered $75 for them to being them home and try to help them. The jerk seller refused and sold them to the killers for $100.
Yes, and slaughter is supposed to be illegal in California, including transport for slaughter. Everybody forgets that a law is only as good as the enforcement of it, and law enforcement does not seem to give a crap about stopping kill buyers in California.
Hi Amanda. You asked “Just a question for all of you auction rescuers… what would you do in that situation? Buy a horse you believe to be perfectly normal at an auction and when you get them home they turn out to be psychotic about something or other and utterly dangerous? Who am I kidding – most of you would suggest euthanasia… but what about the less educated?”
First, I would suggest that if you are not able to manage a rank horse that an auction isn’t the best place to go horse shopping, but if you do decide to go to an auction, bring a very auction-savvy horse person with you to help spot the signs of a horse with lots of emotional baggage, conformation or other health issues, and/or dangerous vices. Horses often arrive at auctions with lots of health/unsoundness issues, abuse histories, or chronic neglect that make them less than ideal prospects for a novice horse owner. Not all, but again, finding that diamond in the rough is not easy for experienced horse folks, and VERY hard for the inexperienced. Horses sometimes arrive at mixed-purpose horse auctions drugged or with a healthy dose of “calm and cool” on board to help them relax and stay calm and these drugs can be hard to detect unless you know what to look for, and sometimes even if you do.
That being said, if you already have bought a horse at auction and feel completely overwhelmed you have a few options. 1) Have a vet go over the horse with a fine-tooth stethoscope to rule out any physical causes of the horse’s behavior. Not enough people do this and sometimes there are fairly treatable conditions that cause a horse unremitting pain, which will make him very irritable; 2)Have a professional trainer (or two) evaluate the horse and retrain him; 3) Place him at a facility that is able to manage a horse with “baggage.” 4) Euthanize him.
I will say that there is a great deal of merit to bringing a horse home, turning him out in a safe pasture with other horses (as long as he’s not a “savage”) and letting him be a horse. We’ve done this on more than one occasion and once a horse learns how to fit in with a herd, it’s interactions with a human often seem to improve as well. I have never had good luck working with and improving a dangerous horse that we were not able to turn out with other horses. Some horses, I’m afraid, do become “too far gone” to warrant the dangers of rehabilitation. In the best of circumstances, though, a horse with some minor screws loose can be saved.
I would, at last, beg you not to take this poor beast back to the auction. It is, in my opinion, better off in the ground than being passed around through harsh hands and/or to inexperienced folk who could get hurt.