What kind of horses end up in the auctions?

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RIDMagic

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I’m interested to know what kind of horses and ponies are sold at the UK auctions these days. Is it generally the old/injured/problem horses that end up in an auction? And how do they end up there in the first place? What sort of price you can pick a horse up at an auction these days? I know, how long is a piece of string, but I just want a general idea. You hear about people picking up horses for £50 at the auction but surely this is pretty unusual…?

I am at a livery yard where horses and ponies come and go quite often, I think they come from the auctions (although I’m not sure), and I also think some of them are ending up with the meat man. It’s heart-breaking because at first glance there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong with them, and I’m sure if somebody put the time in with these horses they could have a good and useful life.

I wish I had the knowledge, experience and time to ‘rescue’ a horse from the sales. It’s just not an option for me now, but I’d like to think at some point in the future I could help a horse like this. At the very least if I ended up with a horse that turned out to have some unmanageable condition or was a complete danger, then it could be put to sleep in a peaceful environment rather than ending up in an abattoir, or worse, being transported abroad for meat. The idea of this happening to any horse is horrific to me. Maybe it’s an idealistic view but then I’m a bit of a softie!
 
If you're that much of a softie I'd suggest you don't go to the sales!

This is the report from York last Friday - gives a description and the sale price.
 
It depends on what auctions you go to of course. I'm in Ireland, there are the big reputable auctions selling sport horses, vetted etc. The horses are often well produced and well presented. Some go for big money. Usually the best ones go to the uk by the lorry load :mad:

Then there are the *other* auctions. Lots of horses selling for €50. A very depressing sight. I will never forget one chestnut mare, not amazing but not very badly put together either. She was in foal to Power Blade. She sold for €50, bought by the same man buying them all up for that price so I assume he was the meat man. I never went to one again after that. And seemingly things have got a lot worse since.

The horses at the low end auctions aren't even groomed, let alone taught to lead around nicely. The sellers make no effort whatsoever. If they even put a month into tidying them up, feeding them and teaching them the basics then they would have a better chance of finding a home rather than a slaughter house. But I guess they just dont care.
 
I used to often buy unbroken native ponies from the sales, but it's been many years since I last went. I certainly wouldn't recommend buying something unless you have someone with experience who can pick up on any noticeable problems, injuries, can age a horse by it's teeth and so on.

There are some really sorry looking horses at the sales, I blame indiscriminate breeding.
 
My Jake came from the sales :) he's a lovely horse but didn't come without a few teething problems (bronking, etc.) but then you can get that with any horse. If you were to buy from the sales then make sure your clued up and if in doubt don't buy it!
 
That is shocking. I know there are some high end sales, many top dressage horses are bought at auction, but the low end ones I imagine can be awful places. But who are the people that are putting these horses in the auction? Is it the breeders? Where do these horses actually come from? I totally agree that if they could just put a bit of effort into feeding them and teaching the very basics, they would have half a shot at being bought as a riding horse and not for dog food. It's absolutely heartbreaking. I wish I could buy one right now but I just don't have the knowledge, and it's hard enough finding the time to manage one horse at the moment. I know I'd be biting off more than I could chew. Indiscriminate breeding definitely has a lot to answer for, but I don't know how this problem is going to be solved. There are too many horses and not enough people to own them, not to mention too many people with a disgusting attitude to animals in my opinion. Anyway, getting a bit off subject here...
 
My mare was bought by her old owner from the auctions, apparently she'd been on a schooling livery and the owners never came back for her or to pay the bill! She turned out to be a cracking horse. I'm personally not clued up enough to buy from the sales and I couldn't face seeing the meat man bid.
 
Depends on the auction. Look at the Brightwells catalogue for example :p

I have a friend that was selling (a VERY nice, genuine, young, placed at his first BE event etc etc) horse and got no interest. She dropped the price from 7k to 4k, still no interest, he ended up going to auction and selling for 3.5k. When she bought him (as a baby) she was expecting to get 10k for him after he'd been successfully competing, but the market just plummeted. So I know there are some genuine ones, especially in this financial climate.
 
Not sure who the people selling the horses are these days, but back when I was going (low end sales) it was mostly people from the traveller community selling/buying the horses, often before the horse even entered the ring

Indiscriminate breeding is a MASSIVE problem that unfortunately will just continue. I see it all the time, people who have a mare they can't do anything with so they think the answer is the just to put in foal to the nearest stallion thinking they are going to breed an Olympic gold medalist.
 
My local sales are most often coloured gypsy youngsters and weanlings, nothing wrong with them at all except that they have often had very little handling. We also see quite often lots of wild caught welsh mountain ponies, shetlands and cobs. I've known folks buy a sweet little childs pony that turned out to have some kind of turn in his neck that meant he couldn't be ridden (and vet said he'd had it for years), and I've also seen racehorses and pacers fresh off the track wth absolutely nothing wrong with them. I have known a family who put theirs through the same sales when their daughter was in a car accident and couldn't ride again, and a local lady who backs youngsters to put through the sales every month. Not a thing wrong with any of them. Then again, I have also seen the odd one stood drooling with it's head down because of the amount of sedative it's been loaded with.
 
Brightwells are brilliant. Bought both of mine from them. All types of horsxe go to auction BTW, hunters,hacks,riding school horses,ponies,dressage horses,show horses, unhandled feral ponies etc etc.
 
I've bought and sold a couple of horses from York before a few years ago - it is a bit like buying a house at auction, a little more of a gamble than if you had gone to the open market. My friend bought a mare from York last year £150, it is currently jumping newcomers sweetly - luck of the draw perhaps?
 
Someone at Leominster Sales bought a cracking hunting cob. It was a sale that had fallen through and the vendor just didn't have the space to keep it any longer. They were sad, but the buyer was delighted.

Sometimes people just have to get rid of a horse and an auction is the only way to do it.

Also I think at Leominster people put them through the sales as there are a collection of buyers there. If you live a long way from a centre of population then how many people are going to get into a car and come and see your horse? I know it is bad now, but a few years ago there were quite a few sellers as described above - people breaking and schooling and selling the youngsters at auction. Dealers always go incase there is a horse for sale that they know will suit one of their buyers - people sometimes ask them to look out for a certain type.

I know it is a horrid thing to say (hide behind the sofa) and I deplore the fact that the animals get passed around and have to go to sales - but actually the meat man serves a useful purpose and mops up those animals that would otherwise end up neglected and abandoned.
 
I've bought a few through Leominster - saw a few cracking horses got through last winter for less than 500, one with a BE record with double clears on made the most and that was under 1k. My little pony we picked up from Leominster for 150, cracking kids pony (welsh a) broken to ride and drive and generally a lovely little chap - the owners brought him down from derby we found out after which was slightly worrying but in 2 years he hasn't put a foot wrong :)
My other boy came from ascot sales but that's a different kind of auction, yes there's bargains like mine was but they generally are decent horses!
 
So it seems that you can actually pick up what could turn out to be a decent horse or pony for as little as £500 (or less!).
Has anybody any experience of Clitheroe auctions?
Orangehorse, I can actually see where you're coming from, and whilst I absolutely do not condone any horse going to the meat man, no matter what the circumstance, I don't think it's the meat man that's the problem. It's the people further up the line that are breeding the unwanted horses in the first place, and the people that are buying a horse that they either can't afford, or that is totally unsuitable for their needs, and then the poor horse ends up in the auction. God only knows where most of them end up.
It really is awful but like I said, I really don't know how this problem will ever be solved while there is no consequence for people like this.
 
Orangehorse said:
I know it is a horrid thing to say (hide behind the sofa) and I deplore the fact that the animals get passed around and have to go to sales - but actually the meat man serves a useful purpose and mops up those animals that would otherwise end up neglected and abandoned.
Click to expand...

I agree, better a meat man than a serious welfare case!
 
I'm not experienced enough to buy a pony at auction,but we have loaned 2 that originally came through Melton and Leominster.Both had quirks,but we had a lot of fun with them.My first childhood pony came from Melton,was reschooled by a charity and we bought her from them.She was a really good little pony too.
 
Merl had been through several sales rings by the time I got him. He was dangerous to handle though.

Most of the riding school ponies came via the sales as we were happy to have something slightly quirky to handle or an unbroken four year old to bring on. Any thing was unsuitable for the school was sold on to a private home - we did end up with one that was dangerously unpredictable that had to be PTS though.
 
Get a few bargains in Llanybydder to, bought a sec A foal there for £12, sold him 3 years later for £1500, a couple of months back some nice ponies were going for between £15 and £40, bit of work and they would be fab, people selling because overstocked and winter coming up
 
It does depend very much on the auction - there's always a bit of a mixture of different types and ages. Some lovely horses end up at auctions for very genuine reasons, some not so much. Some youngsters, and sadly some oldies which is always very sad to see. I bought my previous horse from an auction because he was in such a state and I felt sorry for him (hadn't planned on buying anything!), he was most definitely there for a reason, they would not have been able to sell him anywhere else and they were lucky I was there with my soft heart! I did suspect there would be some sort of problems with him as he was a type that should have been snapped up elsewhere (if he wasn't looking such a mess), and I was very right as he ended up costing us thousands in vets bills (lots of underlying medical issues which were not obvious) and was so psychologically messed up by the time he came to us that although he improved and had a good life with us, he never came right. But when I looked into his history he had originally been a very valuable show horse with a very good life, he was just unlucky and went from a good home to a bad one and the pattern continued until they sent him to the sales with a neighbour as a last resort.
But next door to him at the very same sale was a lady sobbing her heart out into her mare's neck - she had got into financial difficulties and was having some personal problems and had no choice but to sell her asap. I believed every word she said as she was an absolute wreck about letting her mare go. I definitely took the wrong one home but I'm sure she would have gone somewhere nice as she was lovely.
I won't allow myself to go to auctions any more as I want to take them all home!
 
Some end up at sales because the private market is full of time wasters and numpties If their own circumstances change and the horse will become a welfare issue due to loss of income, they try the sales in the hope of finding a good home for their much loved animal. So no not all are horrid and riddled with problems some just have owners that have fallen on hard times It has always been possible to buy a feral foal for less than a bar of chocolate that has never changed sadly. Probably never will until the low end breeders are made to pay for their youngsters in some way
 
You are not just buying what's in front of you, you have to look at the vender. If its a dealer and he's bought a pen of foals for £15 in Wales, then he takes them to the next sale further South East he is gambling that he can sell them on at £25 each, what's left over are going for meat probably a zoo. You may get a nice pony but it could be stressed and get pneumonia. If you really want to save a equine have a look on here,https://www.facebook.com/wprrp.welshponiesavailable , you have to provide references, your own transport and the cost of castration. Do not buy these poor mites at the sales they are playing on your emotions, the only winners are the dealer who has dragged them across the county and the auctioneer would couldn't give a dam as long as he gets his 10%
The horsemeat trade is picking up but they are looking for horses out of training or ex hunters, plenty of lean meat.
Some people can not afford to wait to sell, I once saw a family pony that the family had tried selling through the local paper, they actually got more for it at the sales. Talk to the vendor, go a few times just to look and find out who the dealers are. The only horses I have ever bought at the sales was in F&M year, he was 17.2, I sold him 3 weeks later for 3 times what I paid for him privately. I never found out why he had been sold but he failed the vetting and was very well schooled so I think he came from a riding school, he was probably eating them out of house and home.
 
There are sales in my area where ponies can be picked up for less than £10. Generally unhandled colts off Dartmoor. Most go for meat, and I really do not think that is the worst thing that can happen to them. The problem is that unless they are backed and kept until they are about five or so, they won't ever sell for more than a few hundred pounds, even if they are registered. As most of them will not grow bigger than 12-13hh and they are not that strong, they are often only really suitable for children and most people don't want to take a risk on a pony for their child. However, keeping them until they are five or six and backing/training them will not usually cover the vendor's costs.

Equally, there are sales around where good horses do get sent. I do know someone who sent a well bred youngster to the sales, as she lost some of her grazing at short notice. The horse was well handled and almost ready to be backed so therefore made decent money, and definately didn't go for meat.

If you want to pick up a bargain, I think you have to go with a specific list of atributes you want in mind, and be prepared to not bid if nothing suitable comes up. If you're interested, you could have a look at some sales reports which show what is available to some extent, and what sort of price they sell for.

However, if you just want to help a welfare case, have you considered fostering/loan through one of the equine charities? This will mean you have a bit more of a known quantity, and the charity will take the horse back if the situation becomes unsuitable.

ETA: Here's a link to some examples of sales reports http://www.sawdyeandharris.co.uk/horse-sales.
 
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I have a friend who bought a decently bred nothing to look at unbacked youngster through a sales ring for £800 a good few years ago, started him and worked him for a season, went to a top eventers training clinic and came back with an empty trailer having sold him for £10,000
 
we bought an absolutly stunning little sec a at beeston for £50 she was a fab kids pony totally bomproof perfect 1st pony, bargain of the centuary! then next time paid £40 quid for some crackpot ferral shetland absolutly stunning but totally unhandlable and so many issues we ended up having to give her away as a compaion. they can go for as little as a fiver at this time of year. its pot luck. theres many reasons someone may take their horse to auction, sometimes they jst have no choice.
 
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