Has anyone bought a horse through this auction? What were your experiences?
thanks
Yep. Not good.
Not sure what auction you are referring to. The sport horse auction in Canada is top of the line, professional and has some great horses. But they are not having any more auctions this year.
yes, and also not a good experience, not with the auction but the horse did not turn out to be exactly as described.
Lord Helpus what specific sport horse actions are you referring to in Canada? I do not know of any that have been cancelled for this coming spring. And there are some excellent horses that are fairly represented that I have seen. Very nice indeed.
This auction: http://internethorseauctions.com/auction.php?aucid=224
They have them frequently. I would have a difficult time buying a horse without trying him/her (though I have done it with a New Vocations horse and it worked out well).
I was curious if anyone had bought or sold through this.
It makes me wonder why a seller, some of them seem to have successful show barns, would choose to sell a horse this way. Just pondering.
thanks
I see one horse that is represented in a way that I find materially different than his ad on Dream Horse. I would proceed with caution…
[QUOTE=jody jaffe;8959878]
It makes me wonder why a seller, some of them seem to have successful show barns, would choose to sell a horse this way. Just pondering.
thanks[/QUOTE]
I see one seller that it would appear to me is clearing out broodies and youngstock. I would guess that person had some sort of a lifechange and just wants to move the horses quickly.
One seller is kind of persona non grata and I suspect people don’t deal with that seller who know the seller’s reputation. So the auction lets that seller find buyers who maybe don’t know that much about the seller’s reputation.
I see some sellers in some isolated places who maybe just need to get more “eyes” than they can get locally.
And then a smattering of individual sellers, mostly with sort of “bad size” or “bad age” or not EXACTLY tippee top marketable horses/ponies.
That seems about right for an auction for me.
Not that particular monthly one but I bought a weanling off a Flashpoint Breeder’s (KWPN) auction last year around this time. She is turning out to be even more lovely than I hoped…she is just terrific. Great experience. Wouldn’t buy a riding horse, I don’t think, because I am uncomfortable with spending a fair bit for a horse “blind” like that but with young stock I am comfortable with it. I wouldn’t buy a horse just because…would have to be something I would be interested in whatever the sales venue. But when I saw my girl she seemed just like what I was already looking for. A COTH breeder bred her too, and that made me more comfortable with the purchase – I had admired her foals for years so it felt like a “known quantity.”
Here is my filly recently: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.pojanowski/posts/10210614725866367
I do think the horses on the breeder’s auctions were overall much higher quality than the monthly ones but Flashpoint is super to deal with. My sense of the auction I purchased from is that it was far from a way to offload stock but more a way to get horses in front of a larger audience, and they’d sell if the price was good enough but not otherwise. I saw several very nice horses no sale who are still advertised for “normal” prices, and who would have sold if the breeder was hoping to get rid of them because the auction price was discounted some but not inconsiderable. It must work as advertising to some extent because I remember them.
Personally, I haven’t used this site but I have followed leads from Facebook, Craigslist, etc to horses that have been seriously misrepresented, so I can see the skeptics point of view. However, checking out some of the listings, it looks like a few owners really tried to show the horse, the personality, and skills. I think some of these horses are in areas of the US that aren’t looked upon as 'horse country’s and need to get some eyes on them.
The Jennings. Professional Auction service, right? Yes, I bought one for quite bit considering it was an internet auction, $12,000+. You have to do your homework. I bought from a VERY well known breeder and trainer. This is not my first rodeo. I know what questions to ask the seller, etc. I have purchased many young ponies sight unseen all over the country. Not sure I would purchase from a random person. Flashpoint is just an auction service. You can’t really blame them since they will not have seen the animals in the flesh. That isn’t their gig.
In all of our internet auctions, if a person registers with our system, they can access full contact with the seller. We encourage potential buyers to call the seller, and make an appointment to try the horse. We allow full pre-purchase exams before bidding ends, and have a limited post purchase (see conditions of sale) after the purchase, and before the horse leaves the seller’s property. Our geographical reach for this type of auction is much greater than our live auctions were, and much more economical for buyers and sellers. But, I agree with a previous poster, that doing your homework is crucial to having a positive experience. Thanks, Cathy Jennings
Sometimes sellers in large successful barns need to find room, just like the rest of us.
