Auction Report: British Columbia
Nov 29 2009
3 year old reg QH filly, BRED for a may baby. Partly bagged up, HUGE belly, dropped, looked close to foaling p/o #$300
QH/Percheron gelding, kids’ lesson horse, rode through, very skinny, in his 20′s body score of 2 sold for $25
Grade quiet gaited gelding. Rode through, body score 3, start of DSLD? sold to trail riding outfit
Quiet reg QH dun mare, 2 year old. Cute, good weight. No sale
Monty, teeth floated Swollen sheath TB/Morgan, bcs of 3 $175 KB
Reg QH bay mare, 8 year old, nice looking been used as broodmare $325 rode through
4 year old sorrel reg QH mare. Used on ranch, well broke, swung a rope off it, $1000 to trail riding outfit
6 year old paint, rides good, good weight no sale @ $1000
2 year old Reg QH filly no sale @ 450
10 year old Morgan cross, rode through, good weight $450 kb?
Cute cute older white pony, kid rode through $300
Grade 11 year old rode through, good shape $350 kb?
3 year old roan Hancock bred, used on ranch, very nice, no sale at $1050
4 year old, huge build rode through, good weight no sale $900
Tall 10 year old 16.1hh appy geld. Sold for $350
Jet black geld. Kid rode through, older horse $350 sold to trail riding outfit
Fjord 12 year old rode through $550
Lead through grade $300 kb
Rode through reg QH, real quiet 3 year old no sale @ $275
ancient grey draft x, kid rode $150 didnt see who bought
blind in one eye appy, rode through, used on dude ranch, was rode in a halter, real quiet mare no sale @ 350
22 year old body score of 2 QH geld. Lady bought him for $75
Bay mare, rode through, 19 years no sale @375
13 year old stocky reg QH geld, rode through, looked like a hot horse. Sold $750
Black mini mare, bites $250
15 year old Standardbred gelding, raced and sound but had huge scar on inside hock. Rode through $500
Skinny gelding bcs of 2, bites, sire Couer de Lion. Reg. sporthorse. (took video) $150 to kb
17 year old rode through grade gelding $350 KB
Extremely skinny $25 (see video)
Appy, thin, 20′s, used for gymkhana $350
125 comments to “Auction Report: British Columbia”
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Where was this auction at Fugs? Canada has a better market no doubt. I have lots of Canadian buyers lately, they want the “good deals” on show horses down here. Even the pleasure horses that used to bring $1500-$3500 before our crisis are selling to them for $800-$1000 and they love the deal.
Least this auction seemed to bring a few more dollars and homes.
Now look if you will (talking to everyone in general) at the price of the KB horses at this auction. It gives you a pretty good idea on the profit margin of KB horses from the states that go up there for slaughter. The KB’s up there just haul them right up to Alberta for kill. Just like the “old days” here when no matter what kind of horse it was, the KB would pay those same prices and more…..
Just a observation.
I’m sorry, these auction report threads really depress me. This world is just such a dangerous place for animals.
They are sad. I just hope they make people who read this blog THINK before they:
a. Breed – are you really making a creature that will have a high enough value not to wind up here? Do you have what it takes to provide the training, etc. that will ramp up its value?
b. Dump their old horse via Craigslist, etc. rather than paying for retirement board or euthanasia.
c. Trust a “good home” and not make them sign a contract and not follow up. One day in the near future I will be talking about the 4th level dressage, Dutch Warmblood mare that we pulled out of a “good home” recently. She had to be euthed.
If these reports have that effect, I will be happy I posted them.
I agree with you that I hope it makes people think, but thoughtful breeding isn’t the entire answer, as you know. That Trak mare looked fairly nice, and warmbloods aren’t usually a dime a dozen (unless we’re talking the jugheaded “out of Washington, by Truck” variety)
Oh man. Did someone rescue that black 12 year old draft? I cant get that one out of my head. Do you know any more about it? If we can get it over to MI I have a place to keep and care for it. Just dont have the shipping funds. =(
I had the dismal experience of watching the Colorado Centennial Auction online about 2 weeks ago. It really made me hate people. About a dozen horses went through at the end of the livestock and only one had papers, none were even led in, all were chased through, none had a back story or any information on the horse. They were not starved and were from at least 4 different locations. Only one was OK looking, the others were pretty unremarkable mainly plain and chestnut (though one was a prettily marked appy). None appeared lame, though it is hard to tell online. The most expensive was 210.00 and most were under 75.00. That is to say, most were less expensive than a decent GOAT.
Or even a decent Coat. Sad.
No, they were all less expensive than a decent goat! Show quality goats go from $600 and up and up!
I still meet people who think a mare has no use except to make babies and they want the mare to be usefull.
Or they have to sell a mare they can’t afford to feed and guess what? She’s been bred.
That video of the auction killed me! I wish I was in the State to help these poor horses! I know we have them here in Australia but I really don’t believe we have the volume that you do in the States. My partner and I have just bought a 25 acre property and we are setting it up for horses and with the ability to take in two rescue horses at a time. We have set out a quarntine area, steel rails and posts so they can easily be disinfected if needs be. Different sized paddocks for different uses. I also have my trainer lined up to help me with them. She is happy to help train them for a lesser fee. I think it will still be 12 months away but I feel happy that we can do something to help!
I shouldn’t have watched that video, that chestnut horse at 2:15 reminds me a lot of my first horse, which makes me very sad
That trakenher mare looked so sweet…..and I hate seeing oldies at auctions
I just got a Trakhner mare in on a breeding lease and the Trakhner mare in the video choked me up. My mare was an “owner surender” in that the previous owner stopped paying board TWO YEARS AGO! If it weren’t for a kind lady that ownes the boarding facility, I shudder to think what could have become of this sweet mare.
Yeah, I see a lot of situations like that – the kind hearted barn owner will take the time to find a real home, but others just run the horse to the sale. It’s hard because I DON’T think a b.o. should be stuck paying someone else’s bill forever…I mean, you can’t do that, you have to make a living…but I really appreciate when someone has the decency to take a little time and effort to rehome an abandoned horse and not just auction it.
Somewhat similiar thing happened to a mare at the barn I used to ride at…a friend of a friend of the barn owner ran into “financial trouble” (I have a feeling she just really wanted to dump the mare) and asked if she could board the horse at the barn for a few months because she had to sell her property. The mare came, and the owner paid for a few months, but she just seemed to disappear. Stopped paying board, and the barn manager couldn’t make contact with her. Luckily for the mare the owner of the barn and manager decided to keep her as a lesson horse for the more advanced riders. She was such a sweetheart, and is now loved by many who shower her with carrots
Fugly,
Where is this in B.C? I didn’t realize there were any horse auctions outside of AB. The most annoying part is how many elderly ones there were going through!
How come people refuse to just let them live after they have given their productive years? I am so frustrated at the ads “Ready for Dobbin to go on to teach another young girl to ride. He is only 29! Bombproof, blind in one eye, and lame at anything other than a walk. Only $350 to a good home! or trade for a younger, sound, new horsie for me to play with.”
Pisses me off.
There are a lot of auctions, or there used to be 10 years ago or so when I’d go with my Mom, in the Abbotsford and Aldergrove areas. I imagine they’re still happening there.
I was at an auction a couple of weeks ago in Southern Ontario. Average price was about .30-.35 / lb. The horses were driven through as opposed to being led. Very very sad! Standardbreds with racing plates still on, thoroughbreds, drafts, ponies….. Two KB were in attendance.
WoW! I am heartbroken watching this video. The first draft that sold for a mere $25! He was a nice looking horse with a kind eye. I can’t even buy a good pair of jeans for that price. I don’t know if the woman leading the horses around (and who had a very sad attempt at mounting bareback…) worked at the auction or if she’s the one selling several of those horses but she seemed a little too happy to be there! People suck!
That black TB mare to the KB? Are they freakin serious? She’d gorgeous! My heart is breaking for all of them.
If anyone knows of a safe kids first pony that is under 15 years old and pretty little (its for a very young girl) please let me know! Thanks! my email is palominopamela@yahoo.com
OH and Im in OR.
I feel so bad watching the doomed horses. I’m glad the people with the appies had the sense to keep them. I would have loved that black TB broodmare.
Did that auction have different numbers for the KB? Here you can tell which horses are meant for slaughter by their number usually. It will be 231straight for slaughter horses and 231-1, 231-2, etc. for resale horses (the 1,2,3 are the pens). Most KBs are not adverse to reselling even the slaughter horses (unless coggins positive which may have been those “meat horses”) so being sold to them doesn’t necessarily mean they are going to kill. But yeah, figger the odds… =(
You can tell when the main KB here has bought a horse because they use his first name, not a number. He then has a number after his name that he probably uses to sort what he’s bought. He has several different numbers that follow his name, I have no idea which number is which classification.
Oh yeah, seeing those old horses go through just pisses me off! HELLO PEOPLE! Most buyers don’t go to an auction looking for an old pasture ornament!!!!
You know Fugs, you may have done a world of good posting this video. I read your auction reports all the time. But to actually SEE the types of horses that are going through is just heartbreaking. Most of them aren’t hideous, lots of them are actually nice, healthy looking animals. Noted especially that black TB mare (at about 1 min. in), the chestnut TB (at 2 min in) and that 9-year-old chestnut Trakhaner mare with the blaze (at 2:40 in) – good looking horses, seemed to have nice manners, and they’ll see their last day at a slaughterhouse. This has to stop.
These posts just break my heart. Seems even worse with video
I notice that the same girl lead through many of the kill buy horuses. I hope she goes to hell….literally. Things like this are why, while I don’t have a formal will, I do have formal instructions on what happens to my horses if anything happens to me. I have an OTTB that cannot be ridden due to injury. I’ve had him since he was a yearling. I would sooner he be humanely put down, than to ever have him take his chances at auction should he outlive me. When is this insanity with backyard breeding and disposing of animals like garbage ever going to end?
And I’ll betcha most of these poor (bred) creatures came from someone who said: “Lets breed them so I can have a Kyoot baby.” If you want a baby, ToysRus has tons of them. Way cheaper in the long run and you can toss them out just the same.
I once was asked if I wanted to attend a breeding — in a round pen. No thank you. A 30yo no-name WB, his first cover, and a done-nothing TB mare they found. So they gathered their children around to watch this miracle event and the party began. Guess where the horse is today? You cannot stop stupid.
Everything we do, no matter how screwed up it is, no matter what the consequences, it’s simply to make us feel good (for the moment).
I love these auctions. Such a class act. The bottom of the bottom.
And I’ll betcha most of these poor (bred) creatures came from someone who said: “Lets breed them so I can have a Kyoot baby.†If you want a baby, ToysRus has tons of them. Way cheaper in the long run and you can toss them out just the same.
I once was asked if I wanted to attend a breeding — in a round pen. No thank you. A 30yo no-name WB, his first cover, and a done-nothing TB mare they found. So they gathered their children around to watch this miracle event and the party began. Guess where the horse is today? You cannot stop stupid.
Everything we do, no matter how screwed up it is, no matter what the consequences, it’s simply to make us feel good (for the moment).
I love these auctions. Such a class act. The bottom of the bottom.
Well said, drsgjunky. I agree with you completely. I’ve gotten to thinking lately. Fugs, I think you should post these videos more often, and perhaps even on Youtube. The more people see this, the better. It has a lot more impact than simple text. To actually SEE so many of these poor horses going to their gruesome executions will be what sticks with people.Also, I’m sure that I’m not the first person to have this thought, but I’d dearly love to round up a bunch of idiot backyard breeders (and hell, maybe even some so-called “top breeders” QH HYPP +halter breeders that create those HIDEOUS musclebound freaks of nature that bear a closer resemblance to beef cattle than horses spring to mind here) and take them on a little tour of a slaughterhouse. Oh, you want to breed your fugly little grade mare Missy to that rank stud Buddy for a pretty spotted baby? Where do you think that fugly grade baby’s gonna end up? Well, it’s not going to end up performing on the Grand Prix Dressage Circuit, I’ll tell you that much. Odds are good he’ll end up on a steak plate in France or ground up into a can of Alpo. Oh, but Beauty’s a good horse! She’ll find a great home! She’s only 29! I think that so many people out there need reality checks in the worst way, and be faced with the ultimate consequences of THEIR actions, and that another innocent living creature is going to suffer and die horribly because of THEM. These poor creatures certainly didn’t choose to have a bolt shot into their skull and then have their throats slit.These people, people that BREED low-quality horses and those that choose to use up and DUMP their old or lame horses should be forced to look. Look upon the suffering THEY have wrought.
Were I to win the lottery overnight, I would open up a farm just for old horses, and give them the peaceful, quiet, dignified retirements they so richly deserve. After all, shouldn’t they be entitled to live out their last few years in comfort? I guess not. I may not be a vegetarian, but there’s a line that sticks with me that I think applies here: “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone woul be a vegetarian.”There may not be glass slaughterhouses, but I think more video of the horrors of what horses in the slaughterhouse should be more widely distributed. Yes it’s nothing short of shocking, sickening, and horrifyingly barbaric to watch, but the very LEAST these horses deserve is for us NOT to look away and not flinch in the face of their suffering. Because ultimately, THEY are at OUR mercy. And yet, we as humans choose to show them none. We would deny them the dignity of a quick, painless, humane death via euthanasia or even a well placed bullet all in the name of the almighty dollar. I know many thousands of dogs and cats die in shelters every day, and yet even they are given the final mercy of a quick, painless death. Horses are not so fortunate. Yes, we as humans have made great strides in animal welfare, but we’ve got a long way to go.I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but damn it. That video killed me inside to watch.
This is why I can’t set foot into the auction yard. There are so many horses that went to the KB that really shouldn’t have (which is all of them, but some looked pretty darn good), I know I would have made a very heartfelt but financially stupid decision.
Can you tell us where in BC this auction was? I live in BC and would really like to know.
Man, That is heartbreaking!
I wish I could of saved them all…
That old mare looked kind…I wish people would try to find ways to avoid that…
Gosh, even euth. would of been better than a scary kill pen…I just don’t have the heart to send a horse to auction…I would much rather euth them…then send them to a terrifying death…:0( Now…I am sad:0(
This auction took place in Armstrong, BC. I wasn’t present, but it is right near where I live. It is in the Okanagan Valley.
I know three of the horses that ran through. One of them I rode extensively at a trail riding establishment (I volunteered there for 2 summers.) The person who took one of them KNEW that she was probably going to kill but took her anyways. She also took home another horse later that day, *sigh* w/e. I wish I was older and have sufficient ressources to take in more horses.
What were the names of those three horses? Or their descriptions? Or even the initials of the ranch where the trail rides took place. It all adds up to be the place where I live now but I need it to be clear that the trail riding was subcontracted out and we have since removed it from our property as we do not condone this type of horse care. (Not the trail riding, as it can be done commercially and humanely. It was the “horsemanship” and off season care that was unacceptable.)
Awww, Sh**. I should not have watched that video. Thing is, I would KILL for a Couer De Lion baby, he has produced some very nice get. It just goes to show what a problem we have in this industry. Even a well bred horse can easily end up with a one way ticket to the meat factory. And for something as silly as biting. Something that could easily be trained out of a horse, who is probably in a naughty baby phase anyhow. And if the horse is actually a dangerous biter, then the owner should be responsible and put him down not potentially pass him on to some unsuspecting person. God forbid that people take responsibility for the horses they bring into this world. People make me sick sometimes.
I wondered a bit about that horse. The Couer de Lion website has a page dedicated to his offspring. I wonder if they know where this one has ended up? I wonder if they’d be interested in taking him back if they’re not the ones who sent him there?
The old pony mare at the beginning of the video went for $575 to a private home. There are actually horses that were listed as sold to KB that were NOT. Some that are listed as sold to KB were sold to either private buyers or horse dealers. Not all of our horse dealers up here are KB’s and our biggest KB is happy to let you buy whatever from him right out of his pen in addition to selling lots of horses privately rather than shipping them.
In the video, you see one woman a taking horses through a bunch of times. many of these are the ‘lead throughs’ (i.e. the Trakhener). She works for the auctions and it’s a lot harder to bid on what you see her taking in, because there is NO OWNER to tell you anything about the horse. A lot of these horses would fair better if you could get some info on them, they could even be broke, but how do you know that when they are just dropped off? This really irks me, because many times I’ve been very interested in bidding on a horse like this, but it’s such a risk when they are older and you can’t get any info.
I’ve been to a number of auctions where there are horses listed as KB only. The owners do this so that they will know that the horse will not go on to a home where it will be used, for whatever reason (maybe they are using it so they can think the horse has been ‘euthanized’). The ridiculous thing is that anyone can still bid on the horse, as there is no stipulation as to who can or can’t bid on a ‘meat only’ horse.
I bought 2 foundered ponies off the kill buyer at a sale that had meat only tages on them. Very fat crusty necks, well with proper timming and a diet they are now awsome lesson ponies. Speeking of kill buyers re selling horses, one of the kill buyers in northern Ab and Bc buys cheap broke horses all the time and his partner in this business brings them back as soon as the market goes up (spring sales). He claims that he bought them as 2 yr olds and used them on his feed lot. Well after seeing him at 7 sales last year with 10-15 horses at each sale that were well broke then you start to catch on. Especially after you see him sitting next to our kill buyer as he bids on these broke horses.
Personally I don’t mind our kill buyer other then he is a kill buyer. He’s really good about letting people buy horses that they missed out of the kill pen. He once bought 2 warmblood mares that I was looking at. On the manifest all is said was 2 warmblood mares and I really don’t need more horses. I couldn’t get ahold of the number that was listed and wanted more info before I bought them but after the sale I got ahold of her, found out that they were both papered and their ages and he gave them to me for the same price he paid for them.
Yeah, I rarely have a big issue with the kill buyer. As I’ve said before, the KB is the garbage man. He’s not the asshat who put the horse out with the trash. The people who dump their horses at the auction are the ones with blood on their hands.
Unless the KB pulls every trick he can think of to line his pockets…if our KB was like that I would have no problem with him.
*sniff* So sad. Wish I could take them all. It’s hard to believe such nice horses are going for meat. After all of Fugs pounding it into our heads, I really had no idea; this vid really brings it home.
“QH/Percheron gelding, kids’ lesson horse, rode through, very skinny, in his 20’s body score of 2 sold for $25″
This one just broke my heart….this horse DESERVES better…if he has been a lesson horse, if he is safe for kids to start on….he is PRICELESS in my humble opinion…..I would have taken him home in a heart beat….I hope he went to a nice place with people who will treat him with the dignity he deserves……somehow….I doubt that’s what happened…
I will NEVER be able to wrap my brain around how people can toss away these horses who seriously owe them nothing……people suck….
I teared up watching horse after horse go to kill buyers. Not just the scared wild ones, all trying to cower behind one another, but also the trained ones. It’s really discouraging to see their poor faces and know they are headed for a horrible end.
I’ve always thought that when I can afford a second horse, I’m going to rescue again, from auction if necessary. But obvious, if a video affects me this way, I’ll need to toughen up before I go there in person! Those of you who go all the time — how do you do it?
i try not to think about the ones going for meat and just look at the ones going to homes. It’s hard and normally every auction I go to I end up taking one of the sad ones home.
You just go and think about the fact that if ONE gets out because of you, it was worth it. Look at it this way: If a house was burning and you had time to save one child out of six, you’d do it, wouldn’t you? That’s how I look at it. I cannot win the war, I cannot fix the entire problem, but I know that ONE might be safe because I bothered to get involved.
I mean, here’s a friend’s mare…just saw her a few weeks ago. She came off a kill pen in 2006. This is how she looks now. She’s owned by an 11 year old who loves her to pieces. She was an old ranch horse who probably never had a carrot in her life. Now, she has a pink camo blanket. She lives in an upscale barn surrounded by five-figure warmbloods and she thinks she’s better than any of them.
And she is absolutely RIGHT!!!
She has earned her position, those fancy warmbloods just sauntered into it.
Let’s see where they are in 20 years time though, pedigree and blue blood tastes just as good as Mutt to a KB, after all.
I used to but ponies off our KB all the time when I was a kid, he just used to drop off anything he thought would be of use to us, I’d get home and find a pony in the barn that wasn’t there in the morning!! Prices were always fair and many times he would wait til I had backed, trained and sold on before he got paid, so there are good ones out there as well as the bad and the ugly.
The only grievance I have with KBs is the way they handle and transport the animals.
If everything was as, by law , it should be, I would have no problem with slaughter at all, I have said many times before that I rarely care what happens to the animal, once it is, humanely, dead.
Someone wants to eat my well cared for and humanely euthanized animal, that’s fine by me.
Someone wants to shove anything on a double decker and prod it with electric cattle prods, transport it without water and miss the spot when euthanizing, they have a fight on their hands!!!
I had to quit watching the video about a minute in. I’m not tough enough! When I’m able to provide for a horse, then I’ll send a knowledgeable person to the auction for me. Somehow I don’t think sobbing and bidding are too compatible!
what happenned to the trak. mare?? is this some sad shit or what?? this is why i cant go to these things. or see them…. .the seniors just break my heart. why cant these people just put them down or find a nice rescue… or some private farm that would take them for lessons and give them a forever home. whats wrong with these people?? well i wont be sleeping easy tonight thats for sure.
Does anyone have the Grand Prairie Alberta auction report from Nov 28th. I wasn’t able to make it there, but heard that they were going for nothing. Good saddle horses for $500.
So sad. So many cute horses.
I can barely afford my horse’s board but I sure as hell wouldn’t want him ending up in the hands of the KB and he’s nothing special so I am too afraid to let him go… to anyone! I know all too well how the “good home” stories sometimes end…
Too sad. The ones that really got me were the two “meat horses.” They looked like best buddies and were just too adorable…reminded me of my girls looking for treats how they were sniffing at the crowd. What a tearjerker. How you could just take your horses and dump them at an auction for kill is beyond me. I hope some holiday miracle happens that all those poor horses find a forever home. People suck.
I am going to go to bed and finish crying by myself.
What a horrible way to ‘get rid’ of a companion. Auctions seems to be very common in America whereas here in Australia we have them but they are few and far between (thankfully). I know America’s much bigger population (humans & horses) is the reason but it’s still a horrible way of disposing of such an intelligent creature and I know some people have no choice but surely the mentality of “shute! if it has four legs, let’s breed it” is a shameful blight on any country’s copybook.
Thankfully, Fugly and heaps of others are trying to educate people away from this less than ideal notion where the losers are always the horses and the ignorant breedaholics continue relatively unchecked.
Very very sad …….
Oh that made me a little sick. I live in BC and I know that there was also a horse auction in Langley earlier today. A mare a lady at my barn was supposed to go look at ended up there and it makes me ill to think she might have gone to kill. I was looking for her in the report before I read this one was from the Interior.. so sad, all around.
This is so sad! It just breaks my heart to think about those poor horses. Especially the “meat horses.” What got me were that the “Colored” horses (buckskin maybe, I’m not willing to watch the video again to see) sold for $350 while their sorrel friend sold for 150 to the KB. I wonder if whoever bought them got them to breed color and make more horses that this world doesn’t need. The TB’s were beautiful! I wonder if anyone even tried to contact the person who bred them to see if they wanted them back? Some farms will take them back. The old ones break my heart the most, they have done everything they were suppose to do just to be dumped when they weren’t needed anymore. I don’t understand how people can do that to their horses? This makes me want to hurt someone!
Yep, thoroughly depressing that. And BC? From the price of horses in Ontario, I had hoped the Canadian market was a little better off than this.
I think some of the rational for this ‘dump the senior citizen’ baloney comes from the fact that some people still consider horses ‘livestock’. When a laying hen stops laying, she ends up in a roasting pan, and when a horse stops doing whatever it is its owners expect it to do, it gets shipped off to the auction. I’ve had discussions about this with people before, and I have to admit I had a really hard time arguing my position with people who felt no qualms about sending their aging equine to auction because they were slowing up, I suppose because it bothers me on an emotional level. How can you not bond with an animal you’ve had for even a few months? How do you talk to someone about being a responsible owner when they don’t seem to feel anything for that animal?
I know the local KB here where I live. He’s a pretty decent dude, actually does like horses. He calls me on and off when he’s got something to pick up that he thinks is a shame to ship. (Not that they all don’t have feelings…but you know what I mean)
He called me a while back with a warm blood mare that had a slight bucking issue. He said he could make a “few bucks” from her, but the owner who surrendered her to him begged him to try to find her a home. I have NO idea why the lady needed to resort to calling Gary, but none-the-less, he called me right away and told me the story and how the owner cried and he felt bad. I could have taken her home and made a few bucks on resale after her training issue was resolved, and she WAS a gorgeous black and shiny mare….but I simply don’t have the room for all of them either….
He was willing to GIVE the horse to me or anyone I could find that could offer her a home. I gave out his phone number for a couple clients, don’t know what ended up with her. Sometimes I need NOT know so I can sleep at night…. *sigh* But he tried….he probably kept her himself for a bit and tried….but I know he doesn’t have room either….his own horses are spoiled and happy….weird to think that huh?
They are not all heartless….like Fugs says…they are the garbage men doing a job. Just like anyone else, horse dealers, lawyers, preachers….there are good and bad I suppose. Least this one has a conscience.
Hi justanarabgal,
Chances are the bucking problem is PSSM, very common in warmbloods, the condition is from the horse not being able to handle starch in his diet. A low carb diet (NO GRAIN AT ALL) and high fat could be all that is needed, it would take a few weeks and some bute but the horse may be fine!
I did not watch the video (there ARE advantages to still having dial-up), but I know how I would react. This is why I do not GO to auctions. I would bring them ALL home. Impossible to rescue them all, but by golly I’d be there with the busiest bidding number in the stands.
The issue is turning them into horses like the old ranch horse with the pink camo blanket, given a job to do and a fine place to live, provided by someone who “loves them to pieces.” And Fugs is right. KBs can be SOBs, but they aren’t the ones who create the problem. They are the ones making cleaning up the “mess” someone ELSE created and then threw away.
My heart breaks for that $25 Perch/QH cross… he looks so much like my very favorite horse friend and former coworker, Bud (now a retired 1800 lb, 25 year old bay Belgian/Morgan cross).
Likewise, I am so sad about those other drafties… The black Perch… The 22-yo grey Percheron mare, who may not have gone somewhere nice … and especially that last really fat grey Percheron who went to the KB for $400. The drafties are at such a disadvantage because the well-kept ones will bring twice as much as the throwaway normal sized horses, because they weigh twice as much. Twice as much meat on the hoof, and so it’s more reward to the seller for throwing their horses away to the KBs, and less likely that the KB is going to be outbid by someone looking for a cheap companion horse / trail horse / pasture ornament / rescue.
Seeing those nice horses go to KBs was the worst. It’s truly one thing to read the auction reports, but videos and going out there yourself is a whole new experience. We need more videos out there to show how awful it all is.
Wow, the kill buyers are spending a lot more money there than in the US. Hell, the KBs can get a ton of horses for free! It’s so sad…
Just Say Neigh! To horse abuse and slaughter
http://www.justsayneigh.blogspot.com
Oh these are just too depressing to watch for very long!
Fugs – I agree with you and think thi sis worth repeating:
“They are sad. I just hope they make people who read this blog THINK before they:
a. Breed – are you really making a creature that will have a high enough value not to wind up here? Do you have what it takes to provide the training, etc. that will ramp up its value?
b. Dump their old horse via Craigslist, etc. rather than paying for retirement board or euthanasia.
c. Trust a “good home†and not make them sign a contract and not follow up. One day in the near future I will be talking about the 4th level dressage, Dutch Warmblood mare that we pulled out of a “good home†recently. She had to be euthed. ”
~DD
i rarely comment on the auction i attended here a few years back, when i get to the point that i can without crying till i heave, i will tell the story. i don’t know if a lot of this auction was left out, but i noticed that i didn’t see something there that i witnessed here. at the auction i attended, there were around 60 chestnut/sorrel registered “breeding stock” paints ran through in batches of 3-7. most were colts,two-three years old and all went to kill buyers.none were even halter broke. i finally figured out that these were the unwanted leftovers of the purty color breeders, raised on pasture until they were a good enough weight to command top dollar at slaughter. their sin was to born the wrong color, and they died for it. most were not fuglies either, these horses had came from top breeders somewhere, i now look upon paint breeders with a jaundiced eye, i know it’s wrong of me to lump them all in the same group, but i am not sure i would ever have a paint breeder as a friend. i hate to hear the dissapointment when someone is hoping for a certain kewt kolor and the foal is “just a chestnut” or “only a bay”. every horse bred deserves a chance to prove itself, regardless of color.
our auction was not nearly as nice, i think you might not put up my comment if i ever manage to tell the tale, this group would be horrified beyond belief. i still shudder.
I would be happy to put up the comment. I don’t think you can tell the truth too much. People NEED to know. If a horrible story scares ONE person into keeping their old horse and finding a way to come up with that extra money every month, or sending their greenie for training instead of dumping it, then we’ve accomplished a good thing. Or just not breeding if they’re not certain they can afford to do it right!
That, and the horror stories DO encourage people to work on enforcing humane treatment of auction animals. Remember, the operator of Sugar Creek got fined big-time for his abuses. Sometimes the hammer really does fall on these guys and it whacks them right where they actually DO have feelings – their wallets!
Sorry this is off-topic but may be a good new topic!
So me and my mother are going through this absolutely horrible situation at a boarding barn. We were given basically 3 days over the holidays to find a new stable and move our horses by the 21 year old spoiled unprofessional child boarding manager that knows everything. I know that we could probably fight it but it is just not worth taking the chance that she will take it out on our two horses. It has actually worked out for the better and we are getting into a stable I have been trying to get into for over 2 years, the new stable has a reputation of gold, she is described as professional, business-like, and no time for childishness and games. I have seen her place many times over the last few years and the horses are always a good weight, the grounds maintained and clean (even if they are not brand new), water is always available and clean, hay always looks good, and the manure is even cleaned up.
So to come to my point, I have done this search over and over in the last few years and heard so many stories of horse people looking for decent boarding and care who are so frustrated dealing with the same crap they are ready to get out of horses completely. By decent I mean good hay with no mold, clean water, decent fences with no barbed wire, shelter, and not standing in knee deep feces, while still having a place to ride. I have been promised so many things and gone to so many barns that looked good for the initial inspection and walk thru. A good sales person can lie through their teeth and even though I am generally good at telling a lie from truth even I get caught from time to time. A lot of what goes on is word of mouth and not everyone has access to all of the gossip and even than how do you know the gossip is even true.
So is there a way to start a boarding, breeding, training, lesson, trail-riding, basically horse anything accreditation program. Have a group that goes around and looks at a place, and stops back unannounced to put their stamp of approval so to speak on a horse operation. Accredited facilities and operations would be posted on a websight with a list of their available reasources, styles of riding, website link, and maybe 3 levels accredidation (bronze, silver, and gold). Only accredited facilities would be listed and they could loose accrediation if they do not maintian standards. You could probably charge a membership fee like they do with a lot of breed organizations. I know they do these types of things in animal research and while it does not catch everything it helps.
I don’t know just a thought and maybe it would be easier to start locally that nationally. But is would feel good to be able to take charge of so many of the things that drive us insane. It would take time for an accedidation program to gain power but eventually they are generally seen as a gold standard and people look to them first to get what they want and to make purchases and use services.
It’s a good thought. I have had terrible boarding barn experiences myself; most people have. I will do a post soon on some ways I have learned work in terms of checking out a barn BEFORE your horses are there. An accreditation program would be great. We have that now for rescues. It’s just starting, and I think it will be an extremely good thing.
If you want to start up a website, I would be MORE than happy to be your investigator in the Dallas Tx Chapter! I have been going through some major boarding issues ever since I moved here (going through one right now– moving my horse next week). It seems like they all have this honeymoon period where they want you to see that everything is just wonderful, and then they want you to just back off and let them do what they want. I have had them change my horse’s grain without telling me (one of the places ran out of pellets and gave my horse 14% sweet feed, which he’d never been on any kind of sweet feed before, and they gave him a LOT of it, and weren’t going to bother mentioning it to me until I caught it the next day), one of them decided that my horse who is on individual turnout only should be able to go out with a buddy who chased him all day (again, I showed up and caught it), and then decided that even though I had a sign on my stall saying he was on stall rest for medical reasons, they could turn him out and let him run in the mud, and then denied it even though his legs were covered in mud! And then one of the other places decided they just weren’t going to turn him out at all, so I got to where I was driving out there every day on my lunch break like some obsessed paranoid maniac to check and they’d be like “oh, we were just about to put him out…..” They are supposed to change out the water buckets, but they don’t. I rinse out my own buckets. I think it might be especially hard for me because I grew up doing self care barns where I was in charge of my own horse and I just can’t stand it when barn owners think it’s okay for them to make important decisions about my horse and not even discuss it with me. I am currently looking for my own horse property, but in the mean time I’m just trying to maintain my sanity. From what I can tell, most boarders seem more than happy to just show up on weekends and let the barn manager pretty much run the show, so when someone like me comes in who actually wants to be involved in my horse’s care, they get irritated that they actually have to maintain standards. So yes, a little accountability would be wonderful. I am more than happy to help out if you want!
Can’t read the list or watch the video, too much misery. I was a wreck the last time I did. I haven’t rescued a horse but when we went to the pound looking for a cat I took one “at risk”. Throw away animals break my heart.
“Wow, the kill buyers are spending a lot more money there than in the US. Hell, the KBs can get a ton of horses for free! It’s so sad…”
It’s arithmetic. The further the KB has to haul to the slaughterhouse, the less the horse is worth per pound at the auction. Currently, America buyers have a cross a border — and the further they are from Mexico or Canada, the less they are willing to spend.
In addition, this auction had quite a few drafters in good shape, which means more meat — the KB is paid by the pound.
This is the first time I have ever watched an auction..I just cried through the whole thing. The woman in the front row on the video got up from her seat with a smile on her face….how could anyone smile during an “exicution” ??
I wish I were in the states, I would have taken any of those horses just as a pet to love and take care of. My horse kids are in bed( stall ) now with full bellies and soft shavings, after a day of playing in the snow, and those beautiful horses are off to be slaughtered in the most painful and horrific way possible. I have homes picked out for all of my horses if I have an accident and die ….. do you? If you dont , and you are breeding YOU ARE A LOOSER. We need to make breeding illegal unless you are licenced, even then it should be limited to 2 foals per year. Anyone that takes their horse to an Auction is a worthless, lazy, cold hearted piece of SH**T.
I wouldn’t be bothered a BIT by limitations on breeding, at least until the situation improves. But try telling that to people here in the Land of the Free where nobody better tell ‘em ANYTHING about what to do with THEIR HORSES, dammit. *rolls eyes*
Sorry, but like they say, my freedom to swing my fist ends where your face begins. Some of these breeders that are popping out a dozen a year with NO plan to care for them, KNOWING they are not worth more than a couple hundred bucks at best are hitting the rest of us in the face, as far as I’m concerned. They need to be regulated.
I think the breed limitations should require stallions and mares to pass inspection for quality, but should also have cross breeding restrictions. I love that the Fjord registry and the original Freisian registry have cross breeding restrictions. If you break their rules, you get kicked out, your stallion and/or mare get kicked out, you can never register another horse in your name, none of your horse’s future babies can be registered. (someone correct me if I am not correct, I *think* that’s how it was explained to me but if someone else knows better, chime in) Now, I know there are a lot of nice crosses out there and I’m not saying to outlaw them all, but there should be some guidelines. I will never forget the day that my parents bought their first fjord horse. We brought her home to our barn and everyone who had never seen fjords before came to look at her. This one lady was a huge Arab fan, and she excitedly said “oh, wow, can you imagine crossing one with an arab?” Our response was “hahaha no!!!???” What a terrible idea! I LOVE arabs, but it would do neither breed justice to cross them. (if anyone reading this has a fjord/arab, I’m sure your horse is adorable, but let’s not promote it…) Appendix QH is a great cross and when it’s done well they could pass for warmbloods. I’ve seen some nice asb/friesian crosses, some nice TB/WB or TB/draft crosses, etc. But it needs to be done with skill and intentions for the foal’s future, not just some weird science experiment to see what it turns out like.
No way of enforcing ANY of those laws though, believe me.
All the laws to make slaughter humane are mostly in place, but none of them are enforced.
The only thing that would begin to come near being enforceable is to require a licence to own a horse, and that would just, once again, hit the people that are struggling.
Most of the people that FHOTD has highlighted are more than able to afford any of the necessary things the government might require. Until you find a way to make it a legal requirement, cut and dried, that all horses have adequate hay feed and water at all times, you have no way of getting at the people who have the money but won’t spend it on the horses.
NONE of the people highlighted for starving horses has ever been in danger of starving themselves, remember.
I was at this auction. The lady that leads through a lot of the horses also rescues quite a few and retrains/resells, so she is not a bad person. As far as dumping those skinny older horses, its very sad. I may get flamed for this, but thank god they will be put out of their misery rather then die of starvation. That doesnt make it right, they SHOULD have been euthed rather then dump them at the auction in that condition.
It is harder to see the auction vs just reading about it. So many of those horses were obviously “domesticated”…they relied on people to take care of them. I’m not as emotional about the wild ones. Not to say that they deserve the slaughter pen, it’s just that the handled ones TRUST humans…so it seems even worse to me when people fail that trust.
We already have 4 horses on 5 acres. They’re well cared for, but in today’s economy, I know we have to be careful. As much as I’d like to rescue one or more, to do so might mean that, at some point, I couldn’t feed and care for any of them properly. There’s just not enough money. So the best I can do is to make sure that none of my fuglies ever add to the unwanted horse population, either by needing to be sold or by breeding.
Cindy
I hope that people are waking up to the fact that when you breed junk and then fail to train it, you are not going to make money. How sad for the wild loose colts, as they looked to be well fed, but the fact that their owner failed to train them, was a death sentence. I assume that their owners dumped them off, glad to be rid of them now that their cute foals had turned into 800 pounds of frightened muscle, and went home to await their check, rather than to sit in the stands and hear the collective “goan” from the crowd when it was announced those big strong bruisers had had no handling.
If I was the announcer, I would have taken that oppertunity to make an announcement to the audience that it you are gonig to bred, you’d better be ready to have a plan to both take are of the resulting foal, it’s training, and it’s future – or DO NOT BREED YOUR MARE. As bad I as feed for the babies, I feel worse for the old ones. The colts don’t know, but the old ones have most likely to have served man their whole lives then dumped when their usefulness is over.
Sometimes, I love Youtube. You have to say, the Internet is cool in that it allows the people to speak their minds!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xwqaohLp-A
vailaintDancer,
New York Department of Ag& Markets has such a horse facility accreditation program. It called NYSHHAP (nY State Horse Health Assurance Prog.). It was developed by and is run by Ag & Markets veterinarian Lyda Denney, and is an excellent program that requires on-site inspection annually to maintain accredited status. It is not the easiest program to implement, but high quality management of horses is not easy and not necessarily cheap. still, the average barn owner can do this stuff. I know, because I’ve done it. This is the only state-run program of its kind in the US. Information about the program is available at
http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/NYSHHAP/horsehealth.html
It should serve as a starting point/model for other programs.
I watched the video, who are they talking about?
I used to go to the Armstrong auction quite a bit several years ago, and back then it was VERY rare to see a KB around and most horses were going for $1k+ (I remember seeing some going for around $3k). Very sad that things have deteriorated so badly.
Seeing the “blind in one eye” Appy on the list scares me. The mare I rode in lessons was a quiet, blind in one eye Appy. She was retired a year or so ago, maybe 2 years now.
caligirl9 –
“I am going to go to bed and finish crying by myself.”
You will not be alone! Still can’t shake it off!
~DD
I used to go to a horse auction nearly every month when I was young and had horses in the 1970s. It was great seeing so many horses in one place, and yes, there was always a KB there. However, there weren’t tons of unwanted horses. He didn’t go home with much, if anything, he got outbid. You just never had nice horses just lead in or run through loose. If it wasn’t rode in, it didn’t ride and something was wrong. Also, people just didn’t have stallions. You had to haul your mare somewhere to a breed of your choice who had done something in his life, get your mare vet checked, pay for board, pay decent a stud fee and hope for the best.
Have the kill buyers changed? Still look the same to me. Guys with a big gut in overalls. But the auctions have changed to where people watch them online and cry. Doesn’t sound too fun anymore. In Minnesota we have a racing industry we didn’t before, and so lots of unwanted TB’s, and apparently thousands of people who think having a foal is like their barn cats having unwanted litters. It just happens. . . and maybe it will be grulla!
Hold the people reponsible who BROUGHT the horse in the trailer, not the one who hauls the horse away. You can no-sale a horse at any auction.
Sadly, I think we are seeing the inevitable result of a reduced demand for horses for any purpose. The economy is bad, fewer people can afford a horse, fewer people are interested (not as much exposure, riskiness, too expensive, too time-consuming etc.) There HAS to be a contraction in the horse population. Just has to. I have read that the number of horses in the US could be sustained at HALF what it is now, given the demand.
I don’t think slaughter is the right way to do it, just one of many ways that are being resorted to right now. Joe on TB friends is talking about ranchers in the western plains states shipping their horses “wholesale” to California, where they then go to slaughter in Mexico. The KBs will pay the ranchers $40/horse shipped in. Also… entire big TB farms being shut down with closure of racetracks in California and the general real estate mess there. Some breeders are trying to place their best stock, but it’s not easy. In my little corner of the world (Morgans) there are a lot of older breeders, and time is catching up with them. And there are not so many young people to step up and keep the breed going.
My biggest worry is that the contraction will happen in a way that lowers the general quality of horse overall, so that when it’s over, good horses will be hard to find. A lot of very good breeders in the Sport world are cutting way back on the number of foals produced, but Mr. (or Mrs.) BYB isn’t getting the message.
Los Angeles people
Anybody have time to go look at an AQHA mare at the East Valley city shelter? She has proud flesh on a foot and they are talking about euthing her because of it. But given that this is the shelter where an ACO told me a shoe boil was a fatal tumor once (insert massive eye rolling), I’d like an experienced horseperson to take a look and see if you think she may be salvageable and take pics. Adoption fee is $35 so she could be a good rescue project for someone who wants to help one, if she’s not too badly injured.
I was in LA this morning and am in Long Beach now- I might be able to swing to East Valley this afternoon depending on how late my meeting goes. Anyone I should talk to?
The shelter is closed Mondays. I might be able to make it on Wednesday…
Fugsy, I just saw the “Things You Can Do–No Matter What” post from 4/7/09 in the random links section. If this site lets you put permanent links to selected older posts in the side columns, I think that one would be a good candidate along with the “Ten Questions” post.
These reports always make me so sad for the horses! ALL of them………….
Speaking of sad, check out this ad on Craig’s List:
http://spokane.craigslist.org/grd/1460278784.html
I may be in the minority here, but other than the too-big kid riding the pony, I don’t see a lot of “sad” there. That’s a really nice little pony, she is registered with a legitimate registry, and at $1000 she probably won’t go to a yahoo. She looks sweet, willing, and well cared for, and clearly has some “show Shetland” back there — is built like a horse rather than a pony. If I had a 4 or 5YO child ready for their “first pony” I’d certainly consider her.
“Sad” was the person who’s feet were dragging on the ground riding the pony……Swayback horse in the making!!
I frequent the local auctions here in So Cal- Mike’s and Euclid’s. If I have the means I pull a horse out but like many of the good homes I have 2 too many right now. If I can take on 2 or so ‘projects’ a year and upgrade them, I try my hardest. I do place blame on KB’s and the auction houses but yes a majority goes to the ass-hats who use it as their guilt free dumping grounds. KB’s can do a better job in their treatment of horses, Auctions can do a better job at their management practices- better the facility and options to appeal to private buyers. But of course the ass-hat owners take the majority of blame- it’s a novelty to find a seller at an auction who isn’t a lazy ignorant *bleep*.
If anyone is interested I have a low level eventer/hunter OTTB. He’s 4 yo gelding, a good boy, in training for hunters. Also I have a rescue donkey (gelded) who needs a new home- he’s about a year and a half and had a very VERY tough start in life beaten, was used to give pony rides, and tied to a fence like a dog (no halter). He’s come a looooooong way in the past couple months.
I am afraid I was not as effected by the video as some, since we have a number of close auctions in our area…one right here in our little town… http://www.gmtel.net/web/ronsbarn/
Then there are at least 4 others I can attend on a monthly basis within 2 hours of my house. IMO they all look the same, the same pitiful scared faces being led through. Sometimes the quality is good and if you know what you are looking for, and have spent the time getting to know the workings of the barn, you can get a very nice horse for little money. The Gelding I have for sale on the previous post (Busiest Shopping Day) was a sale barn rescue….got him as a weanling with a herna….no one wanted to take that on…but he has decent breeding and is a nice horse…the hernia was easily fixed when he was gelded and has not been a problem. My current riding horse a PerchxTWH, was also from the sale barn. She gaits and is wonderfully reliable (which I need at this point in my life). We have a soft spot for Weanlings and have brought home a few.
Most of the time, I don’t stay to watch the horses go through….I go for tack, and leave….its too hard, too tempting and too depressing….
Watching the video really make this hit you. I was heartsick to see the Trakhaner mare stop and take a look out at the crowd.
I am sad for the Trakhaner too. She looks like she is looking for someone. So very sad. If i don’t stop looking at this stuff I will cry so long I don’t sleep tonight and my kids will end up late for school and I will be late for work tomorrow. This really sucks.
Those TB mares and that Trakehner mare that went to kill… that breaks my heart. One of them in particular was really nice.
I have to weight in to this one. Reading the comments, there are a few from fellow Aussies who don’t seem to know how many ‘knackers sales’ we have here!!
I live in Victoria and have a friend who is buying a horse currently from a dealer. As of last Friday, he said that he had NINE sales to go to in Vic in the next two to three weeks!!!! We DO have them here and often!! In my town, Ballarat, we have one every two months, then there is Geelong, Echuca, Pakenham, Dandenong, Bairnsdale, Colac (all monthly) and they are just the ones I know of off the top of my head!
We are lucky and live on 160 acres, so when I can, I go and bring home a horse. You could say that saving one is pointless, but then you haven’t looked into that ones eyes……
…Oops! Would you believe that I meant to WEIGH in?!
I agree , that the people you should be pointing the finger on is the person that trailers the horse in. What if protesters stood with posters of slaughtered horses at the gate of the auction, so every Asshat could have a look at where their horse will end up at the end of the day. How about a flyer on everyones windshield whith lovely photos of slaughtered horses, the quote “this horse is going to mexico but not for the jello shots “really hit home for me. Its obvious to me that these people burry their heads a few feet under to protect themselves from the reality of it all. Maybe like us , if they actually see with their own eyes what a slaughtered horse looks like , and numbers of how many horses end up with a KB at the end of every Auction, they will have a sleepless night , and think twice about bringing another in. Is there someone doing this already? Would turning the Auction into a “uncool ” place to bring a horse because you will be called a murderer and have shit thrown at you be a way to embarrace people enough to stop? Peta did a great job at making people think twice about wearing a fur coat…. cant we do something like that too? I am thinking paint ball guns with red paint on the trailers that come in with horses. It you take your horse to the Auction you are a murderer, and the lowest form of life, I spit on all of you. If you cant think of another way to sell your horse , by all means go WITHOUT YOUR HORSE , and pass out flyers to the people comming in with info on your horse . Why not a list made available to people that go to the auction of nice horses with responsible owners, have the asshats bring the people in , and then you make the money in a private sale .Ouch !!
The appy in the beginning wound up at my farm- NICE horse!
Krissy3 you are on target. Maybe when the horse owners have to sign papers to get their horse in the auction they should be required to see a short video on what will happen to their horse if bought by killers. The double decker bus, the door opening up on Mexico and the first couple horses falling out dead. The treatment and conditions of the slaughterhouse, the death procedure…oh and then a side bar of the horses that go to rodeos for tripping. if they have the heart to not put a reserve on their horse after that then they have no heart. I believe putting an old horse to sleep prematurely is the lesser evil to slaughter houses. It is a sad world when a Golf star crashing into a fire hydrant is more important than these beautiful animals being tortured and killed, or our troops in Iraq. Shame on humanity.
Check this out:
http://denver.craigslist.org/grd/1489539716.html
Where I live good horses are cheap. I go to auctions and buy to train and rehome. Dont make much money. Last year I watched 6 beautiful black 2 yr old registered percherons for $220 each. And they were fat and healthy. I generally pay between $30 t o $350 for registered untrained colts and phillys. Depending on how fat they are. Most of them are on the thin side. A lot of older horses do not sell at all. They are abandoned here. In the early 80′s I paid on average $850 to $1500 for a descent horse and often resold it for$5000 or more after 3 to 6 months of training. Thanks to the anti-slaughter bill killer buyers get them for next to nothing. They are shipped to Canada and Mexico. Leaving American breeders with an empty sack. I know people who signed those petitions and they are out of the horse business. Some of these people started with cheap stock and raised horses of poor quality. This happened because when the anti slaughter bill was passed commercial breeders got out and sold their mares cheap. They call them dispersal sales. I have friends who retired and started raising horses knowing nothing about it. You can’t sell your genetic failures for $800 to $1000 anymore. With alot a people its all about money. My first horse is still alive and kicking he is 38yrs old and very expensive to keep healthy. Bought him for $40 dollars at the sale cause he was a shell, and killers dont buy shells. That means super skinny. Go to the sale buy a horse, train a horse, hopefully save a horse!
I read some nasty comments about the girl that is riding the horses thru the ring. I have no idea who she is. If she didn’t at least hop on some of the unknown dropped off horses, how much worse would their chances be to find a home? She is taking her life in her hands, not knowing Jack Squat about some of the horses, just to show the crowd that they are ridable. At our local auction, we have a guy like that. He hops on and often hops right off when the horse explodes, but at least he showed you what the horse will do. He’s not the meanie there, he’s trying to help sell horses that were dropped off at the sale with no representation or owner to ride them thru. The bad guy in the mix is the owner who dropped the horse off, like a pen of chickens, and left, leaving no documentation about the horse, not training it, not feeding it, not getting it vet and farrier care, and not putting it down when it needed to be. At our local sale barn, there are guys out back that whack the horses with stock whips, electric cattle prods, or will whack them in the head by slamming the doors on them as two many try to run thru the doors. From how I saw how this gal handles the horses (in the video), I’d have no complaints. I’ve seen yahoos get on in the ring and try to spin them around (I know that I am impressed when they direct rein a horse around, with it’s head in the air, and it’s mouth pried wide open – but hey, it can turn around fast.) until they slip and fall on the cement sale ring floor. There are worse things that can happen at sales than a chubby girl smiling when she rides a horse around the sale ring in a calm manner.
Thank you and this is very true and that girl risks her body getting on some. She was bitten badly early this day. She does it out of love and wanting them to get good home. People dont judge You have no idea!
Thank you for these comments and her in maries site she gives these guys a chance when some wont or cant. And some have been truly gifts to those new owners.
http://www.secondgo.webs.com/
Hello. My name is Marie. I own 2nd.Go Horse Placement. Thank you for your comments in regards to my at least getting on these unknown animals that I have been hired to lead/ride into this sale. Most of the owners were not in attendance, and some I felt were acceptional and kind. I also have to add….the the black thoroughbred mare and the chestnut trekhaner did not go for slaughter…. I helped load the truck the next day and these animals were not included. One of our main buyers is not a KB….but has a nephew that resells these out of Alberta….not for slaughter!! So rest a bit easier now….I will also be at the sale on saturday march 6…..come and say hello!! I will attach my website so you can see what I do with all my horses! http://www.secondgohorses.com
Have a beautiful spring! Marie
ONETOOMANY – What is his name? Did they give you his name? (or the name of the people who sold him, just first or last is fine or one of their kids names. I will know if it is who I am thinking of) He looks like old guy who used to live at my place and was used for trail riding, little britches and high school rodeo. He was a nice horse. If it was him then I know at least one of the other horses that went through too (ancient grey draft x) and that will really piss me off as I was there when the vet proclaimed him to be cardiovascularly unfit to be a riding horse. (Have the poor old thing euthanized it you can’t afford to retire him and keep him as a companion horse for your new horse!!!)But it will only confirm my already pretty solid opinion of the “owner” and her devoted followers.
TOO ALL – “Owner” is a “certified” instructor in this town. One more reason to do your research. Would you really want your kid learning their “horsemanship” skills from someone who flogs their old, deserve to be retired, have heart problems, too difficult to feed properly horse at the auction??? I wouldn’t. “Owner” is a common auction attender. I used to think it was good of her to be buying these old unwanted horses and giving them a job teaching little kids to ride until I was around long enough to see that she just used them for as long as they were useful to her then back to the auction they went, that much older and often in worse shape. She needed to make as much and spend as little money as possible.
Maybe (hopefully) they aren’t the horses I am thinking about but that still doesn’t change my thoughts.
I don’t see why people bring in old skinny horses, or horses that bring only $25. They loose money. I know at the sale I went to there was a $25 a head fee, and 7% comission. I bought an ugly skinny, wormy, stunted, untouched, appy filly there for $10 3 weeks ago. Those people now owe the acution yard money. I also got a nice tb gelding, skinny but broke for $70, brought in by same people, and when I went in to pay they tried to give me another horse they broght in that didnt even bring a bid so they didnt have to take it home….. I delined, a untouched yearling is one thing, but a skinny untouched 5 yr old is more than I wanted to deal with.
I mean I know why, to dump them, but it makes more sense if they wanted to get rid of the horse to give it away for free, or shoot it, in a dollars, and cents point of view.
That’s just it Appyfreak. No one wants the free, untouched skinny five year old and they’re mostly too chicken/sensitive/whatever to shoot it. Oh, and far too cheap to euthanize it or feed it up a bit. So they hope at least the KB will take it if they bring it to the auction. Must hurt when even the KB turns up his nose at it… hehe.
I agree why take them here for such pentince some of them must have had to travel a ways and pay gas and hotel and they only sold there horses for 75 and 350 minus gas – 10% commision minus time omg is it really worth it people wholly smokes
K first I would like to say I was at this auction as my neighbour wanted to go and rescue a certain horse but then saw some devasting horses. She is from the coast and has never seen this before she had no idea this happened with horses. Well now she is a activisit and thinks something has to stop this cruelty and really it is cruelty. How can a normal human been take there horse that they have owned for 22 years and that horse has been there friend and no dam well that that horse will go for meat. OMG skinny as he was My friend bought that 22 year old bay guy, whom only one other person bid on. the guy said he had all the food he could eat tiz wiz but works on trail riding ranch somewhere in christina lake area. and his appy pal came to for $350 it sold for as well but it was skinny as well. My god people Give them back at least the respect by euthenizing them as they gave you a good life. This guy is so kind of I can tell in his day he was very handsome. He is getting his teeth floated has been put on good hay which he cant chew that well beat pulp alfalfa both soaked complete pellets flax. and I bet in 2 months he is going to be amazing. She wanted to save those two poor horses that were grooming each other that even the sign said meat pen………….. but this guy Chance was standing in the alley beside us and I said Save this guy. You can even ride him. She is very green and I cant tell you how happy she is with him. Even if he gives her two years or 10 he deserved better than going here.Also I would like to say SHAME SHAME to those of you that made those comments on the women in the video. That lady I personally know and yes she works for VA but it is because she loves horses and is very good with all types of horses. she is firm when need be but also very gentle. She actually takes some of these horses that are suppose to go for meat and then takes them and rides them trains them or reabilitates them and then trys and finds them homes and let me tell you her prices are cheap so after feeding working them etc. she is not making much money, maybe enough to be able to keep her being able to help these poor guys out that people just toss off to the auction for there measly $75 omg Think twice before Judging someone K.I think we all should start being more proactive and stop people from over breeding and supporting this. Crazy just like the puppy mills. If you have a horse give it the kindness to give it away sell it or ask the animal society to help you euthinze it instead of having to send it thru this type of trama its even worse once they get on the trucks to alberta. watch the horse slaughtering videos on utube they are a real eye opener. Instead of just saying poor things do something about this problem we have dont just be a talker!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chance gave his all to this guy and the respect he got was going for meat until my friend who knows nothing bought him so he could die gracefully and maybe teach her how to ride once he gets some heath back. he is a looker and wish I could show you a photo.
I was at the Armstrong auction for the first time since moving into the area. I did not stay for the horses as I had no option of buying due to our recent move, and couldn’t stand to just sit there and do nothing. I was however enraged enough to do something in my own small way. The ancient TB’s took the cake for me, the ones designated for meat only, so I took the consigner’s number down and phoned her to inform her that I was planning to report the neglect of her horses to the spca. Turns out she’s one of the bigger TB breeders in the province, was actually top breeder a few years ago, and had the sales topper at a recent yearling sale (she boasted of this on the phone). She said the gelding was 39 and almost blind, the mare 24 or 5 and the reason her knees were almost buckling was she had some kind or other condition. She had EVERY excuse in the book for sending them to auction. Blamed her vet, then her trainer, then started yelling at me for threatening to call the spca (I went in today and reported the animals as neglected). I told her (how I remained calm I don’t know) that it was not a threat, merely informational, and that I doubted the spca would actually do anything. This is what I was told by others at the auction. She told me that her horses were not supposed to be going through the auction, but straight to slaughter. I informed her that were in a pen beside the regular horses, and she said she would call the auction, or drive down to make sure that they were in the back (the video does not show the poor condition of these two btw). She also denied that they were thin at all. Said they were fat and shiny in the summer. Sorry for the rant, but I have been stewing about the lack of a CANTER type resource in BC for all the young TB’s that are killed every Fall. BC has Newstride which does place a few TB’s but only a drop in the bucket. Bottom line on the two old tb’s is that the spca WILL be making a visit to the farm at some point in the future. There’s only one officer for a huge area so she is stretched thin. In the meantime I plan to drive by the farm and see what I can see. The spca knows I’m planning to do this. The trak mare came from a fairly big warmblood breeder in the area. She was gorgeous, calm, in nice shape, broke my heart. Am trying to find out whether the feedlot is still in Falkland (close by), and whether I can figure out a way to help at least one horse. The 14 yr old TB mare (by King Alphonse) looked like she had recently had a baby pulled off her. Really nice mare and in good shape. Those two have been keeping me awake at night.Again, sorry for this long rant. Thanks to whoever posted the video.
I say I agree with you and my friend is also devasted by this. I think that whomever takes there horses to the auction and want them to go for meat only I think it would be kinder to at least have that written on the pen so non-knowing person dont buy them. Esp if they are dangerous as my friend wanted to buy one that Im afraid would have hurt her or the new starving old guy she did bring home. I think that we will see much more starvation going on this winter so not just at this acution. I think the only way the meat men can buy horses is by going to these sales so that is all I think the people that owned these horses need to do so People are aware of where they are inteded to go to. Not that I agree but I am understanding that therer is a need for horse meat but not our culture.
I think there needs to be more people helping out with bc interior horses rescue if they are more concerned. I spoke with her extensively and learned how much work has to go into to even taking the horses away from people that are starving them. So if you see this then detailed reports have to be taken and yes them called over and over again it may takes months unfortuantely for the poor animals.
I dont think the auction is a bad place as that is where so people sell trade but Yes it isnt right when you see animals is such poor conditions It makes my Heart bleed as well and makes me hate some people. Everyone can do there part so Maybe get involved and help with this organization as they can really need the help and donations. so great fundraiser ideas for those wanting to support!
I saw nothing in that video that I have not seen in the last 20 years of going to sales. The only thing that has changed is the prices. Especially for the riding horses. There have always been skinny horses, fat horses, riding horses, old horses, rank wild ones… the scene has been the same all along. Valley Auction in Armstrong had KBs in attendance when I went years ago – perhaps whoever it was who said they were not there simply did not notice them… they can be very discreet and rarely bid in an obvious way. They may have one pen assigned to them and the auctioneer will say SOLD!! – #33.. if you hear a lot of the same number (like #33) that is likely a dealer/KB. Speaking of pen #33 (that we made quite a few purchases from) … the big horse sale at the Camrose (Alberta) auction mart on the 3rd Wednesday of every month was a regular haunt of ours years ago… we bought some good ones out of the ring… and from the KBs back in the pens or even later in the holding pens at the “plant”. The dealers/KBs were only too happy to make another deal with you and often not for a lot of profit. No need to worry about that – they had plenty of untouchable, rank horses to take the place of the broke ones. Oh – and we might have committed the horrific crime of actually smiling in the stands as well. Smiling because we knew we had just made a great purchase. Or smiling because now we had to sweetly convince someone to haul a horse back home for us… having left the trailer at hone on purpose so as to avoud buying more horses. Yeah… that tactic rarely worked. I cringed to read the nasty comments here about the girl helping in the ring and the people in the stands. It was never unusual to see a bunch of loose horses get chased through… just like those loose ones at the end of the vid. Not handled, not halter broke… but someone thought it was a really good idea to breed for them anyway. Then not touch them or handle them and simply dump them. Wanna bet their dams were all back at the ranch, pregnant? The KBS are NOT the villains here. They just “clean up” the “mess”. The villains include the owners who are tired of old Brownie and are simply going to dump him at the auction next weekend. No sense feeding him for the winter if the kids are not interested in him.. and hey – he was limping last week as well. Better get some cash out of him. Who cares if he has been there for 15 years and the people down the road would gladly take him… And at all those sales there are also people who just want to sell their decent horses for whatever reason. They let you try them out beforehand… they have papers on hand and copies of them taped to the front of the pen. They will tell you all about them. And to avoid the chance of “Rocket” going to the KB, they set a high enough reserve price to avoid that. Hence the “no sales” you see… That is how we bought many good horses all those years ago – many of whom were treasured members of the therapeutic riding program.There are auctions everywhere. Not just in Alberta. Not just in the States. Yes, even in Australia. And at the next Enumclaw (WA) sale here, the same procession will go through the ring. The cared for, the old, the lame, the skinny, the untouched. It has never changed. IMO it never will. Although I must say, the auction mart at Armstrong was much better/cleaner/less of a fire trap than the one at Enumclaw. That whole building should be condemned….
Amen Sister! Stop the Overbreeding If you are just taking them to the auction and label the pens for meat horses only please!
We are all appalled by people sounding like fools on CL, but no matter how bad their grammar is I give these people a pat on the back just for trying. Think of the guy above with the “bronc” gelding. I mean, he probably has NO place keeping the two other horses or the broodmare (future broncs anyone?) but at least he’s willing to put the time into posting an ad for this horse. He’s got a higher chance of going to a decent home on CL than he does at the auction. He may still get bought up by a KB, but there’s always hope that he’ll find a home that will put the time into training him just to avoid that.
A friend in southern Ontario, Canada is looking for a draft horse to rescue. Horse should be mellow in temperament, and preferably started under saddle. She has ample space and funds, and is basically looking for a nice (large!) pasture pet that will allow occasional light riding from some of her school students (she runs a school, and has two or three kids currently taking lessons at a nearby training barn). She is willing to take a pair of drafts, or draft crosses. Adoption fee willingly paid, of course.She is willing to travel, or to have the horses trailered to her. Barring this, we are hoping to find an auction representative willing to look for suitable horses for her. She STRONGLY prefers to rescue. This is a great, financially stable home for a hard to place, deserving horse.If you have leads, please email me with details at frenchbulldogz AT gmail DOT com
But I kind of believe if we dont support those breeders that are like puppy mills maybe they will stop!!!!!!!!!! Breeding hundreds of mare each year and then selling at the auctions for 25 is hardly worth the life that might have been lost. It is sad how we treat Gods creatures that were brought to give us joy. I dont see the joy in that part!
Absolutely. It just needs to stop. It’s horrible that people create animals that live such short, painful lives. STOP MAKING MORE OF WHAT THERE IS NO MARKET FOR!
Hello.. I’m the girl riding and leading alot of the horses in this video. My name is Marie, I own a horse placement program named 2nd.Go Horses. For about thirty years….actually thirty-two years off and on I have been hired by the owners to bring these horses into the sales ring. Steadily though for the past eight years. Not just in Armstrong but this is my favorite, my social event of the month! I do know all the KBs as you call them and I have bought many many horses from them, brought them home, worked them, reminded them they are a horse, taught them whats to be expected and acceptable and resold them back with proper homes that keep their manners and respect on course. I have had to buy a few back (always a mare!!) but compared to happy forever homes….hardly worth mentioning. I do get many foundered brood mares and herniated colts(given to me) but I think my vet gives me a smokin good deal on these hernia/gelds and I’m able to make good on the debt acrued. The foundered mares are papered, front shoes all year, and one in particular gave me an awesome foal (filly) that won 1st. place in the I.P.E. for 2009…..not bad for a designated papered slaughter horse!! Maybe some of you saw us there? I also showed my AQHA Palomino Stallion and my Overo Paint stallion…..with these three I won 2 1st. place ribbons and 1 2nd. place ribbon….ALL THESE HORSES WERE BOUGHT IN AUCTION!!
So go easy on the judgeing of me….I read in a few of the comments they specifically hated me because I was smiling while I lead these big underweight guys in….it isnt me that made them underweight….and believe me if they were kind and sound they did come home with me most likely!! or at least to my neighbours….I think I might have hauled the horse they named Chance actually to the neighbours…. sounds like the big skinny guy they were talking about anyway.
Thanks also to miss mgrullagirl up there for defending me!!! She’s gotta be the best neighbour ever!! If you wanna see my website this is the link to it….www.secondgohorses.com
Just remember…..ANYONE CAN BID AT THE AUCTION!!! ….. thanks for reading this, Marie.
Marie, I used to ride through for a dealer when I was younger, too. I’m not judging that. I do wonder if, given that you really do know the score as you’re at all the auctions, these stallions you’re talking about have breed show show records?
Hello again,
The two stallions that I mentioned personally belong to me. The palomino is a Doc Summer Wages(owned by Ian Tyson) AQHA, 3 years old. The Overo guy though would have surely gone for slaughter at the sale i bought him at. I was hired to lead him in…I bid at $400 and no one else bid. He is beautiful and kind, super gentle. He won 1st. place halter class for all other breed males at the 2009 IPE. Before I owned him I have no idea what they did with him….as in most cases, I don’t wanna know.
P/S…my mares sole purpose in life is not to reproduce so have no fear about my breeding practices with them.
I also probably could get photos of the above mentioned sales horses but I’m unsure how to load them onto this site…fill me in. I only saw one photo so I know it can be done.
Marie
Hello again….(the hired rider and leader of many of the horses shown)
I wish this site had been brought to my attention earlier than now. I watched the video about 6 times now….kill buyers did not buy the 2 horses that everyone is carrying on about?? I’m unsure who took this video but they are not correct on thier information. I know for a for a fact the black TB and the chestnut Trekhaner were not sent for slaughter. I know who’s trailer they got into around midnight that night. They are alive and well.
Marie,
2nd.Go Horse Placement
Vernon BC
That’s good news! Look, it’s an auction report – sometimes information may get mixed up in the shuffle. If they are alive and well, everybody would love to see pictures, so post away!
I will see the buyer tomorrow at the first sale of the year. I know his nephew resells these types so hopefully he keeps track aswell as I do and is able to contact his clients for thier updates. If so I will happily post thier photos for all to see. Although I can see by the posting dates that no one has been here since December 09….perhaps they moved onto bigger and brighter subjects….after all spring is in the air!!