So i went to an Auction....

I went to my first auction tonight. It was a bout 1 1/2 hours from my house.

I thought it was going to be all skinny horses, all in terrible condition, but they weren't.
All looked to be in good health. There were a few that kept shifting their weight back and forth and a few, that my friend said, would most likely end up in the KP (Kill Pen). That was really sad :(

I was unable to stick around for the actual auctioning off of the horses though, so I don't know how much any of them went for.

There were people there that would saddle and bridle a horse for you (if it was saddle broke) that you could ride. I didnt do this as I didn't have my helmet... or my vest for that matter.

I was there for the auctioning of tack. OH my goodness did things go cheap! I was able to get a nice leather puncher (something i've wanted for a while) for $6! I couldn't believe it. Saddles were going for around $200 (all western though) English and western bridles were going for between $5-10 I believe.

They also had about 5 or 6 8ft lunge whips! I've never seen whips that large! They went for $5 or $6 I think. (the guy spoke too fast for me to remember everything)

I have to say, from all the negative things you read/hear about auctions, I was pleasantly surprised at the shape of the horses, and they all had access to nice nice looking hay and water.

Just thought I'd share my experience...

Wow, that's interesting! Yeah, usually you hear so many bad things about auctions. I'm glad your experience was different!

I hate auctions!!!, i've been to high priced one and low end one with the same results....it's sad.......

I enjoy going to the auctions. Usually the tack is not the best quality but you can find some jems in there. That is where I'll pick up my vet wrap, or wormer, or a new training whip, or some bridle hangers - that kind of thing.

The quality of the horses really depends on the auction that you go to. The typical once per month auction will have a real mix. You need to be very careful because some horses will be drugged. It pays to go regularly so that you get to know the "regulars" and who to trust and who to avoid. Even at the "Registered Horse" or "Breed" auctions you will find some underhanded sellers.

There are a lot of tricks to the auctions and you definitely need to acquire an "ear" for the auctioneer. A buddy of mine thought he was bidding on a used Billy Cook saddle and ended up buying a different saddle!! One time the auctioneer was holding up a bunch of lead ropes and selling them "bid on one buy them all" - my wife (this was her first experience) though they were all for one money so she bid and instead of 10 lead lines for $5.00 they were 10 x $5.00. (I still have a few of them!).

Yep, I've been to auctions as well and yes, you do see your occasional skinny horse, most of them are in ok condition. More so then skinny horses I think bad farrier work (or no farrier work) is more common!

There are quite a few tricks the horse traders have as well! Some will get their lame horses there at the crack of dawn, spend the entire day trotting a horse up and down the gravel drive so by the time the horse sells it appears sound when it's actually equally lame on all 4 feet. Like Iridehorses said, you don't know which horses are drugged either. But sometimes you can notice a dull/glazed over expression on some of them! While I wouldn't recommend it for most, we have gotten some really sweet horses from auction by the pound though!

I would love to go check one out! I just don't know of any in my area. How can you find one??

I did notice one pony that was just there. He wasn't interested in any of the people, wasn't swishing flies, his ears looked VERY relaxed to me... i'm going to presume he was drugged.

I did hear the auctioner saying something times 5.. does that mean that if you get it for $3 and there are 5 of them it would cost $15?

At the end of the tack auction, they were just selling lots of stuff.. like $5 gets you 2 of those metal curry combs and stuff like that. Though if there was a lot of stuff, and you won it, you could choose what colors you wanted, or which one you wanted.

I definitely want to go back and just buy more things hehe and check out the horses again.
The guy that owns that auction, i've been told if I go up to him and tell him what i'm looking for, he would honestly help me find something. Whether i'm going to actually do that is a different story.

Yup, that's how my wife ended up buying me 10 lead ropes.

There is an monthly auction about an hour north of me the 1st Sat of the month and another one on the 2nd Sat. About an hour west. I go mostly for the entertainment but I've picked up some very nice horses from time to time. (but now I'll either leave my wife home or tie her hands to her sides)

Yep you can find some decent stuff at Auctions & then again you can find some crappy things too.... glad you had a good experience!

The huge whips are for driving . . . Last time I went to auction I came home with a horse . . . Therefore im "not alowed" to go to another one