I hadn’t heard of Bowie until this thread and I got curious and looked at their website. Compared to the east coast auction houses, I was actually pretty impressed by the horses in their catalog. Appears to be lots of well-trained horses, many with videos that show them doing what they are proposed to be trained to do.
For the O’Dwyer Horses, they appear to be well represented. They’re handled gently, and it’s pointed out when they are lame and sore.
Overall, not what I was expecting.
Floppyammy (love the handle, btw), I agree. I didn’t get the feeling they were in any way trying to misrepresent a horse. They very clearly noted the knee injury my guy had, and sent more images of the knee on request. I get the sense that area is so flooded with horses that even some decent animals fall through the cracks, and if you know what you’re looking for/know what risks are acceptable to you, it can be an interesting place. Some of the various “kill pen”/supposed kill pen sites (many on FB… I can’t keep looking, lol, barn is full!) really try to pull the heartstrings, and I find that a bit… distasteful. (“Dobbin was heartbroken to miss his freedom ride, why doesn’t anybody love him??”) I did previously obtain one other unhandled yearling from “Michigan KL Horses,” which is more local to me, and had a good experience with them.
As has already been discussed, Bowie is a nice auction for quality ranch/feed lot types. The O’Dwyer horses are what people mean when they say “kill pen.” But yes, I don’t think they’re trying to pull a fast one on anyone - what I bought (a lame, late teens QH gelding) is what I got! LOL. (Luckily, we are already not really lame, hooray!)
@TimeForAHorse
He looks almost sly in this photo, like he’s a louche about to bust out with a grin.
Well done on the gentling!
I have helped get a few horses out of the kill pen cycle. But it was more about saving those particular horses. They went to non riding homes. You have to be an experienced horse person to pick the diamond in the rough at kill pens. Another horse was there because it was " not fast enough for Polo". That was not the background the pen provided, and you rarely will get the real story from the pen… If the horse is a thoroughbred, standardbred or racing quarter horse you can get some of the background from the tattoo. Standardbreds actually make terrific trail horses. They are not common where I live on the West Coast. They tend to have calm personalities. But again, to make a purchase at a pen, you need someone with a good eye and feel for horses to help, unless you feel confident with that. I do hear about how the horse market is so high now. But is it really? If you start to look about in the not so obvious places, you may be surprised at what you can find. There are often a huge amount of teen 4h, equestrian horses going to local auctions in the summer when kids go off the college. There also are a huge amount of camp horses that get dumped every year. Camp horses usually make great husband horses. Also trail string operations dump their horses that are getting a bit too sore to do all day rides, but might be perfect for a husband horse, easy trail rides. Reach out to facebook pages for 4h, high school equestrian teams, state high school equestrian teams. girl scout horse camps, and google large scale horse vacation operations to ask if they have any horses coming up for sale. Google camp horse sales. Craigs list is another option. While performance horses are still retaining value, there will be an increase of average unwanted horses being “rehomed” due to the cost of hay as well. Camps will cut down their herd, trail operations will. Also you find as college is starting a horse that was needing to be sold, the price will drop as the kid has to leave for college and the parents don’t want to support a horse and college. Also let your farrier and vet know what you are looking for. Lots of ways to network for a horse that will be fairly priced. If you are offering a life time home, where the horse can live even after its not ridable, that is a huge bargaining chip for a caring horse owner that wants to find a soft landing for their horse.
7874- Very Sweet Grey Gelding Needing TLC - YouTube
Please someone go get this poor fellow. He’s breaking my heart. I can’t afford another horse right now or I would grab him and make him a pasture puff. I can help with a bit toward cost or transport.
Timely article from National Geographic magazine about the Bowie auction. Free to read.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/business-activism-collide-texas-horse-auction
Interesting article. The rescue buyer spent $8k on one horse?
Not exactly meat prices, right?
There is a gorgeous well bred ASB mare there now. Papers and all- and only 12 years old. Yes, it’s killing me.
Do it… (My first horse was an ASB, I took him from saddle seat to dressage - I’ll always have a soft spot for a saddlebred!)
Do it do it do it 
I have a number of rescues here. I really do not need another- although I love her breeding and I knew her daddy and her dam sire. She is a really awesome find, and she should go to someone who is wanting to pursue sport horse work. She would be fabulous!
That caught my attention too. I found it distasteful that a rescue would be committed to “pay whatever it takes” to bring a particular horse home, including going to $8,000 to buy it privately from another bidder. It has a faint whiff of Eau de Hoarder about it.
Surely there was other deserving horses that did not have interested buyers that could have used saving???
I have heard (Never bought from an auction myself) Avoid the fat good looking horses and take a second look at the thin, possibly long in the feet but well groomed horses those are the loved pets whose owners have to, for financial reasons, let their pet go.
No one warned me about the “buy now” button…
Good job I am both broke, and in another country so not even genuinely tempted…but those big old Belgians are so cute!
Lots of nice horses in the riding horse sale
That may not be from abuse, some horses just are that way no matter how they were raised. Just like some people are calm in a crisis and others go to pieces so are animals. I had a beautiful TB mare who was just super spooky no matter what. Her basic personality was just sensitive and insecure. I also suspected maybe she was near sighted but the nearest equine opthamologist was hundreds of miles away so I could never be sure.
Update on “Mulligan:” he’s doing well! He is… Quirky, however. I think between the knee injury and whatever “doctoring” he received for that at Bowie, some blood draws for Coggins, the notable bite marks on his back from Bowie, and whatever else he’s been put through, he’s a touchy angry fellow if he feels threatened. Fortunately, he also adapts quickly once I’m able to show him that it won’t hurt, I’m not going to slap him around, and I’m not going to eat him. He will generally lead and tie now, can be groomed, and we’ve gotten some good counter-conditioning with throwing a rope or a towel around him, across his back, bumped into his legs, etc. I had to go away on business for a few days, and was able to pick right back up where I left off with him! I’ll try to get some new pics 
Why oh why did I go and look at the site….
Some look like they could really be something cool! And others make me wish I had endless funds and land to give everyone a soft landing
He sounds like a good egg whose been through a lot of crap. But with some time and training he’ll get past his issues and be a wonderful steady Eddie horse.
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