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lyn_j

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[SIZE=14pt]Sat at the sale Ronnie said something that really hit home. He said that we the bidders were setting the prices and the tone for the industry . IF we dont want to pay for our good horses a fair price at a sale then why should we expect others to come to our farm and pay more? If we dont take some of our best horses out for people to see and bid on then what will draw them to our places?[/SIZE]

What are your thoughts on that?

Lyn
 
There are diferences in sales. There are some routine once or twice a month general horse sales, there are dispersal sales, invitational sales etc etc. Some top farms consign animals to well know invitational and annual sales as a way of putting their stock in front of large numbers of interested people. Hundreds might come to an auction where only a few will travel out to the farm to see what you have. Its a catch 22 situation. But if you want alot of people to see them you have to put them out there.
 
i agree all the way and im always saying the same thing ronnie did. If you wont PAY good money for a great horse then how can you expect to GET good money for a great horse. WE set the prices. If people would stop giving away their colts and acting like they had no value (and geld more) you would see an end to the low prices that colts are getting.

I was so proud of a friend of mine at the last auction i went to. she was selling a beautiful stallion with great breeding. the bidding stopped 500.00 shy of what she wanted. Most of us would have said okay ill take the lower price. But she didnt she stood firm and you know what?? the bidder coughed up the extra 500.00. But how many people have the guts to do it??
 
UGH what is with the double posts! sorry
 
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Well like somebody said IF you buy at a auction you can't go back and complain.."as is" thats why many "faulty" horses are being sold at auctions..broodmares without a uterus and replaced papers and so on..NOW this is NOT at every auction...greatly depends on the auction and the person consigning..
 
But you also have to realize that if you buy a horse from a farm you have a better chance of getting a good horse. At an auction you get whatever the horse is made out to be.

Example if you are looking at a mare at a sale and you are told the mare has foaled easy and has been exposed to a stallion for a foal next year. What you don't know is that the mare is 13 has had only one foal and there is no vet check to say she is in foal now. And there is no explaination as to why the mare hasn't had other foals. She is a huge risk. Unless you do your research before the sale you run the risk of getting bad horses.

Normally doing a private sale you don't have ten minutes to decide if you want to really buy a horse. You have the time to research, check history, see the horse in a normal atmosphere. And face it, if most of the people bringing horses to a sale weren't willing to take the low prices they would no sale them. The sad thing is a dwarf selling for as much or more than nice registered bred mares.

I was taken at a sale myself, so it makes me more leary. I bought a cremello pinto said to be LWO. She was neither cremello nor LWO. My fault I shouldn't have looked at the mare twice. But I did and it sure makes me look harder now. And buy smarter.

I am not saying sales are bad, but you have to do your homework just like in buying a horse from an individual.
 
[SIZE=14pt]Maybe what Im trying to say is that we should bring out better horses to the sale. I know that there are lots of horses like those posted above. I brought a very good stallion to the sale... well bred sired by a national champion. I had him cleaned up and presented well by Allison King....thanks Allison. He was second highest selling stallion at that sale but still less than half what I bought him for. What if we made it a point to bring good horses to each of these non production sales. Do you think that it will boost the sales some? I do think that the way a horse is presented at the auction makes a difference as well. IF you stand them like the show horses that they are instead of just walking them around in a circle hoping someone will buy then the prices may go up a little. Reece Family always presents their horses like they are in the ring. Allison did that with Blue as well. Mike did it with his Alliance horses and they looked great and their prices were higher than most others.[/SIZE]

Lyn
 
l'm waiting for someone to put on a auction for the public with geldings for sale only. l'm just wondering if they would draw a buying crowd and bring better prices then the colts left intact would. l only brought that up as l've wondered about it in the past and then also l always read on here about not enough people geld and colts is whats dragging down the prices because there sold for next to nothing. Any thoughts on this....
 
l would not think a gelding only sale would be a good bet relic most people want a choice to choose from. l bought a mare and small stallion at the yearly sale and only 2 gelding where on the block out of l believe 37 horses and price on them was small. they also where not nice looking with large head. can make good finds at the sales if you know what you want. l have small stallion l bought l will geld him in fall and my price is still lower by much than going to breeding farm to buy.
 
I have, in years past, taken horses to well known & established sales. None were close to home, some as far as 2,000 miles! If my price isn't reached I will no sale!! No qualms. One guy was about $800 off and came behind the scene to offer more, saying "she'll have a good home". Well, I thanked him and advised she already had a goood home...
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...and was going back to it. (I still own her, she's 21 & has repaid me in spades!) I never take the "older broodmares" to an auction
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They either retire with me or could be placed in special home with "return to me ONLY' status. OK, so far I have chosen to keep them
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As to a general auction and the prices. IMO the prices have been too low for the seller for most animals but, no bidder is going to get to the second hit of the hammer and say "wait, I want to raise my OWN bid". It takes good animals to bring enough SERIOUS buyers to bid to a good price. If an auction is simply a place to "get rid of" the poor quality, then we can expect nothing else. Used to be auctions where sellers had to apply to enter their horse -- probably some around still but, since I haven't been pushing any to sell (or buy, actually -- but have bought 3 in past yr
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) I just haven't looked for these type auctions.

Some guidelines as to what horses would be allowed to be a part of the auctions could be a place to begin improving the sales prices. Presentation, current paperwork, vet certified foal statis, a vet on site if you wanted to hire them to check animals, limited numbers of stallions, foals, broodmares, etc., could be positive considerations. I like a "steal of a deal" as much as the next guy but, quality of bid is driven by quality of the bidders who are going to arrive only if the majority of animals are worth their time and effort on a consistant basis.

Not to say there aren't some fine ones sprinkled amount the less fine -- just that they will not bring full value to their seller without many things being considered.
 
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Well, I don't know Ronnie and he is right in my opinien.

An auction should be a representation for the farm/ranch 's quality, breeding program.

Bring your best to an auction and clients home to your farm.

Auctions dictate prices of the whole industry.

Costumers/clients normaly measure your auction prices for farm/ranch purchases.

Statistically, this measurement last one year.

Anita
 
I've been involved in one of the local auctions as both a buyer and seller for a number of years as well as working at the auction. I can tell you for a fact that the majority of horses that come in look terrible!!! Thin, dirty, hairy, long hoofs, etc. Horses in that kind of condition won't bring any money, period! And the sellers get mad when their horses get no bids or low bids and the horses look like death warmed over!

If a seller wants top dollar for his horse at an auction, it needs to be clipped, cleaned and groomed like a show horse. Presented in a show halter. I've sold both lesser quality and top quality horses at auction and they have always been among the high sellers because they were well presented. These horses represent me and my farm and I want them looking like show horses. From broodmares to weanlings to breeding stallions, they will be spit and polished. You would be amazed at the difference in price it can make!

There are a lot of auctions out there and not that many buyers. But one thing to remember, as Tony has said, auction prices are wholesale prices; farm prices are retail.
 
I of course have to add my two cents!

Being in the horse industry since I could ride which was 18 months old yep so we are talking a long time. When you went to a good sale, ie Heritage Place sale, (racing quarters) Keenland sale (th-breds) you paid good money. You are going to buy and spend some money. Awesome quality. It seems that in the mini auctions with an exception of a few its pretty much a dumping ground which is sad to me. Most people wont bring out the good stuff as they know they arent going to get the good money they want and deserve. JMO I love going to the sale and the excitement of bidding and selling. But havent been much interested in the mini sales due to the lack of quality and presentation. Please dont think Im saying all horses at the auction lack quality, but the majority do.
 
Did you read my post about sales-- no rythme not reason?? Talked about the very same thing-- fabulous horses groomed, show fit-- selling for less that run in from the back 50 !!
 
I believe it's already been implied, but I think we need for our consignment sales to have the standards of production sales. This is going to sound harsh, but too often they're a communal landfill--meaning everyone goes and dumps their culls. I feel awful for people that don't have the time to advertise their horses, and for whom this is their primary means of selling--I know it is for some. I repeatedly see people on here commenting about underfed, oversized, dwarf, you name it! horses at auctions, and in that case I think it's true that one bad apple spoils the bunch. That one horse says there is no standard for the sale--buyer beware--and they usually do. Thank God for Little King's Heritage sales--they're literally setting a new standard for consignment sales. Heck, I think as far as anticipation and where the serious breeders are goes, they rank just below the Worlds/Nationals. I don't think anyone on here has ever expressed doubt that those horses are quality. I hope the rest of the industry follows suit, but right now it's like a garage sale vs Sotheby's (every now and then you get lucky at a garage sale, but if you want the best, you go to Sotheby's).
 
Lyn - you did raise a good point here. I've only attended one auction this year, but thought the overall prices were extremely low - I would have paid more for the horses I did buy (three), but was told by a number of people that the prices were fine!

I haven't heard how things went at the recent Celebration Sale or th Mt. Airy except prices were low. It is unfortunate, especially for new people that buy a mini for a few hundred dollars, and then thing all minis should be priced that way!

There is an auction coming up in Oregon mid-August, and we've been asked to consign a couple of horses. My concern is that it will be treated like a dumping ground and the prices are going to be give-away. The management is trying to keep it at a higher standard, but you can't tell what buyers will think! I know I will bring our horses home rather then let them go for pet prices if that ends up being the case.
 
I watch the sale board most every day. What I see is a few good horses, but mostly pet quality. Most horses are not groomed or presented decent so it's not just auctions that have the "lower" quality horses.

I bought a AMHA Top Ten Halter stallion, more or less an impulse buy, at a ETDH (every tom, dick and harry) Miniature Sale. He had just came back from Nationals so he was trim and slick and looking oh so much like a National Top Ten horse. I was laughing just the other day at my slick but oh so fat pony and how I doubted I would have bought him if he looked like he does now so presentation is a huge factor.

The people who will lie to you at a sale are the same people who will lie to you at their ranch, same applies to those who are honest.

Most miniature sales anymore have a on-line catalog for all or some of the horses. I know I've spent hours digging around in the stud books to see what was what on a lot of horses.

I've got taken at sales, but I've got taken at the ranch too. My most expensive horse was straight off the farm and I call him my "right idea, wrong horse". I spend no more than I can afford to lose so I can roll with the punches more than some one who mortages their house thinking that one horse is going to make them LKF.

Bottom line is if you take your "junk" and parade it before 100's of people why would they want to come to your farm to see what you have.
 

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