Auction Report: Toffield, Alberta, Canada
Aug 29 2009
Thanks to one of my readers for passing this along! I have bolded the ones that went to the kill buyer. Most of these guys do resell, so some of these horses may not be going to slaughter but the lower priced ones almost definitely are.
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“This was the Toffield, Ab horse sale on Aug 22, 2009:
1. Mini gelding. Well broke – $ 375 – Went to a home
2. 12 yr old paint gelding – $ 1175 – Not a kids horse. Went to a home
3. 4 yr old TB gelding. 16.2 -16.3 HH. Totally kid proof. 7 yr old rode him in. Rode him bareback. Crawled underneath him. Rode him in bridle. $ 850 – went to a home
4. 7 yr old QH pony. Ranch broke. Not for kids. $ 550 – went to a home
5. 15 QH gelding. Ranch broke. Not for kids. $ 1050 – passed out
6. 18 yr old Arab gelding. Has done dressage and jumping. Ex show horse. Not bad shape but could use a few extra pounds. $ 750. Went to a home.
7. 11 yr old paint mare. Exp rider only. – $ 500 – went to a home
8. 9 yr old paint gelding. Kids horse. Rider using 1 rein to ride. $ 1450 – went to a home
9. 10 yr old Icelandic gelding. Very good shape. Just started so pretty green under saddle. Not ridden in ring cause the owner had to go to a wedding. $ 335 – went to a home.
10. 4 yr old QH/Welsh geldings X2. Came in loose. one went for $ 175, the other went for $ 160 – KB
11. 3 yr old bay mare. Racy type breed. No info on her. Quite wild $ 125 – KB
12. 3 yr old bay mare. Racy type breed. No info on her either. Very wild – $ 125 – KB
13. 5 month old QH/TB/Trek X filly – $ 90 – went to a home
14. 2 yr old draft X buckskin filly – $ 125 – KB
15. 6 yr old QH/TB sorrel gelding. Not the quietest. $ 370 – KB
16. 3 X 2 yr old racy type breeding. No info on them. 2 fillies, 1 colt. – $ 100 each – KB
17. Roan mare. Looked mid teens. Very quiet. No info but I suspect she was broke and was a kids horse. $ 360 – KB You can kick me in my fat ass for not getting her. My budget was $ 400 including transport so later on in the afternoon, I managed to find another $ 100. I went to the kill pen when the sale was done and the KB had taken them out already.
18. 2 weanlings. Bad shape – $ 80 each – KB
19. 6 yr old QH w/dk brown colt at side. Colt 4 months old. $ 550/pair – went to a home
20. 2 yr old running QH filly. Stout. 30 days on her ready for light riding. Quiet.Came with papers – $ 200 – KB. Feel free to kick me in the ass for this one too. Same kill buyer who bought the roan mare above.
21. 2 yr old running gelding. Stout. 30 days on him ready for light riding. Quiet. Came with papers – $ 700 – Went to a home.
22. Welsh mini mare. Said kid broke but showed no signs of it in the ring as she was quite wild and kicking. Was quite thin as well. Long hair – $ 30 – KB
23. 4 yr old grey roan stud. no info. Quite snarly – $ 150 – KB
24. 2 yr b/w pinto filly – on the thinnish side. – $ 100 – KB
25. QH/Welsh colt. Quite thin. – $ 275 – KB
26. QH/Saddlebred colt. Quite thin. $ 275 – KB
27. QH chestnut mare. Just weaned. Ridden last year before bred. $ 225 – KB – Kick me in the ass for this one.
28. 11 yr old QH gelding. Broke but not ridden in ring. $ 600 – went to home.
29. 4 yr old team of pony pinto geldings. Started driving. Fleshy. $ @75 for the team – went to a home
30. Pally QH yearling gelding. Very flashy. $ 410 – went to a home
31. Qh yearling gelding. Very stout.- $ 410 – went to a home
32. Arab/Saddlebred gelding. Quite wild. Could use some weight. – $ 330 – KB
33. 4 yr old pony broodmare untouched. Foal at side had a hernia the size of a coffee cup, and I’m not kidding!!!! Both needed weight. $ 60/pair. Went to a home that is questionable.
34. 4 yr old grey roan broodmare untouched. Colored foal at side. Both needed weight and a touch on the wild side. – $ 80/pair – went to a home
35. 2 yr old paint broodmare w/foal at side. Needed weight. Untouched. $ 90/pair – went to a home. KB wouldn’t even look at the auctioneer on the above 3 pairs.
36. 2 yr old mini mare possible bred to mini paintX stud. – $ 190 – went to a home
37. Yearling black mini stud. Lame on back right. – $ 200 – went to a home.
38. grey spotted appy filly. Very flashy. Untouched. $ 200 – KB
39. 10 yr old snow cap appy gelding. Broke and quiet but not rode in. Very flashy. – $ 600 – went to a home
40. Black mini stud. Halterbroke. – $ 100 – KB for rehome
41. 7 yr old QH type mare. Greenbroke but came in loose in ring. Quite wild.- $ 350 – KB
42. 3 yr old buckskin gelding. Lame on back right. – $ 260 – KB
43. 9 yr old thick red dun gelding. Greenbroke but came in with halter only. – $ 725 – went to home.
44. 6 yr old thick set appy mare. Untouched. – $ 275 – KB
45. 2 sorrel 2 yr old fillies. Untouched and needed weight. – $ 100/each – KB
46. 13 yr old QH broodmare w/snowcap appy filly at side. Filly was drop dead gorgeous. Mare went for $ 450 – KB. Filly went for $ 150 – to a good home
47. 5 yr old buckskin QH mare w/red roan colt at side. Gorgeous pair but untouched. Mare went for $ 350 – KB. Colt went for $ 160. Went to a home.
48. 4 yr old blue roan QH mare w/filly at side. Needed a little weight. Mare went for $ 350 – KB. Filly went for $ 100 – went to a home
49. 12 yr old Morgan X gelding. Had melanomas(sp) on his face and bum. – $ 50 – KB
50.3 yr old Morgan/Appy gelding. $ 300 – KB
51. 4 yr old morgan mare. Greenbroke – $ 330 – KB
52. Very fat, fat fat jenny – $ 190 – KB
53. 4 yr old TB mare. Did jumping. Needed weight – $ 380 – went to a home. Feel free to kick my ass on this one.
54. Red dun filly – $ 150 – KB
55. Red roan filly. – $ 160 – KB
56. 10 yr old bay QH type gelding. Built like a brick shithouse. – $ 540 – KB
57. 4 yr old QH type mare. Very wild – $ 260 – KB
58. 8 yr old QH type gelding. – $ 510 – KB
59. 2 yr old Welsh X gelding. Said greenbroke but came in loose and quite wild. – $ 50 – KB
60. 4 yr old Paso Fino type stud. Quite wild. – $ 340 – KB
61. 6 yr old Canadian Warmblood mare. Pigeon toed. Looked like her knee floated meaning it swayed to the outside as she landed on it. – $ 500 – KB
62. 6 yr old Canadian Warmblood mare. Quite wild and quite the kicker – $ 570 – KB
I took a break for about 1/2 hour outside as it was quite hot inside. When I came back, I think the wildest ones were kept till last.
63. 4 yr old Anglo Arab stud. No papers. Untouched. – $ 300 – KB. He would have gone to a home if the owners had registered him.
The rest that came in were yearlings that were untouched that averaged $ 100.
I kick myself for not getting a couple of them, but I had my eye on a couple of well bred, old breeding QH mares that should have gone to a home but the KB outbid me.
I definitely plan on going next month, but this time, with more money……”
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FHOTD back in: and again:
Color does not keep them safe.
Papers do not necessarily keep them safe.
What keeps them safe, as you can see from the above, is TRAINING!
So let’s say you absolutely have no choice but to take a horse to an auction. And when I say no choice, that means that you are a minor and your parents are doing this whether you like it or not. Or you are in a situation where the horse MUST be auctioned for legal reasons. (If you are just broke, get your butt down to Labor Ready.) If you are in a “no choice” situation, what is the best way to protect your horse?
1. Grooming! A bath, clipped up, etc. This shows that the horse has been worked with and that you care. It is also just like selling a car – a clean horse just looks more valuable and desirable.
2. Hoof trim! Shouldn’t cost you more than $35. Again, it makes a big difference to private buyers to see that a horse is cared for.
3. If at all possible, ride it through! You’re going to be in a round pen, so it doesn’t have to be all that broke to be successfully ridden through. The horse who is ridden through has a much better chance of survival, though it is not a sure thing. Here’s a tip: The vast majority of old broodmares, broke or not, will let you sit on them and walk around in a round pen. If you have two weeks, you can get one kind of walk-trot broke without much drama. Lift up the top lip – if there are numbers there, it IS broke (with the exception of Standardbreds but even those are trained enough that sitting on them is rarely a big deal).
4. If the horse is too young to ride, what can you teach it before the sale that will make it look good? Being able to demonstrate things like picking up feet in the ring, or better yet setting up and pivoting for halter, will drive up bids from private parties.
5. Get the papers in order. Transfer them if they’re not. Make sure you have a signed transfer ready to go. If you lost the papers, get replacements. I’ve had a kill buyer tell me flat out that he “cans grade mares.” If the mare IS in foal (*cringes*) make sure you have all the paperwork to register the foal.
Again, auctions are the WORST possible way to sell your horse, and any rescuer can tell tales of seeing clipped up, braided up horses in the kill pen. But if you have no other options, a little effort can go a long way toward encouraging a private party to choose your horse at the sale.
A small update: Jackson, the thin Thorougbred I put in the most recent SOS Equines banner, did get saved! It looks like his name is Hes Mine Tooo and he is a race winner.  He is available for adoption, as is the guy below…who just got ID’d as a son of Gulch who has raced in Great Britain! It’s amazing where they wind up, isn’t it?
30 comments to “Auction Report: Toffield, Alberta, Canada”
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Sadly, the sort of person who has unbroke, maybe even unhandled, horses that are getting dumped at an auction is NOT going to heed any of your fine advice. They just want to dump a horse in the most painless way for themselves and who cares what happens to the horse.
On another note, the Labor Ready across the parking lot from my store was not taking anyone new for most of the summer. They had more people on file then they needed.
oldmorgans.blogspot.com
The feed lot in Eastern Washington is just outside of Ellensburg and it has always had horses in it as long as I can remember. They hid it very well but you can find it if you know where to look. It does not surprise me this kind of gelding ended up there , the race career is done and no one wanted him because there are no more bush tracks to dump him at and really finish him off. I used to get a lot of very nice horses this way when the upper crust tracks brought in the high end bred horses that no longer could compete at top levels. It is heart wrenching to say the least , but when they are geldings the breeding & money life time earnings means nothing when they can’t run for the big bucks anymore. I would love to see this horse and get him out of hell , he has very kind eyes.
It amazes me at how many of those horses were untouched! How do people ever expect them to go to a decent, safe home, when they don’t even put the basics on them? Nobody wants to deal with a crazy, wild, dangerous horse…. Some of them could have probably been saved from the kill buyer if they had just had the basic halter training and groundwork, it’s so sad.
The Gulch son is off the lot but does need an adopter. He appears to be sound and is VERY sweet…I’ve met him and worked with him a bit. I am meaning to ride him the next time I get out to Kennewick but I just haven’t had any time lately.
Deanna, I just think it happens the same way in almost every case…let’s breed our mare! We want a baby! It’ll be fun!
Of course when baby arrives and acts like a normal baby horse and gives them a little grief, the bloom is off the rose. Baby never gets haltered or taught to led and just gets bigger and bigger and more and more scary. Baby learns a few games, like how to chase them out of his pasture. By the time Baby is two, he is a piece of work that would be challenging for even an experienced handler. And so off to the sale he goes.
You also have cases where someone’s financial issues mean they can no longer afford training and unfortunately they don’t have the skills to do it themselves. Or they were SURE they’d sell it as a weanling, but you just can’t count on that happening.
I was shocked to see those Canadian Warmbloods until I realized this auction was actually in Canada. I live in Washington state, so we border Canada, but still the Canadian Warmbloods are practically unheard of here.
Does this person have any idea where that snowcap appy went to??? I’m so frigging pissed I missed that, I would have gone higher on that guy!!!!!!
It’s TOFIELD by the way. Only one f. I used to live there.
Also if anyone knows which KB bought 56 or 58 are I wouldn’t mind taking a look at them either
Hey Cathy do you ever get any of the recent auction reports around the Seattle area? If you do can you alert me of any Welsh Cobs or Welshies going through. I am desperately seeking a filly I sold last year to a woman who claimed she wanted a dressage prospect so she purchased my filly for a hefty price but the idiot bred her instead as a yearling! I am desperately trying to get my filly back.This woman had this filly & her mangy part bred fugly at her side on Dream Horse & when my friend tried to buy her she mentioned my name & the idiot went blank and took all the info off line & would not sell the filly to her. I put a halt to her registration through our Welsh Society & Evreything else I could think of but to no avail. I just want my poor little Welsh Cob mare home again safe out of the hands of ignorance. I checked this woman out , went to her farm, just about everything you can possibly do next to doing a criminal back ground check. Then through the grapevine I heard she was for sale with foal at foot. She was A yearling Last year and now a mama this year! I could just Beat that bitch blind! So selling at high end & back ground checks with sales contracts don’t always work , this is the main reason I quit breeding my Cobs, I can’t bare the thought of ignorant fools degrading them & selling them to any tom dick or harry .
When people who are ignorant about horse care in the first place get a divorce … then horses REALLY suffer. My sister acquired an unhandled paint-arab cross filly from such a situation several years ago. The poor kid had literally grown into her halter; even as a 4 year old mare, she had these faint halter dents on her nose.
BTW, this is my first post to your blog, Fugly. I’ve been lurking for a long while now, and have been appreciating what you are doing to inform the masses about responsible horse care. Heck, you’ve even changed my (typically solid) opinion on certain things. Whenever I can, I try and get new horse owners to follow this blog.
Oh, I wish I could take that Gulch gelding! For the sake of my checking account, its a good thing he is clear across the country. LOVE the Mr. Prospector line!
Wow. How sobering.
Quite a few people around here get their horses at auction, or thru bizarre handshake deals, trades for goats/hay/truck parts…. and of course SELL their horses that way too. *sigh*
Hey: I’m a newbie to the whole auction process, yet I would still like to rescue a horse from the KB but I’m freaked more by getting something dangerous and crazy. I have three kids (13, 9 and 5) and they WANT to ride, so I need to find something safe. Is it a good idea to even look at the local auction? What tips do you have for not ending up having made a horrible mistake. I Know there are no guarantees with anything, I’m just looking for some wisdom and words of advice. I’m also looking at rescues in the southwestern Ontario Canada area so if anyone knows of a solid rescue I’d love to hear about it. Thanks for the help!!
OMG I wish I could have that gorgeous Gulch gelding and I am not too far away…. He’s lovely and I can’t believe where he ended up!!!! Amazing really and terribly sad.
mommyrides the only horse rescue I know in Ontario is http://www.refugerr.org/
If you want a cute little baby horsey, there are plenty at the Last Chance Corral in Athens, OH, about February thru June each and every year. This year they had less than last year, that can either be bad or good. Either people are finally opening their eyes about breeding or the economy sucks so bad that they couldn’t afford to save more. They just put up a new video of the babes from this year, http://www.lastchancecorral.org
ps don’t forget to check out Spencers video.
I was at the Tofield auction. So many sad faces. I fell in love with an older grey mare, she didn’t get a home
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There was a very nice arabian gelding that went through.. WITH PAPERS. He was show quality, fat and looked like he was well taken care of. I don’t think he got a home either. I had to sit on my hands during that one. This horse would have been bred and promoted as “Rarest of the Rare” and all the catch phrases the SE people like to use. IF he was riden through he would have been assured of a home.
Papers and bloodlines certainly help sell horses but ONLY training will guarentee a home when they hit this auction.
Kristine
I should have added that the 12 year old with the melanomas had been through before a few months ago. He was bought for 10 dollars that day. My friend really wanted to buy him (he is suposed to be sweet and broke) but she had to leave before he came on. I think he may have gotten a home though and not went with the KB.
Kristine
Just checking to see if I’ve gotten registered correctly.
“MOMMYRIDES: Hey: I’m a newbie to the whole auction process, yet I would still like to rescue a horse from the KB but I’m freaked more by getting something dangerous and crazy. I have three kids (13, 9 and 5) and they WANT to ride, so I need to find something safe. Is it a good idea to even look at the local auction? What tips do you have for not ending up having made a horrible mistake. I Know there are no guarantees with anything, I’m just looking for some wisdom and words of advice. I’m also looking at rescues in the southwestern Ontario Canada area so if anyone knows of a solid rescue I’d love to hear about it. Thanks for the help!!”
HEY!! I just wanted to get your attention. I’m the one that sits at the auction LOOKING for the horses I KNOW will go to the KB. Last year, I bought a 3yo APHA filly and a grade red roan yearling colt, both unbroken. The filly had never been messed with and was markedly thin. The colt, still a stud, had been fooled with, but I didn’t know the extent. After the sale, I was told by some of the KB’rs that my filly had been stunted, and the colt was crippled. Yes, my filly was stunted, but I felt I could do something to save her.
I didn’t have a trailer, I didn’t have a place to keep them. It took me a week to go pick them up from the lot. A year later, I still have the filly, and she’s in good enough shape and emotional stability that I am sending her to a very close friend and reining cow horse trainer to be broke. She was absolutely wild when I first got her, and I have to admit, I was a little scared. But putting her in a stall, it only took me 4 days to put a synthetic kids saddle on her and have her lunging quite nicely. She still gets kinda spooky, but never goofy. She has never tossed her head at me in disrespect, ever offered to kick, buck, or bite, and is gentle as the day is long. I deem this to the fact that she knows I saved her life. For $100. The more and more I fooled with my colt, I KNEW he’d been someone’s pet. He wasn’t crippled, my vet told me that he was a little stocked up on a hind leg from the trailer, and within the week, the swelling was gone, and he NEVER limped on it. You can see a video of him as a coming-two yo on youtube.com if you search “axe stud colt”. It should show a picture of a red roan colt with 2 little girls. I sold him to a wealthy family with a notable reputation in September, 3 months after buying him, for $600. All for my heart-wrench and $40. Yes, forty dollars.
My buying a horse at a sale is simply my intuition. But I have a way with handling, that even the most dominant horses like to behave. I give lots of rubs, and lots of rest when I’m handling them, and usually, if you can evade the injured horses (even horses with past injuries that are kid safe are still ok for them to pony around on as long as they aren’t too heavy.) you can make a great horse out of any horse, as horses are creatures of repetition and habit. Good luck to you, and I really am thankful that you are choosing to buy from an auction to save a life! Just remember that not all horses at auction have a real reason to be there other than irresponsible previous owners!
It took me a while to figure out what ‘untouched’ even MEANT in this context. Christ on a tricycle. Then again I live in the Netherlands, where very few people have land of their own anyway, and even less people would see the point of having horses they can’t actually touch…
I just wanted to wish good luck to Showmetheponies for finding your Cob filly. Poor thing. I’m just going to hug my sweet Cob goof and tell him he’s not going anywhere.
It amazes me ho people can breed, and never bother to work with, or train the horse.
Check out these ads found on craigslist!
http://grandisland.craigslist.org/grd/1330510378.html
http://grandisland.craigslist.org/grd/1330490241.html
Geez
I should have proof read before I posted!
Auctions here can go anyway. If there are alot of horse owners there, training is a good thing, but the KB’s we have will bid on anything that isnt being bid on by someone else. Our KB’s will usually stop bidding if they know a family wants the horses. Plenty of horses that arent being bid, so they can get up to 60% of the horses at each auction. This is what I have observed in Wakon, Iowa and also in Richland Center, WI. It doesnt matter that they are trained or papered. Boy I see alot of higher bids from the KB’s from this report. Makes me think they are going to try to turn them around. Our KB’s dont usually go over $200.00 to ensure they make a profit in either selling them at the next auction or to the slaughter market. Lots of people wont even bother to register the weanlings at all around here. They know they wont get more than about $100.00 for them and lately they go for about $20-30 each. Adoptions way down in our area. We are all trying to make sure our horses are trained to ride at the very least. Learning alot from all of you readers and that is a good thing!
http://www.2ndchancehorserescue.org
I have a few very nice horses up for adoption and some i hope to get some sponsors on. I am re-doing my website so that its easier to follow. Should be done by this week! I finally got PayPal up! Anyone in the area who would like to visit, please do so! I am a nonprofit horse rescue and would like to continue for as long as I can! Volunteers and donations are needed for every rescue! Yes, its sometimes hard to tell the good ones out there and not so good ones. the horse that had the hoof come off? Why did he get to that point at this rescue? I just dont understand! I would put him down. But how did he look so good when he came into the program and then looked so horrible? Maybe they are trying to save him because of the way he got?? this is too sad. But i would love to hear the other side of the story. I found being in this business not to judge too much until i get the whole story. Is there an explanation from this rescue?
Jenny Pulvermacher
I raised this horse, Scarp, while working at Woodsedge farm in 2002. He was foaled there, know his mama well. I have sent an email to the farm, and have the original owners number as well. He was a baby doll of a horse from the time he hit the ground.
I was told by the secretary at the farm that she forwarded my email and the links to Scarps page on to the breeder.
I love and hate reading the auction reports occasionally on the blog. It’s truly sad to see nice horses be run through and sold like they are merchandise. I have consigned my 2 yr old gelding to a registered cataloged horse sale coming up in October and I’m very interested to see what the prices are like at the sale. He’s very well bred with his dam earning over $26k & Sire earning $60k & an NRHA leading sire. I’m doing as much as possible to ensure him a good home. He will be clean, shaven, and obviously handled by sale time. I hope this horse goes to someone who will show him, I’m only selling him because he’s a higher caliber then I’m ready for. I’ve set a high reserve on him and have no problems with bringing him home. I don’t think it’s always a bad this to sell at an auction, but you have to take your time in choosing the auction best suited for your horse.
the usual KB at Tofield is a man named Walter. And if he picks up a horse you want if you catch him at the sale he will sell it to you for $20 over what he paid. if you are there, just go tap him on the shoulder and ask. I’ve picked up a quite a few that really bothered me that way. He also does broker some horses so not everything he picks up is going for meat, but at this time of the year most of them are.
Westonsmom, personally I would not recommend you get an auction horse unless you have a lot of experience. A lot of them are drugged so they’ll be quiet in the ring or to mask chronic lameness. There are some guys who buy cheap youngsters put 30 days on them in a small ring and then resell them at the next sale; ridden in to be sure, but their only riding has been in a pen similar to the sales ring so they look great, but you get them out on a trail and they havent a clue. Find a reputable rescue that pulls from auctions if you want to save from the KB. if you adopt a horse they’ve already checked out,not only do you make sure you are getting a suitable horse for your family, but you make room for them to save another…so you are saving from auction really. But if you do go, take someone who’s familiar with auctions and keep a low profile regarding which horses interest you… if the wrong person overhears you like a particular horse there is a good chance someone will bid against you to jack the price up. Usually the first few horses go cheap and you’ll find the last horses go cheap as pretty much everyone but the KB’s get bored and go home. Good luck either way.
Hello. I was wondering. Is there any horse auctions near the LA county area. I am really interested in buying a younger horse or rescuing a younger horse. Does anyone have any ideas? Or websites I can look at?
I live in Tofield, and I have two horses we rescued five years ago from that exact auction. They were registered Arabian horses. Together, they were $1675. Now, they both compete at Spruce Meadows… not bad for outbidding the meat buyer.
Oh, for the record the woman that sells these horses:
4 yr old TB gelding. 16.2 -16.3 HH. Totally kid proof. 7 yr old rode him in. Rode him bareback. Crawled underneath him. Rode him in bridle. $ 850 – went to a home
I’ve seen her around. GREAT horses. Never understood why they went so low. If she ever sold a Warmblood that had jumping potential, I’d buy it in an instant.