Buying a horse at auction/sales

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Bluebell1

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So, in a few years time I'm planning to go over to Ireland and buy an unbacked 2/3 year old connemara from a sales, probably Clifden. I've never been to an auction before, and don't know anyone who has, so I'm planning to make the most of time and find out as much about them as possible before I decide to buy at one.

I'd love to know if there are any auctions close to the South East of England that people will reccomend going to? I'd really like to get the feel of them, and thought the best way to do this is to actually go to them. I'm planning to go to the New Forest Beaulieu Road Pony Sales at the end of the month or in December, and wondered if people would recommend it?

Any advise or peoples stories from buying at a sales in Ireland would be greatly appreciated!
 
If you are nearby to Reading go to this show and sale
http://tsauction.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Autumn-Show-Sale-of-Shetland-Ponies-Catalogue.pdf

It is shetlands but its indoor, pleasant atmosphere and you can have a chat with anyone there, some of those shetlands will go for a fair amount of money. You can sit and watch the auction the whole time or wander about checking out the catalogue entries or spend a bit of time just watching the tack auction in a separate area

You can buy food and drink on site and parking is good if you arrive early
 
Dubsie said:
The Shetland sale is lovely, used to take my daughter & friends to watch when she was younger. Nice cafe at the market too, v good value. There's also the NF sale towards the end of the month (has anyone the date?).
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I seem to recall the NF sale is on Weds 25th Oct
 
Buying at sales is "fun" particularly when you don't know what you have bought until you get it home!

Tips are:

Don't buy with your heart - buy what you came for. That's how we ended up with a Section A in the back of the Landrover (to be fair, he was very cute and was going for meat money) because the trailer was full of horses we meant to buy!

Take someone who you know will keep you sensible and will sit on you if you try to make silly bids!

Set and budget and STICK TO IT - its really easy to get carried away.

Watch the other bidders and get your friend to watch the auctioneer - make sure you don't end up bidding against yourself as it goes very quickly.

Definitely go a couple of times - without money - to see how it works and who the main players are.

Enjoy and I hope you buy a good 'un!!
 
Oh god this post is dangerous .. must not take next Wed off .. must not take next Wed off ..... *repeats mantra as really doesnt need a mini!*
 
The bids are still in guineas which is £1.05, this 5p used to be the commission and the seller got the pounds, but I expect the auction house charges a bit more. 5p doesn't sound a lot, but it mounts up if you think you are bidding only in £s.
Check other charges for buyers as well, and the warranty rules on exactly what is covered, often less than you think.

At auction, for riding animals anyway, it is often what the information doesn't say which is important. If it doesn't say good to catch, farrier, quiet to ride, in traffic, in the stable, etc. etc. then don't just assume it is all those things. Some slightly dodgy animals sound very nice in the description, so read with great care.
 
The Reading sale sounds good and not at all like my experience of the New Forest one, which I found very upsetting and have only been once. It was years ago so hopefully it’s improved, but I just remember loads of people and terrified ponies going for pennies to the meat man :(
 
You could make contact with a few of the breeders in Galway - you may well find your perfect horse that way, without the risk of buying at a sale, or in any event you will get to know what is about, and what is going to the sales.

A few things about buying over here - firstly, the regulars all know each other and they can (and do) control the bidding if they feel like it. So if you show too much interest in something, they will bid the price up. Equally if you are a seller and you refuse to do a deal outside of the ring, they will stop anyone else bidding on it.

Have a budget, take commission into consideration, don't get overexcited and go over it :)

Having a sensible person with you who knows their stuff and will stop you from bidding with your heart is a good idea. If you do manage to buy something, all the auctions have a vet on site and you can pay for a revetting, which I would thoroughly recommend. Get bloods taken. If the vet spins the horse, you don't have to complete the purchase.

There will be horse transporters at the sales. Go with one of the big names if you can, and try and pin them down to an eta (they may end up going round the world for fun with your horse, dropping off all the others first).
 
meleeka said:
The Reading sale sounds good and not at all like my experience of the New Forest one, which I found very upsetting and have only been once. It was years ago so hopefully it’s improved, but I just remember loads of people and terrified ponies going for pennies to the meat man :(
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You have just summed up how I imagine the NF sales to be, I've never been to it but I do know someone who came home with a few totally wild foals, its the sort of sale I would like to go to but best I don't........
 
Cecile said:
You have just summed up how I imagine the NF sales to be, I've never been to it but I do know someone who came home with a few totally wild foals, its the sort of sale I would like to go to but best I don't........
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Same. Way too dangerous for me to go as well. I would not come home empty handed!
 
Reading was a good market - I used to go to pick up ex-police horses. They were usually 5-6 years old and not suited to the police, so would go through a public auction. I got a couple of nice ones to bring on and re-sell.
 
If you fancy a weekend awy the Welsh sales are on this weekend amd the cobs are at the end of the month, not sure if there would be any rooms available at this sort of notice though.
 
Hexx said:
Reading was a good market - I used to go to pick up ex-police horses. They were usually 5-6 years old and not suited to the police, so would go through a public auction. I got a couple of nice ones to bring on and re-sell.
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I was probably there when you bought those ex-police horses, some of them were amazing/stunning and just didn't make the grade with crowds etc
 
Remember that what price the hammer falls on, is not the price you will pay. There is the buyer's commission, VAT and if you are buying in Ireland, you have to factor in the exchange rate too.

Work out ahead of time what the "actual" price will be, rather than the hammer price, and stick to that - it's very easy to get caught out and forget the extras.

Factor in the cost of getting a post-sales vetting, and of transport - currently about £300.

Do your homework in terms of bloodlines (some pedigrees have hotter temperaments than others) and ask lots of questions. If you don't ask, they won't tell. Be specific in your questions - does it buck/bolt/rear? for instance, isn't good enough. Ask "has it ever bucked" "has it ever reared" and only accept clear answers - "sure, and it'll be fine for you" is not an answer!
 
Antw23uk said:
Same. Way too dangerous for me to go as well. I would not come home empty handed!
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I think you would find the shetland sale fine, don't get a number on arrival and its one of the only sales I don't feel the need to bring everything home. They are in separate breeders pens, with bedding/water and hay, the breeders are there to answer any questions and I know some breeders sit in the auction when their ponies come in and the auctioneer has one eye on them for the ok to sell, they won't let them go to just anyone :)
 
If anyone is going to Reading and wants any help/advice there, they are welcome to get in touch with me. I shall be planning on definitely going - I always do.

The Reading Shetland Sale is exactly as it says though - a sale of registered shetland ponies, mostly sold by breeders. This means that the majority of the ponies there are either youngstock or breeding stock - broodmares & stallions. There are a handful of geldings in the catalogue. There are only a few riding ponies in the sale - it is not a general riding pony kind of sale. Having said that, there are some absolutely cracking ponies going. However, because this is a breed sale, don't expect the prices to be bargain basement, just because they are shetlands. The prices usually go up into the hundreds, and some will top into the thousands - can't remember the top priced shetland last year, around 3k, I think - very gorgeous pony. I've watched the other shetland sales that have already happened around the country this autumn, and prices seem to be up on last year.

Also, if anyone does buy anything - do check carefully how handled something is, if you do intend to buy. We have bought a number of ponies over the years, and many have been no more than halter broken. One mare, aged 14, turned out to be pretty much totally unhandled - she didn't even know what hard feed was. About 8 years later, she & I have come to an understanding, but she's still quite quirky! Which is fine for me, and she's fine out in my herd. But wouldn't suit everyone.
 
If you go to Ireland then the bidding will be in Euros of course, silly me. But as above, there will be extras on top of the hammer price.
 
Antw23uk said:
Oh god this post is dangerous .. must not take next Wed off .. must not take next Wed off ..... *repeats mantra as really doesnt need a mini!*
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Well of course no-one *needs* a mini....but if you did just happen to pop in...and just happen to have a trailer handy...

I mean no-one could blame you if one accidentally sneaked in to the trailer and went home with you. ;)
 
Agree with Varkie - my friend bought a Shetland from there, she was told he was back and was 8 years old.

About a month after she got him, she notices some "swellings" between his legs, panicking she called the vet - he took one look and said "Those are testicles, dear!". Turned out he wasn't 8, more like 18 months and his bits had just dropped!!
 
Hexx said:
Agree with Varkie - my friend bought a Shetland from there, she was told he was back and was 8 years old.

About a month after she got him, she notices some "swellings" between his legs, panicking she called the vet - he took one look and said "Those are testicles, dear!". Turned out he wasn't 8, more like 18 months and his bits had just dropped!!
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How come the passport police at Reading didn't notice that, it can be like trying to escape from prison when you buy a pony from the shetland breed show and sale at Reading, the passports are all held in the office and the catalogue and passport clearly states the DOB. I hope your friend complained to the SPSBS as I would of wanted the castration fee from the breeder
 
Hexx said:
Agree with Varkie - my friend bought a Shetland from there, she was told he was back and was 8 years old.

About a month after she got him, she notices some "swellings" between his legs, panicking she called the vet - he took one look and said "Those are testicles, dear!". Turned out he wasn't 8, more like 18 months and his bits had just dropped!!
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I'm guessing this is from the non-breed sales, back when Reading ran more general pony sales. All ponies at the Reading Shetland Sales are pretty heavily regulated. All have a proper breed passport with a microchip, so are fully traceable. All are registered and tracked on a database. All are scanned in & out of the sales. I have once been given the wrong pony - I got the pony I bid on, but on being entered into the sales market, two black fillies by the same breeder had their passports swopped. But the breed society sorted it with no issues.
 
Thanks for all your help guys. I’m going to try and go over to reading nexts Weds, but if not I’ll put the date in the diary for next year. Would rather wait a few yearas and go into the sales confidently, than rush into it and come out with something completely unsuitable.

Really looking forwards to the Shetland sales now, I’ll just have to leave my bank card at home....
 
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