Horse auctions

What do you all think of horse auctions? I had gone to one this past weekend. I couldn't decide which horses I felt the worse for, the ones that were so full of fear that you could see it in their eyes and nostrils or the ones that were so used to being shifted from auction to auction that it didn't even phase them. :( I loved all the horses but felt so sad for them. And every time I heard the words, sold to (can't say his name) I cringed because I knew he had dealt with the meat market before. Whether or not he still does, I don't know. While auctioning off one mare, the auctioneer actually said "you can get a lot of use out of this one." I thought, did he mean breeding or riding? I had to laugh at one time though. One guy there who is not exactly Mr. Gentle when it comes to the horses brought one into the show ring. The poor girl was obviously scared to death. The auctioneer was saying that while she wasn't broke you could sit on her back and work with her. The guy jumped on her back and she sent him flying into the wall. His arm was all swollen. I'm torn as to how I feel about them. I love going and seeing them all but I feel bad for them. So how do others feel about horse auctions?

Well, I've never been to a horse auction and we don't have them over here in Sweden, but from what you described I feel really sorry for the horses. It sounds awful... I can understand that you like going and seeing them though cause I too love horses... But yeah, I think I'm against it. I guess the question that made up my mind is simple; would you like to be sold on some auction?

I have never been to a horse auction either but I have read a little bit about them. There is one in NY on the 3rd Saturday of every month in a town about 2 hours from here. That means it was held last Saturday also. I recently went to this website http://www.equine911.org and read a lot of the stories. I went to a few of the links too and although I can't remember exactly where I saw it, there are a whole bunch of horror stories about the horse auction in PA. I'll go check it out and come back and edit this post.....

Edit: On the above website, scroll down and click on New Holland and it talks about that horse auction. Is that the one that you went too?

I have never been to a horse auction but I would not ever want to go. The majority of those horses are sold to slaughter and I could not bear that. At the horse santurary I used to volunteer at every week, about 3/4 of their horses were from auction. They had fundraisers to get money to buy the horses from auction. When they come in they were skin and bones, and obviously abused, neglected, unloved, and terribly fearful. It is so disrespectful of those beautiful creatures. Personally I hate horse auctions.

I couldn't read all of the post but i thought the beginning of it sounded sad.:(

It's so sad that our poor precious canines go through these awful auctions, but horses too!! Yikes! I can't even imagine how or why animals are legally allowed to be treated so horribly. I really feel so sorry for any animal that is in an auction.

I was so disgusted when I discovered that not only are auctions legal, but regulated by the USDA!!! The intelligence of the 'auctioneers' is just about nil...or rather, equivalent to that of a blade of grass. The remarks that they make about the 'merchandise' is absolutely disturbing and well, read for yourself about one woman's undercover visit to a dog auction
Warning: disturbing content...

Sorry it took me so long to reply back. Sometimes I post things and forget about them. I have those "senior moments" quite regularly.
I went to an auction in between Ebensburg and Indiana, Pennsylvania. After reviewing the post from Jennifer on the New Holland auction, I have to say that the one I went to was darn good. Every horse there had hay. I didn't see water though.:( None of the horses appeared injured or skinny. There were no whips. The horses were tied close together and there was one who kept trying to kick but one of the guys that work there was standing there and would holler every time he tried. Every time I went back, the same guy was there. So at least at this place they are trying to prevent fighting. The auction I went to is held the third Saturday of every month also. Compared to some of the stories I have read, this auction is one of the better ones (if there is such a thing). I think in the future I will only go if I need supplies for my horses and leave before they start auctioning off the horses. It's hard to witness that.

Wolflady, I had seen that website before about dog auctions. It is pretty disturbing.