Afraid To Buy A Horse At Public Auction?

Here are 5 things to do to put the odds of getting a
good horse in your favor.

Let me share a short story with you about public horse
auctions and my friend Jack.

I’ll show you how to buy a horse at auction so you won’t get
burned. Jack, an old time horse trader and I use to
travel to horse auction all over the state. I’d
just watch Jack and maybe later ask my questions.

Jack was usually pretty closed mouthed, but he let me in
on his secrets to buying good horses at auctions.

#1 Arrive at the auction real early like 3 hours or more
before the auction starts.

You want to be there as the horses arrive, so you can see
who brings them and how they unload and walk to their pen.

Who brings the horse? A horse trader, private party, woman,
man, kid, also how many horses did they bring? You need to
know this so you have a clue as to who you will possibly be
buying from and who to talk to about the horse before you
bid.

#2 If you see a horse you like the looks of, go to the
horses holding pen.

Watch the horse and how he moves. If the horse is tied up
in the pen this could mean trouble as the horse owner might
not want you to see the horse move. Check the horse for
blemishes and soundness, make sure the legs are clean and
the hooves are healthy and maintained, there should not be
any limping or signs of lameness.

I do not like scars, divots or bumps on the head and neck,
This shows the horse has been in a wreck of some kind, which
could mean the horse is prone to panic, I’ve been stuck with
a couple of panic prone horses and they did hurt me. If you
don’t know about lame horses and what to watch out for, take
someone with you who does or don’t bid.

Now the horse should show signs of life maybe be a little
bit excited, what with all the other horses and the new
surroundings, if not you could be looking at a drugged
horse.

#3 Talk to the person that brought the horse

you know this person because you seen them arrive. Make
sure they are the owner of the horse, if not who are they?
The standard stories are:

It’s my neighbors horse, this often means it is my horse but
I am not going to admit it to you, as I don’t want to be held
accountable for the lies I’m about to tell you.

Or I’m a dealer trying to pass off this horse as a good old
horse so gentle to ride, the neighbor kid rode bareback on
the road when in reality it’s a dink horse that he can’t
sell off his trading string.

Jack use to saddle up to the person who brought the horse
and softly ask; say can you tell me a little bit about your
horse? ( then he SHUT UP! ). They would tell all the nice
things about the horse and Jack would just look at the
horse, not saying a word. After they got through the string
of lies or half truths, they would start getting nervous
because it was so quite they thought they had to ramble on
some more and that’s when a bit more of the truth starts to
show up, yeah old Barley don’t buck except that one time
when he broke my collar bone opps…

#4 Follow the horse from the pen to the sale ring

Jack use to walk right into the sale ring with the horse and
watch it move in the ring too. The other advantage is you
can see who is bidding. The owner or someone with them may
be running up the bid, you know this because you seen them
arrive right?

Now you may not be able to get in the ring but you can stand
next to it so you can see the horse and the crowd too. Most
owners try too hard to get their horse to ride well in the
ring which is usually too small to work a horse in anyway so
you get to see how the horse responds under pressure. Watch
for rearing, head tossing, humping up or crow hopping,
usually the small size of the ring prevents them from
bucking.

#5 If you still like the horse bid on it.

How much? Jack would only pay about $15 to $20 above killer
price. How much is that? You need to snoop around before
the sale and ask the dealers or auctioneer, I’ve seen it
range from 15 cents to 1 dollar a pound, so that could mean
from $150 to $1000 for a 1000 pound riding horse.

Jack was comfortable paying that price as he would take the
horse home, try them out, if there was a problem he would
run them through the next auction and not get hurt too bad,
out $20 at most.

This works good if you, your wife, or kids don’t fall in
love with old Barley, Jack use to say if you don’t send
them right back to the auction. you end up with a field full
of cripples and buckers.

You can get a nice horse at a rock bottom price following
this method. My experience has been that I can get older
well trained horses that people are bailing out on because
the kids all left home and they don’t want to feed the horse
any more, or they just were flash in the pan horsemen and
need the money for a quad runner.

I have also bought young unbroke horses that people do not
have the skill to train, if you think you want a go at that,
make sure you have a medical plan and go for it.

I do not pay top dollar for exceptional horses at auctions
because, again experience has taught me there are no
exceptional horse at these auctions, if you think there are
some there, look close as there is usually a hole in them
somewhere.

Now put this plan into action and you will find a nice horse
that you can use and even make a profit on if you so choose
at some time in the future, just do all the steps and you
will get the successful results.

Dale Anderson

http://www.breeds-of-horses.com

[email protected]; 360-398-1261