Horse sales - experience and advice please

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snurse

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Who here has sold at a horse sale? Personally, I don't like them and always 'promised' my horses they'd never go through a sale ring, but I wonder if I'm going to have to break the promise. I have two nice youngsters to sell and can't raise any interest. Obviously I shall now wait till spring to try again, but keeping them is getting quite difficult, money-wise. Just wondering what others thought. What about putting reserves on them, etc.? I shall feel like a traitor if I do, but I may have to. Any thoughts?
 
we have bought and sold at sales, there is nothing wrong with them IMO, yes there may be some not so nice people there, but you could get them showing up at a private sale just on a smaller scale.
there are plenty of good people at sales looking for the horse for them, my mare of 15yrs came from a sale, i am so glad fate brought us together that day
putting a reserve is fine, but make sure it is realistic and that you dont end up taking your horse home when a good home may await, but dont be against them, sales can be a great place to buy and sell
 
They are full sisters - one coloured, about 18 months and one bay, just weaned, seven months. Dad is coloured Irish sports horse, Mum is registered Dales. Both will be about 15hh and quite solid. Not performance stuff but well put together, and should make great family horses. Both parents have exceptional temperaments and the youngsters are very friendly. As to what they were bred for, the honest answer is, to keep my little Dales mare happy - she absolutely loves foals (and not much else). Anyone interested, PM me.
 
take them to leominster...

you should get a good price for the coloured and a fair one for the solid..

i buy and sell at sales all the time..i've no problem with it....
 
I've bought at sales before. Don't think it's as stressful for the horse as we think. No doubt they think the proceedings a bit odd, but most don't suffer undue stress from what I've seen. it's only the ones that are wild that do.

If you can afford to wait until Spring to sell them privately you at least can pick and choose the owner a bit more
 
The coloured I would say will attract big interest from the one sale I went to. I would actually consider going to the sales to buy, would never sell as I vet all homes and wasn't fussed on the home I saw a very nice friends pony go to, or the price they got for her. If I was looking for an all rounder/project/general horse I would visit them to see what was on.
 
Ah but there are sales and then there are sales.... the good ones are worth going to as some nice stock go through them.

I've bought some horses from sales, but I haven't sold through a sale before. Most of the sales I go to are fairly high quality ones and everything is done by the book; the horses are all calm and they are nice places.

You just have to find the right sale place. Good luck. Personally I'd look to sell sooner than later, 2 year olds are often very tricky to sell in England.
 
Would def recommend Leominster as we got Mcfly from there last year.
Mostly nice horses going through the ring that day and I was impressed by the auction itself.
Caz
 
The nicest pony I ever had for my daughter was bought from the breeder outside the sale ring. I checked her passport as she was reg Sec A. She was a complete bargain & there are plenty of good people buying from sales all the time. You have as much chance of finding a good home as privately selling, after all they can tell you just what they think you want to hear. It is not that bad, well except for the likes of Pannel & Southall, both of which have gone now.
 
I have bought and sold at the sales, when i sold i put a realistic reserve on and got an absolutely fantastic home for him, just make sure you get them looking excellent in their condition and turn them out immaculately this will make big difference to your price, but dont expect to get that much as people are always bargain hunting at sales.
 
There's a moral in this story somewhere....
You've bred foals just to keep your mare happy, can't have made much effort to sell a 7 month old foal, and now because you never wanted them in the first place you're sending them off to the sales.
Honestly it's such a mystery where all these unwanted and ordinary youngsters who end up going for meat come from.....
 
Bit unfair - they're not ordinary or unwanted - certainly not meat quality. AND I haven't even decided on the sale ring. Though I might, considering the previous post - £3K for a coloured youngster at Leominster. Sorry, but I think you're imagining the scrubby little foals off the moor. These are from a show-winning stallion and a top-graded Dales mare and are nice horses. I was only asking about sale ring experiences. It's not a 'get rid at any price'!
 
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