Auction Power Guide

how to get a good horse?

do not get one from auction. look online for a nice quiet horse. that you can trail ride etc.
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You should think of maybe rescueing a horse. like maybe an ex- TB or QH also you can go to Petfinders.com they have some nice horses in need of a good home here is were i got my first horse…http://www.secondstride.org/adopt.htm or

http://www.chezchevaux.org/index.htm
http://www.lopetx.org/horses/tbhorses.htm

there all very good and all care for the horses 😀 auctions are often not a good place to search for a horse as owners may lie and say all is well when the horse could be in bad shape!

ALWAYS HAVE A VET CHECK YOUR HORSE BEFORE EVEN THINKING OF BUYING IT!!!
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agree auctions are best left for the experienced horse people, not to belittle the new horse owner but there is a whole lot you will miss and 9 times out of 10 wind up with a horse you will end up not loving.
Look Locally first, your local barns, feed stores often have bulletin boards, and the local paper will often have ads for horses for sale a short distance from you. Another benifiet to local horses is you can get your vet and farrier to the horse and get a prof. opinion of the animal before committing to it.
A LOT of auction horses have alot more wrong with them than a few bad habits. Disease, Lamness, and a whole host of problems physical and mental that a new horse owner is iLL equiped to deal with. Better to buy a horse and know its healthy and sound and deal with the problems that arise normally than to start out with a questionable horse.
The Exception to the auction rule are private and high end auctions.
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I got my 2/12 paint horse from the National Western Stock Show and you can play with the horse before you buy it. Unless you can travel this may not be good though! I live in Colorado!
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I wouls not recommend an auction horse as a first horse becasue you never know what it’s been through or how well it’s trained.
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Never buy at an auction first off. Theres a reason that they didn’t sell that horse privately usually.

There are mule sales I go to, but those sellers are invited and usually there are ‘write your own guarentees’ with the mules you buy. Its a high dollar, very legit sale. If you find a horse sale like that, then you betcha.

Buy privately, take someone with you, have references on the seller.
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Firstly, the person who told you to take a rescue horse is very wrong. A beginner shouldn’t take on a special needs horse as their first horse. You need to check the private sales. There are listings in papers and online. You then need to take your riding instructor (preferably the one who works for your boarding stable) with you. You pay this person for their time. They will go with you and see if the horse is any good. If he/she passes muster then have the horse vetted. Never buy a horse that hasn’t been vetted. Ride the horse and have your instructor ride the horse. Make more than one visit. THEN you can buy the horse. It’s a process. Here are some of my notes:

Buying a horse:
What are your requirements?
Has to do with cost.
Old ones for trail, but they have limitations.
Competitive trail riding/ jumping cross country.
Nice horse for breeding. Get one with papers if you want to sell offspring.
Showing needs different prices.

For first horse:
Sensible, calm, do what you want. Not going to go lame: Sound.
Training for the job. Nice temperament.

Price: Be a realist. Old 1500. Do a little more 1500-5000 2-4 reasonable. More for a show horse. Meat price is high. Don’t sell under the price of horse meat. That’s why so expensive.

Beauty. – don’t want to die.

Find a professional to help you find a horse. Preferably your instructor. If not, your boarder. Else, find nearby expert. More knowledgeable the better. 2 ways to hire a pro. First: I want to buy a horse I’ll call you when I find one. 10%. More expensive horse more they make. Second do you own looking. Bring pro to check out horse. Pay by the trip. Use a reputable person. Ongoing relationships are good. Know what you want. Firm on price. Phone number of barn where horse is. Call when you will be late. Be considerate so you can negotiate. People mis-represent height. Be aware. Be polite with them, but be brief.

If horse looks ok. Check stable manners(how they behave then when you’re not riding them). See process of getting ready. See if the horse stands tied. Check cross ties, tying. If they don’t tie, ask why. Does the horse haul? If the haul, you can tie eventually. Watch the horse be groomed. You don’t want a nervous wreck. Horse should accept handling. If kicking is attempted, get another horse. If they don’t groom the hind legs, the the pro should attempt. If that ends well, it’s ok. If he wants to kick, DON’T BUY. Ask owner to clean horses feat. Feat grow like fingernails. Trim every 8 weeks, Can cause soft tissue lameness and arthritis. Have the blacksmith do it. If he won’t let you pick up feet, get another horse. Fussy ok, mean not. Horses never forget bad habits.

Owner will saddle the horse up. If biting is attempted, be wary of buying. Put hte briddle on the horse. Take a bridle with a soft bit. Hackamores are ok, but make sure bridling is possible. He can be taught to ride that way, but make sure it can be put on. Unless you just trail ride, then hackamores ar fine. Watch to see how they ride the horse. Look at the bit. Hard throat muscles, then don’t buy. Head up in the air is bad. If it looks good, then all is well. If they are taught to rear, that could be bad. Don’t buy one that does something dangerous. Let he pro ride it. If the pro likes it, then you ride the horse. Some are barn sour, make sure they can leave. Make the best of it. Basic training and politeness. Make he’s comfy for you. Some are quick, don’t buy if you don’t want to. You’re buying a family member.

After riding have a chat with your professional. If pro recommends and you like it, then buy. If you don’t like it, don’t buy. Don’t care about color. If pro says don’t buy, DON’T BUY!!!!!!!

If you want to buy, put money down. Then have the horse vetted. Don’t buy without checks. Write up contact. Have two copies. I so and o and giving a down payment to so and so owner of horse until he passes vet exam. If he passes I buy the horse or lose money. If he doesn’t, then you give back. Vet the horse no matter what. Negative coggins test. Test for equine infectious anemia. Horsie aids. GET THE TEST YOU’LL NEED IT. If pos, dead horsie. 2-3 weeks to come back. Few months old only ok if horsie didn’t move. Give least you can. 50 -100 hopefully. Take it on trial is the best. Some will let you. Give check for full amount, you’re liable. If you’re a seller, never let it go on trial. Get your vet if you can. If not, use theirs. Vets generally won’t lie. Once in a while they won’t vet the horse. Ask for a recommend. You and owner need to be there. Preferably pro as well. Stop back before vet unexpectedly. If he does too much too young have them vetted. Don’t ride until 3. No strenuous stuff until 4. Really hard stuff at 5. If shown in confirmation class, they may have issues. Shown too fat. If trimmed BAD. Until a year is ok. X-Ray. Portable X-Ray machine. Do it right!!!
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Horsemanship classes.

You don’t and if you have to ask a question like this take my advice and steer clear of auctions.Even I still get the occasional wish i hadn’t bought that one at an auction and you know I do I send it back through at the next auction.

As to how do you get a nice horse find some one who is extremely knowledgeable and willing to help you find a nice horse.
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Decide what you are going to do with it…show, trail ride, what? Have you been taking lessons? If so, then you could ask your instructor if he/she knows of anyone with a horse that would fit your riding level with the potential to do what you are planning on doing with your horse. I would definitely ask the help of an experienced horse person to help find you a horse, even if you had to pay them for their time, and definitely have any horse vetted before money changes hands. Good luck.
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Then don’t go to an auction, this is for people who can turn around a horse in a short time and resell it. Look up your favorite breed ranches on the web, select a few and make appointments to view their sale horses, give them your requirements and they will contact you when they come upon one for you. They have many contacts and a Friend of theirs may contact them with just what you want. Good luck!
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The best bet is not to buy from an auction. people sell horses at auctions because they don’t want any comebacks – they just want the horse gone and some cash back for it, they don’t want to mess about with warantees or trials etc they just want a quick sale.
The actual auction is covered for this in law ( in the UK it the sale of goods act but I forget the year as I’ve not been actively involved in auctions for a while) basically the auction acts as a venue for the buyer and seller and cannot legally be held responsible if the seller’s description is wrong or misleading and if you buy something that is totally useless. It’s "caveat emptor" which simply means buyer beware.
Some auctions will have better class horses – those with reserve prices that the owners don’t mind taking back if they don’t sell, these owners may offer a private guarantee but again this is only a contract between you and the seller, the auction house cannot be held responsible if the seller fails to honour that guarantee – all they are required to do is to pass the details of the seller onto police etc if you decide to pursue the matter.
Look for private sales, leave the auctions to more experienced buyers.

Worked in auctions for too long
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I’ve bought horses at auctions. Any one I have been to, you can see and handle the horse before the auction starts. They usually have a vet on site to inspect the horse. You are taking some risk at an auction, but there are good horses to be bought at auctions and at good prices. You take risks in buying from private parties too. I so far have done better at an auction. I have never regretted a horse I bought at auction, but I have from a private sale.
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Of course they’re trying to scam you. It’s a horse auction. Their only goal is getting the highest prices possible for the horses.

The only way to get a good horse at an auction is to take someone experienced with you. People lie about their horses, and they lie big time. I was told the guy I recently got was 18 and rideable, turns out he’s 30 and lucky he can still walk with hiks arthritic knees. Luckily I wasn’t planning on riding the sad old man, I just wanted to keep him from slaughter.

Take your trainer, or your vet or your friend who’s ben riding forever. Don’t go alone.

And as my vet told me ‘All horses at auctions are either 7 or 18.’ So you can’t even trust people when they tell you the age of the horse. Get some backup to help you pick out a good one. It IS possible to find a good one. Don’t believe people who tell you it isn’t. But you’re going to need someone more experienced to pick it out for you.
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the auctions i been to will let you ride the horse or even go around and check them out
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There is no way to be positive of the honesty of auction people, or even private sellers unless you know them personally or have someone you trust vouch for them. Anytime you make an expensive purchase you have to question the total honesty of the seller, this is true whether you buy a horse, a house or a car.
Auctions are a tough place for even an experienced horse owner to buy a horse. Mind you, there is a world of difference in a local, small town auction that sells everything from tack to unbroke horses to meat horses to riding horses. Be aware that those types of auctions are frequently by people who cannot sell their horse any other way for one reason or another. Often problem horses go there as the seller does not have their farm reputation to deal with as they would if they sold a bad horse locally. Other horses may have lameness or health problems are can’t be sold any other route. Some horses are totally untouched or barely broke. Yes, there are a few diamonds in the rough, but they are rare and tough to pick out. Then there are big, classy auctions where you have a sales catalogue showing pedigrees, often you can ride the horse yourself before the sale, and you can see them perform with cattle or other obstacles to show their worth. Those type of auctions are a safer bet, but the horses still go through the ring awfully fast and its hard to know how much to bid.
If you are a new horse owner I would really recommend finding a horsey friend, 4-H leader, horse trainer or other experienced horse person to help you. You may have to pay some money for their time, but it can save you money, pain and even danger in the long run. Think how you will feel if you spend all your savings on a horse only to discover that it isn’t well trained enough for you, or has a minor soundness problem and can’t be ridden regularily, or if it kicks when you don’t expect it. It would be much better getting help before you buy a horse, instead of being stuck with one that will be difficult to sell in the future, could hurt you and will break your heart. This is one time that two heads are better than one.
Good luck. It’s much easier to buy a good horse than sell a bad one, make sure you end up with a good one.
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I own, show and train Paint horses in Canada.