Horse Auction: Not Every One Is an Elite Kentucky Sales Ring

Many people may picture the horse auction as being elite Kentucky sales rings in which racehorses are sold for huge amounts of dollars. This may be the case but there is also a darker side to horse auctions for in the US, the local horse auction is the main place that people come to buy and sell horses and these auctions are mostly held at county livestock markets, every week or every month.

The horse auction is the place where people carry on the commercial trade in equines. It can take place in almost all states in the US and there are literally hundreds of them taking place each year and the largest numbers of horses that are auctioned off are in Texas, California, and Kansas and in New Mexico. There are thousands of horses being auctioned every year and this includes pleasure horses and ponies, racehorses who did not quite measure up at the track, draft horses as well as donkeys, mules and others.

Inexpensive Riding Horses and Ponies

There may be many people who visit the auction in the hope of finding an inexpensive riding horse or a pony but there are also many killer buyers who represent federally licensed horse slaughterhouses in the United States, who come to buy horses at an auction. The case of an unwanted horse is one that means it will usually end up at a slaughterhouse after being purchased by middlemen who further fatten and send them to the slaughter house.

The condition of horses being traded at an auction may vary quite a bit and some are in excellent health with splendid coats and hooves and beautifully maintained manes while others have been trucked to auction by anonymous haulers. There are instances of such horses being victims of extreme neglect. Starvation is a common affliction seen among horses being sold at the horse auction and there are plenty of horse with hip bones as well as ribs so exposed that one may be forgiven for thinking that such horses are walking skeletons.

There are many sources for obtaining a listing of all the available horse auctions taking place throughout the United States and one can even go online and check out various web sites that have detailed listings of all horse auctions that are taking place or will be taking place in the near future.