If you are intending to buy a horse at auction, you need to be able to tell the quality horses from the problem horses. Remember that most horses at auction are sold ‘as-is’, so you do not have a guarantee and have little legal protection, even if the horse has a serious problem. Consequently, you need to do your own research on the horses in advance to identify the ones that are worth bidding on and the ones which you should keep away from.

One should start by arriving some hours before the auction starts, so that there is time to examine the horses, preferably starting as they arrive. Study them as they are being unloaded and put into their pens. They should walk easily, with no sign of discomfort. They should have an overall healthy appearance, with good muscles and shiny coat. One expects them to be alert and a bit nervous, due to the noise and unfamiliar surroundings of the auction. In fact, if they appear overly calm or indifferent, this is a sign of apathy likely due to illness or drugs.

If a person unloading a horse is its owner, their behavior will give you some useful hints about the horse and the quality of horse care it has received. If they are gentle with it and appear sad to part with it, the horse has likely been well treated. However, if they are abrupt or rough with the horse, perhaps even hitting it, then it may well be an abused or neglected horse, with the associated issues.

When the horses have been moved to their pens, watch how they behave and move there. Any which have abnormal behavior should be removed from consideration. Look (without entering the pen) for any marks or scars, which may indicate a previous injury or even mistreatment.

By now, if it is a typical general horse auction, you will probably have removed most of the horses from consideration and are left with a few possible candidates. Ask around for the owner of each of these and when you find him, ask him to tell you about the horse. Enquire what injuries or illnesses that the horse has had. Ask if it has any bad habits, behaviors or other problems. Ask what the horse has been fed, how it has been kept and what it is used for. Finally, politely ask why it is being sold.

If the horse is still interesting, ask if it can be moved from the pen to somewhere where you can examine it without other horses. Don’t go into the pen to examine a horse as the other horses moving about are too much of a distraction and a pen full of strange horses is simply too big an accident risk in any case. Run your hands over the entire horse, feeling for bumps or injuries, especially on the legs. Look carefully at the hooves, both top and underneath. While being careful with your fingers, check that the teeth are in good condition. Starting at the shoulder, put a finger on each side of the spine and firmly push, then move down an inch and repeat until you have covered the entire back. If the horse shows any pain or discomfort during this, you have a back problem which you need to be wary of. The horse may be slightly nervous during the examination but should not show fear or aggression at any point.

If you find a problem during the examination, but not enough to eliminate the horse immediately, ask the owner to explain it. If you are not satisfied with the answer or don’t believe it, eliminate the horse. There will always be other horses and other auctions, so it is better to leave an auction without a horse than risk buying one which may have major issues. Once you have your final short list of horses, decide on a maximum price for each horse, as by the time bidding has started it is too late to think logically about this.

Before bidding on a horse, make sure that you have a place to keep the horse and to transport it there. If you haven’t made arrangements in advance, discuss with the auction staff if they know of a reputable person that can do this for you. At this point you should be prepared for the bidding. Good luck!

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