Explain me Ashford market

horrible story alice but I think it doesn't matter where you buy that can happen everywhere,
I remember a horse 10 years ago was in my stable that I break it the first 4 weeks everything was fine than one hack and the horse was of the middle of an hill in canter and he grew with the front I slided to the back horse turns and put his hof on my hand, broken hospital but I rode her home

other case I sat on my lovley loan horse we were in the arena an other horse pass us kicks and meet my knee, hostpital again

but end of story is that not always are the horses guilty it depends on owner how good they was the horse because HORSES NEVER FORGET!!!

I didn't mean the comment to portray auction horses as no good, sorry for the misunderstanding. I am far from being knowledgable enough to buy from auction and that is what meant to portray from my comment.
 
If you go please check the conditions of vetting. friend bought a TB ex racer and though it was warranted as sound , quiet to ride etc etc She thought she had 7 days but think it turned out to be 48 hours. She is stuck with an unrideable old mare that is costing a fortune. ashford refused to do anything about it even though warranted because she came with no tack so it took over the time to get a suitable saddle.
 
As with the purchase of any horse from any source just do your homework,ensure the horse is vetted and take someone with you to give an objective opinion.you can view the sales catalogue on line from the Hobbs and Parker website which should provide details,and maybe photo's.Some people do put in their problem horses just to get rid of them which is why you need to be very cautious.
 
an TB or friesian or Trakehner over 16hh in an age between 5 and 12 black or bay in colour (no chestnut)

The tb's you will find there, but friesians or trakehners? Not a chance:D

If you want a TB try the Ascot bloodstock sales.
You will get something very decent for that kind of money
 
Also if you want a TB try John Best (Hucking),or Linda Jewell (Sutton Valance)both have websites and you can pick up a decent horse from them,having time to try out and get a vetting done.
 
Tbf some of the problem horses put through auctions aren't that bad, you've just got to be capable of making a very quick decision as to whether its within your ability to deal with the problem, whether that's a behavioral problem or a physical one, & by ability that means skill, finances in the case of physical, & a set up to suit that individual horse. And I don't think buying at auction is just a case of being an experienced buyer & horse person in general, its a different set of skills you can really only get through lots of watching those who are experienced at buying from low end sales.
I had an absolutely cracking sportshorse I bought in a carpark before the auction, for about 10% of what you would expect him to be worth on breeding alone. But to make that decision I had to very carefully watch the owners body language to guess whether she was the overhorsed, scared novice numpty she came across as, or playing the part to con me. Then I got on a young highly strung sportshorse in a busy carpark who I hadn't seen ridden, & had 5 mins to judge whether he was leaping & spinning because he was very green & over excited, due to pain, or doped & showing signs he was an absolute nutter. Also barely stood still long enough to even check him over as thoroughly as I would have liked, & no option of a vetting. Had in total 10mins to decide because I didn't want someone else getting in before me. As it happened he turned out to have no deeper problems than a nervous overhorsed owner he'd learnt to bully, & being too highly strung & well bred to be the ploddy type she was used to. It didn't really require huge amounts of skill to turn him around, just confident handling & schooling to direct his energy into something constructive. But still a massive gamble that most people would rather avoid. And I've had other lovely projects too from cheap auctions. But unlike a private sale you have little thinking time, & have to be able to judge both health & temperament in an unusual environment, without benefit of second opinions & often with no choice of return or vetting.
 
Most importantly you need to develop tunnel vision. You do see old, unhealthy or injured horses, valueless young colts & generally worthless horses, & its sad watching them go for meat, even sadder when its something unsound or ancient & some numpty who's been riding it outside buys it because they are too clueless to realise the horse isn't up to the purpose they want. And sadder still when people buy ones like that, then the following week are back again, & the horses do the circuit of the low end sales for months before the abbatoir. Or confused just weaned foals getting stressed. I've not been to ashford, but low end sales are the same ime wherever they are.
 
Hi, TbLover. Check out Linda Jewell, near Maidstone. She is a very knowledgeable woman, has some nice TB 's out of racing and is very careful to match horse and rider ime. She is also honest. She brings very lovely Connemara ponies over from Ireland, too. Expensive, but worth every penny imo!
 
I live near Ashford and have been to the sales on a fair few different occasions, the last time being about a year and a half ago.
The best advice I would give is if you are the "I feel sorry for it so i'll buy it" type, then dont go. You can get some quality horses there but more often than not in my experience it is more the opposite. I know people who have bought from there and have ended up with nice ponies/horses but they are the type of people who have bought from sales like this on more than one occasion, and tbh have probably been lucky.

It is worth a look, but it really isn't a high end sales!
 
good advice and help here and I know I am not mother theresa to help every animal or child but its good to hear that sometimes there are horses that are it worth to look and may be a option to buy
but however I think I can not wait until next sale I miss it so to take care of a horse........ anyway maybe a projekt as a second horse
 
There are worse auctions than Ashford,like Duckhurst for example which is where the travelling folk offload their badly breed and often very frightened horses.I have seen terrible scenes there where the poor mites are crammed into trailers,beaten off the trailer,then beaten again when they change hands.Ashford is just a notch above Duckhurst.It used to be a decent auction hall some decades ago,but sadly it has seen a sharp demise in quality over the years.
 
There are worse auctions than Ashford,like Duckhurst for example which is where the travelling folk offload their badly breed and often very frightened horses.I have seen terrible scenes there where the poor mites are crammed into trailers,beaten off the trailer,then beaten again when they change hands.Ashford is just a notch above Duckhurst.It used to be a decent auction hall some decades ago,but sadly it has seen a sharp demise in quality over the years.

Agreed!
 
You can pick up some good horses at Ashford, but you need to know exactly what you want or take somebody very experienced with you. Don't touch Duckhurst.

You'll be hard pushed to pick up a well bred Friesian with your budget unless you buy a youngster from Holland (i.e. at weaning).

Have you looked at the Source an ex-racehorse website? Some excellent TB projects on there and you could get a super horse for under £3k.
 
Its hard to find the right horse I can't explain why I am looking for something speciale but you can say that I am crazy but I look for problem horses which must be healthy but have problems with riding, balance, scared etc.

I bought 2 of my horses at butcher's paddock as dangerous and life threatening the other one from private but same description
I don't know why but all my last 3 was very crazy when i started with them bucking kicking etc and all 3 leave me without this vices I know it takes a lot of time to bring them on but speciale my last one there was a bond which never breaks unfortunately he was pts due an colic.

Maybe someone can explain me why Iam doing this...???
 
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