Posts Tagged ‘auction reports’
Auction Alert – for the SoCal folks!
Caroline Betts of SoCal TB Rescue is down at Mike’s Auction in Pomona and I wanted to share the three OTTB’s that are down there hoping to be rescued. Caroline does NOT have space so we are praying for private parties to step up and help these guys!
This is Golden Award, a 2002 unraced mare. I would say we can describe that pedigree as “bred to death.” Caroline reports she is thin, super sweet and needs hoof care.
This cutie pie is Sherry’s Topper. I wonder who Sherry is and if she knows he is here? He is only four years old so a lot of years of life left in this guy if he gets rescued.
And finally, this is Watercraft, a 1997 mare. Raced only once, had at least one foal.
So how about it? If you’re here in the L.A. area and been thinking about rescuing one, there is no time like the present. Last time I was at Mike’s, all the TB’s went for $150 or $175. It was ugly. All three of these deserve better, don’t you think?
Mike’s will let you pick up tomorrow between 10-2 if you buy today. SCTR does have have people at the sale that can bid if you paypal them. If you’d like to do that, E-mail me and I’ll hook you up.
So, Karin Struck, exactly WHY are your two old broodies in the kill pen?
You know, the ones that are still listed for sale on your web site? MHR Eunizara and Red Sonia. Why are they in Ron’s kill pen at the Enumclaw sale, scared and afraid to be separated?
The Nine Lives of Sugar Ray San 073
At this point, I’m pretty much convinced he’s part cat.
I’m going to show you a picture of a stallion called Sugar Ray San 073. I think most of you will agree that this is a pretty nice horse. His breeders should be proud – they brought something into the world that was nicely put together and that had a pedigree that made sense and pointed to a specific use. He had a lot of potential for success.
And you will all be pleased to hear that someone did a good job training him — such a good job that two years ago, he was being ridden by a 12 year old girl. From all accounts, he is exactly the sort of stallion I like — kind, sweet and knows to stay on his “gelding manners” unless it’s time to breed.
What will shock you, if you haven’t already read the story, is where he wound up. Yeah, that’s the Enumclaw auction and he was in the kill pen.
Somewhere between February 2010 and the present, things went horribly wrong for “Handsome,” as we discovered was his barn name. He was sold at the Hermiston Auction for $900. Well, there is your first problem. As I’ve noted before, if you care at all about a horse, the auction is not the place to sell him. Even though he went for well above kill price, $900, and was not in danger that time, within months he was in the hands of a dealer named Porter, who resold him to — speak of the devil — Chuck Walker in Zillah. Yes, Chuck of CBER fame. HOW $am didn’t see this animal and ransom him to the gullible public for enough money to buy herself a Birkin bag is quite beyond me, but somehow he escaped her attention and got sold, instead, to some guy named Jake who took him to Enumclaw. And there he sat in that kill pen, his papers not having been transferred by ANY of these people (he is still registered to his owner from 2004), no history, no one even knowing he was broke to ride, shaggy and sad and with an old leg injury.
I am sure he was wondering just what the fuck happened. And his skittishness now shows that he’s been handled in the past year by fucktards who think that you have to be rough with a stallion to keep them under control, or some such horseshit. Fortunately for Handsome, he escaped death one more time – Auction Horses publicized him and Katie Merwick of Second Chance Ranch got him bailed out and to safety at a wonderful foster home.
So what have we learned today, FHOTD students?
1) Selling at auction is a really good way to up the odds that some moron will wind up with your horse. Remember that you have NO CONTROL AT ALL when you sell at auction. Those folks I featured yesterday? They can buy your horse. So can the horse tripping people, the freaky-having-sex-with-animals people, and the methed-out-and-living-on-welfare-with-a-barbed-wire-pen people.
2) Failing to show your (broke, sweet, good looking) stallion is a really good way to up the odds that he will slip through the cracks at some point. Think about it. If one of the top stallions in your favorite breed wound up at a local sale ten years later, a horse you’d seen shown many times, that name would jump right out at you, wouldn’t it? Even if you hadn’t heard it in a while? Showing creates name recognition. Name recognition is often the only thing that stands between a horse and death. Think about it, those of you who like to argue that showing isn’t everything. Nope, it isn’t, but it sure as hell does create some life insurance for a horse in case the unexpected happens and you are not able to keep him in your ownership his entire life.
3) TRANSFER THE DAMN PAPERS WHEN YOU GET A HORSE. Katie has managed to assemble the history on this horse but it took a while. She had to rescue first and research later. She pulled him not knowing if he was broke — a big deal given that he is about to be a gelding. Up to date papers would have made a big difference to this horse when his neck was on the chopping block.
4) I don’t care how nice it is, someone can fuck it up in a hurry and render it damn near unrecognizable and the next thing you know, it is a steak. We all need to be responsible and do our very best to keep that from happening. This horse could have had a tune-up to be show ready and been sold for a heck of a lot more than $900. Yeah, it would have been more work than just running him to Hermiston — but it was the right thing to do.
As Katie said, “Every person who has known him during his life (other than the horse trader), has emphatically stated what a NICE horse this is. He is described as “special”, “amazing”, wonderful, kind… and YET he landed at FOUR feedlots (Cathy in: or auctions), nearly going to slaughter every time in about a year’s time.” Yep. This can and does happen to VERY nice horses. You are the person who has the power to keep it from happening very nice horses that used to be yours. Please put in that effort to sell to a real, quality home and don’t use the auction as a dumping ground for what doesn’t quite fit in to your breeding program. I know it’s the easy way to have it off the feed bill, but you have to live with yourself and I do believe the former owners on this horse regret that they didn’t do more to ensure his safety.
Handsome is safe now and being gelded. If you’d like to make a donation to help him, the paypal is info@secondchanceranch.org and your donations are tax-deductible and very much appreciated. I hear there are a few adopters interested already. Personally, I’m really hoping he gets a little girl of his own. If he was good enough to pack one around as a stallion, he’s going to make a rock star of a gelding!
But what can I do?
I hear this question all the time from people who (wisely!) realize they do not have the time or money to rescue a horse themselves right now. Some of you are in school, some of you have little kids, some of you are out of work. You live in the city, you don’t have a car, and going out to volunteer at an existing rescue is not an option. So, today I want to tell you a story about something that any of you can do, something that someone did with ten minutes of their time that made all the difference in the world.
At this last Enumclaw Auction, a tall chestnut Thoroughbred was dumped off. The tail tag read “Abby Chill” so this is most likely the person who dumped him. He was one of six horses she dumped, but she bought four, so she most likely fancies herself a horse trader. Too bad she cannot also master feeding them or having their feet trimmed! He was thin and sad and his hooves were terrible. Thoroughbreds don’t do well at auction in general — most “real” buyers at auctions are looking for quiet, family horses, and this guy was not only “too” tall, he was plenty stressed and scared. He went to kill, of course, and while he was sitting there in the pen, someone took ten minutes of their time to post him and the other horses on Craigslist, with pictures. I haven’t heard who did it, but probably someone from the Auction Horses board.
Many years ago, this horse had a wonderful home but his owner married Mr. Wrong (most of us can totally sympathize). Mr. Wrong said the horse had to go. She found a home for him that checked out and seemed good.
Years passed and she divested herself of Mr. Wrong, so she was free to pursue her horsey dreams once more. She kept looking, but the trail had gone cold. Late one night, she was surfing Craigslist, as so many of us do, and there he was…her horse. She had the meltdown you can all imagine at his condition, but he was there! He was still alive! She got in touch with Katie at Second Chance Ranch and they got Sunny quickly snatched off the lot. Within days, he headed back to Portland and back to his loving former and now once again owner, Amy. Here he is, this week.
Sunny has his own Facebook Group – check it out.
So, the next time you are wondering what you can do, how about contacting former owners when you see a horse in jeopardy, whether that’s in a kill pen or being given away for free or scary cheap. You can easily find this information on registered horses online at most breed registry sites. You can also check Horse Reunions and Net Posse to see if someone is looking for the horse. Or just google the registered name. If it’s a grade horse, try posting the pictures to Craigslist’s Farm & Garden section in the area. I’m not saying harrass anyone but a simple note saying “hey, I see that you used to own Horsey Name, and wanted to let you know s/he is currently in the kill pen/being given away/whatever in case you are interested in helping or taking her back. Here is the contact information (or the link to the ad) if you want to help.” So, all you are doing is doing a favor and of course that may be ignored, but you have tried. And any of you can do it. Maybe the next happy ending will be because of you!
My nominees for Asshats of the Year: Bill and Joanie Dinsdale!
But not when you are showing at the goddamn breed shows!
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