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I've been sort of looking for another horse since I lost my mare recently. Went to the local horse auction; it is held once a month. I haven't been in several years, but was told there are usually miniature horses there. There were over 100 horses there and a huge crowd. It is the Saturday night entertainment locally. Cowboys, cowgirls, and wannabes. Tack is sold for about 3 hours before the horses sell.

There were 5 little horses. One will haunt me. One was so cow hocked his hocks were knocking together. One had a locking stifle. One was so wild and frightened. I did get him out of his pen to try and work with him a little to see if he was teachable. After about 10 minutes, I felt he was not the right temperament for me. One was in a herd of at least 15 big horses, packed into a pen. I asked the wrangler if he could get the little one out for me to look at. He got a rope around its neck but it was so wild he wouldn't bother to get it out of the pen. I saw a stallion fight. One stallion had squeezed through a hole in the pen and attacked another. Not a pretty sight.

I did not stay. I am not at a good age to take on a wild and crazy boy. And I'm not looking to rescue at this point, with the possible heartache involved in that. I need a nice companion for my gelding and a pleasant driving option.

Most likely be the last time I go to that auction. I tried to figure out what my impression was, and I think it is that I don't care for the cowboy/rodeo mentality and do not want to play with my horses in that world. I have nothing against cowboys or rodeo fans. It's just not for me. And I know the cowboys think what I do with my horses is useless and silly. Different strokes for different folks!

The stupidest thing that cowboys say when they see me with a little horse, and it's starting to really annoy me: "Are you going to ride that pony?" I wish they would think of something a little more original...
 
Oh My! Poor little horses. I've been to several here in the east and never saw anything like that. If I did I would be having sleepless nights.
 
Oh My! Poor little horses. I've been to several here in the east and never saw anything like that. If I did I would be having sleepless nights.
I had been to this auction a few times in the past, as it's been well established for many years, and never saw anything like it either. I even took one of my little horses there about 10 years ago, and he brought a good price and went home with very nice folks. But something was different this time. Don't know if the drought is making it harder to keep horses, the economy is making them too expensive, or the concept of what a cowboy/cowgirl is has changed.

Usually the seller is there, ready to tell about the good points of his horse and show him off. This time, there were penfuls of horses that looked like they just came out of the pasture and had never been handled.
 
I had to quit going to the local stock auction when the bottom fell out of the horse market and it just became a big meat sale. Beautiful horses who had been starved, injuries left to fester, and (like you stated) untouched horses too wild to handle. It was heartbreaking. I also wanted to buy every weanling that came along and I don't have the resources for that. So it is best if I stay away.
 

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