Buying at Auction

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Star_Chaser

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I've been having a bit of a browse and found a horse that I just keep coming back to shes going to auction at Ashford so we would have to travel down but I've no experience of auction sales and no idea what sort of money would be reasonable to pay for her. Can anyone give a bit of advice??

This is the ad its on their current sales list:

'Broomhill Lady', Black & White, bn 01/01/07, 14.1hh, Irish Native mare. Bonny has been hunted in Ireland, lovely pony, excellent in traffic. Has been worked previously in a riding school. Possibly in foal and hasn't been ridden since Oct 2012. Being sold due to being overstocked. She has previously been driven. Warranted as: Sound in wind, eyes and action. Suitability warranted as: Quiet to ride.

I'm not usually a fan of black & white but I keep going back to that ad! There are a few others that would also potentially be suitable for our needs. I did read that Ashford was a bit of a low end meat market is that the case?? We are only looking for a pony to grow on with not a competition horse.
 
Buyer beware with anything not a youngster imo. Don't mean to sound negative but assume you are buying a project of varying degree and you might not be disappointed. Couple of things flag up potential problems the main one being ex riding school. They don't get rid of 'good' horses lightly. She will almost definitely be in foal.
 
Well if ypu go and like her be careful not to show it as they will bid her up. What if she is in foal do you have the knowledge and land to have a mare and foal. You wont be able to try her by the sound of it.
She should be very cheap but buyer beware.
 
By youngster I meant unbroken youngster btw.

She might well be great but it is a risk so just be prepared for the unforeseen and could you manage? Sounds like she has been turned away... Mmm, why? No riding lessons in winter?
 
Its not a problem if she is in foal although I have to admit I would prefer that she isn't. We've birthed foals before so I have good knowledge & support I can call on and there would be no issue with letting her have time out as a broodmare if thats the case. Bonus is my son is only three so we have plenty of time and I want something to grow with.

I'm not really sure what it is about that particular ad but something keeps making me go back to it. She's young to have been in a riding school if she's a 2007 birth so I hope she's not wrecked. Seeing her in the flesh might change my mind but there is just something that keeps niggling me.
 
Remember that for every £100 you bid you pay £105, that can mount up. Is there VAT on top of that?

Read the conditions carefully. Go, but take someone with you who can give you good advice, which you will take, and make sure you bid with your head and not your heart!
If you are lucky you will find that the vendor has sent someone who you can talk to before the sale.
When you get there you might not like what you see.
 
Star_Chaser said:
This is the ad its on their current sales list:

'Broomhill Lady', Black & White, bn 01/01/07, 14.1hh, Irish Native mare. Bonny has been hunted in Ireland, lovely pony, excellent in traffic. Has been worked previously in a riding school. Possibly in foal and hasn't been ridden since Oct 2012. Being sold due to being overstocked. She has previously been driven. Warranted as: Sound in wind, eyes and action. Suitability warranted as: Quiet to ride.
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I wonder why she is not warranted sound in heart. Warranty at bloodstock sales is "wind, heart, eyes and action" and any one that is missing from that list means that the horse is a definite fail on that aspect of a vetting.

Later edit:

I notice that they are all the same in the catalog so you'd just need to take a small risk on it. You would be unable to return her if you got her home and found she had a heart murmur.

You should have 48 hours to test her out as quiet to ride and vet her, but you'll have no time to test bloods for bute or sedatives. Another risk you'd have to be prepared to take.


My take on it? Broken to drive at 18 mnths in Ireland and driven at high speed on roads. Hunted at 3 in Ireland then imported to the UK and sold to a riding school. Went lame. Put in foal.

Date of brith is almost certainly not the correct one - expect the passport to have been applied for recently and the teeth to age the horse as anything between 4 and 10.
 
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Are you looking for a L/R, F/R for your son who is three? If yes, this pony sounds totally unsuitable. She's too big (14.1hh is huge for a young child), she has already been passed around a bit which suggests that something has gone wrong in her past and you won't be able to try her out, maybe for a couple of years if she is pregnant.

Why not get in touch with PC parents and see if you can find a pony through word of mouth. Good family first ponies are worth their weight in gold, but at the same time they are well loved by the families that have outgrown them so if you can offer a good home perhaps you can loan a suitable pony for a couple of years until your son is ready for the next step up.
 
No I'm looking for something for me for later on when he's ready to do more than just lead rein. I learnt to ride on horses not ponies and didn't go on a pony till I was in my early teens so when I brought a 13.3 mare to bob about on and she was a s**t so I don't see an issue with the height. I certainly had no fear as a child and my sons been happy on a 16hh doing a lead rein ride of late. Don't want anything too big but obviously anything below 14hh would be a bit too small for me.

I wouldn't loan again I had a awful experience before so future will be brought only.
 
cptrayes said:
I wonder why she is not warranted sound in heart. Warranty at bloodstock sales is "wind, heart, eyes and action" and any one that is missing from that list means that the horse is a definite fail on that aspect of a vetting.

Later edit:

I notice that they are all the same in the catalog so you'd just need to take a small risk on it. You would be unable to return her if you got her home and found she had a heart murmur.

You should have 48 hours to test her out as quiet to ride and vet her, but you'll have no time to test bloods for bute or sedatives. Another risk you'd have to be prepared to take.


My take on it? Broken to drive at 18 mnths in Ireland and driven at high speed on roads. Hunted at 3 in Ireland then imported to the UK and sold to a riding school. Went lame. Put in foal.
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This was my worry the broken to drive in Ireland the fact she's been hunted as well. I didn't think of heart thanks. Dad will be coming with me and he won't let me buy another no hoper, I had my heart set on a strawberry roan years ago fabulous action but would have killed me given the chance was a nutter. We didn't speak for a couple of weeks after he said no to that one. My hands won't be on the bidding card.

None of them on that site appear to have heart included.
 
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i wouldnt worry too much why she is no longer with the riding school, it could have closed down or it may have been a little too much for the kids. I lent my pony to a ridng school as she is quiet to handle and ride but she was still to much for most of the kids so they couldnt justify keeping her.

Only spend as much as you are prepared to lose!
 
I am going to be there, although just for a nose around the tack auction. I have a stephoscope if you want to borrow it?
 
I have bought at Ashford - feel free to PM me.
What you bid is what you pay for the horses (not for some of the saddlery etc).
They are very few that go for over the £1k mark, but some do.
It is not a sale that the meat man buys at, despite what loads of people walking round gossiping will say, he wouldnt make any profit.
You may see her being ridden in the car park beforehand.
The warranty runs from the Thursday (day you buy) to either the monday or tuesday, you can return if she doesnt prove to be 'quiet to ride' (you can find the definition of this on the hobbs parker website), or you can return if she is not the age stated on passport, or if she is not sound in wind/eyes/action.

You will find most horses there need a fair bit of work, in terms of routine care - worming/feet done, and in terms of groundwork - mine didnt know about picking feet up, leading well, farrier etc.
 
samlf said:
It is not a sale that the meat man buys at, despite what loads of people walking round gossiping will say, he wouldnt make any profit.
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The minimum bid at Ashford according to googling their website is £5.

The meat man will almost certainly be present at any sale with a minimum bid of £5, unless no horse/pony there actually sells for under several hundred pounds. Though he won't shout about who he is, necessarily. He can make a profit on a foal sold for £5.

I've never been to Ashford so I don't know, but I would expect the meat man to be at any auction with a minimum bid of less than £300-400
 
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Why not buy something for you then through either an individual seller or a dealer so that at least you can try the horse, have it vetted, etc.?

In all honesty I can't see how you can have a mother/toddler share horse, your son won't be able to do much other than sit on the horse and by the time he is 5/6 he will want to learn to ride rather than just get walked around.
 
I go to Ashford regularly. It can be a good sale and I have had a couple of extremely good horses from there,however you do need to watch what you are buying.Some horses come and go through there several times in the course of a year which definitely makes you more wary of them. As someone said earlier they do quite often need teeth,feet and vaccinations doing but the warranty of quiet to ride and sound in wind eyes action is the standard warranty offered for what is usally a fairly genuine horse. If it isn't warrantied then walk away unless you are prepared to take a chance on what could be a nutter or have some health issues. Price wise I would think as this is a coloured mare there is a chance that she may well go for around the 1200 price range possibly more. Be aware that she isn't being sold by any of the travellers there as I've witnessed alot of times the travellers trying to up the bid on their friends and families horses to get a better price.
 
Broomhill lady belongs to a friend. I can tell you all her history!
She was brought over from Ireland by a dealer in Cornwall last summer. She was put through the sale there but unsold. He then sold her to friend who has had her since July. She is a nice little cob, well marked, but one blue eye. She was green but showed a nice jump, rode round and then went to another friends riding school which she had just opened in the summer as a project for her Son, he did a few clear round shows with her and jumped her over about 90cm - 1m (at home not in the ring). She then came home as was surpless to requirements and they don't have much grazing over the winter. Since coming home it was noted she was rather large, larger than a normal pony should be. Dealer in Cornwall swears he didn't run her with a stallion, from looking at her I would say she is in foal and due in 1- 2 months which means she was caught before she came over. She hasn't been seen by the vet though and is quietly cooking in the field. She hasn't been sat on for a good three months but shouldn't be a bother to bring back in to work. If your interested I'm sure he would rather sell her from home than go to the hassle of taking to the sales, PM me for his number! She hasn't been advertised or messed about with, and there is a genuine case of being overstocked and not financially able to afford to run them all.
 
Booboos said:
Why not buy something for you then through either an individual seller or a dealer so that at least you can try the horse, have it vetted, etc.?

In all honesty I can't see how you can have a mother/toddler share horse, your son won't be able to do much other than sit on the horse and by the time he is 5/6 he will want to learn to ride rather than just get walked around.
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I'm not looking for a mother toddler share I'm looking for me but with a view to hacking out with my son at some point in the future. Purely selfish I should be looking for him but at the moment he's lost a bit of interest which is a shame.
 
Can't quote as on phone!
Cptrayes - although it may say online minimum bid is £5, I've never ever seen anything actually sell for less than £150, and that was wormy foals.
I think people just enjoy scaremongering and excitement!
 
Not for the faint hearted. Over the years I have sold and bought many at auction and could write a book of the pros and cons........
I once got top price at a sale for selling the best horse (and he was lovely) and went to a cracking home.......I have also (shame on me - off loaded problems.......) I have also (karma) bought problems over the years.....but also have acquired some really nice horses / ponies. It is very hit and miss - and I am quite experienced, or was , when I used to do this sort of wheeling and dealing several years ago.
My gut instinct - is don't go for this 7 year old coloured - unless you simply want buy one, get one free (ish) Something does not ring true about it.
 
Star_Chaser said:
I'm not looking for a mother toddler share I'm looking for me but with a view to hacking out with my son at some point in the future. Purely selfish I should be looking for him but at the moment he's lost a bit of interest which is a shame.
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Ah sorry I misunderstood...although I would have the same worry, you want a safe hack to ride and lead a very young child from, what are the chances of finding that at auction without an opportunity to try out the pony and have it vetted? Miniscule I would imagine.
 
I had a really long chat with my dad this evening or more I chatted and he just smiled, nodded and then in his usual quiet way just said probably a bad idea but if I go home sleep on it and still want to go and take a look then he'll come with me. So I'm going to sleep on it.

Have to love my dad over the years I have brought home a variety of 'pets' and he's never once complained, love him, most have been 'found' on the side of the road :D, he always just smiles and gets on with sorting out their care needs knowing full well I've agreed to rescue them when someone else hasn't wanted them. Am lucky to have such a fab step dad definitely one in a million to put up with my hair brained antics.
 
natalia said:
Broomhill lady belongs to a friend. I can tell you all her history!
She was brought over from Ireland by a dealer in Cornwall last summer. She was put through the sale there but unsold. He then sold her to friend who has had her since July. She is a nice little cob, well marked, but one blue eye. She was green but showed a nice jump, rode round and then went to another friends riding school which she had just opened in the summer as a project for her Son, he did a few clear round shows with her and jumped her over about 90cm - 1m (at home not in the ring). She then came home as was surpless to requirements and they don't have much grazing over the winter. Since coming home it was noted she was rather large, larger than a normal pony should be. Dealer in Cornwall swears he didn't run her with a stallion, from looking at her I would say she is in foal and due in 1- 2 months which means she was caught before she came over. She hasn't been seen by the vet though and is quietly cooking in the field. She hasn't been sat on for a good three months but shouldn't be a bother to bring back in to work. If your interested I'm sure he would rather sell her from home than go to the hassle of taking to the sales, PM me for his number! She hasn't been advertised or messed about with, and there is a genuine case of being overstocked and not financially able to afford to run them all.
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Did you see this post?
 
Seen ponys go for £35. Had three horses from there personally all as projects/ youngsters and known many more.

Would only buy as sold on wind eyes and action although my current mare was bought out back as didn't sell in ring so sold as seen really.

Good luck I miss the bustle of the market keep thinking of going down again
 
Hallworthy is just down the road from us and its definitely one the meat man attends. It seems an awfully long way to haul a heavily pregnant mare to take her to auction, or am I reading it wrong.
 
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