As if life isn't complicated or a treadmill enough with a sanctuary to run, one old horse showing some signs of decline, admin to do and life in general happy to batter us about willy-nilly, it's now auction season.
The round up and Drift auctions in full swing.
Reports are coming in thick and fast. some good ( see Here) some not great and we're expecting some to be downright awful before we're done in late December.
Not that the auctions end then, it just gets a bit quieter for a few weeks while the bad weather puts buyers off travelling far.
We covered Brecon auction on Saturday (9th) a decent enough day weather-wise as auction venues aren't the warmest of places to be.
Not as many horses/ponies were there as we expected so we got away fairly early.
Three EMW trustees went, three came back, no one wanted to buy us!
It was a kind of bittersweet day. Some nice youngsters were up for auction, some young foals not making much more than a hamster would cost in a pet shop - that's so wrong and so worrying.
Do kids look younger than the legal age (16) to buy animals these days? The kid stood in the ring buying ponies looked about 12.
We didn't clock anyone question his age.
Another thing we picked up on, and this in line with our want for changes to the 1990 Stat Instrument (that piece of crocheting that passes for welfare law) Welfare of Horses (et al) in Markets and other places of sale.
It's alright selling foals away if they are deemed old enough (and the afore mentioned garbage only gives scant guidelines on that bit of welfare!) but when the auction catalogue doesn't print the DOB of the foal being sold then how the hell do we know it's age?
The passport gives it but is in the auction office you don't get that till the end of the sale if you buy the foal, so why isn't it Stat. that when foals are auctioned that the catalogue must display age as well? food for thought and more ummph to get that minimum age to be sold away clarified.
The round up and Drift auctions in full swing.
Reports are coming in thick and fast. some good ( see Here) some not great and we're expecting some to be downright awful before we're done in late December.
Not that the auctions end then, it just gets a bit quieter for a few weeks while the bad weather puts buyers off travelling far.
We covered Brecon auction on Saturday (9th) a decent enough day weather-wise as auction venues aren't the warmest of places to be.
Not as many horses/ponies were there as we expected so we got away fairly early.
Three EMW trustees went, three came back, no one wanted to buy us!
It was a kind of bittersweet day. Some nice youngsters were up for auction, some young foals not making much more than a hamster would cost in a pet shop - that's so wrong and so worrying.
Do kids look younger than the legal age (16) to buy animals these days? The kid stood in the ring buying ponies looked about 12.
We didn't clock anyone question his age.
Another thing we picked up on, and this in line with our want for changes to the 1990 Stat Instrument (that piece of crocheting that passes for welfare law) Welfare of Horses (et al) in Markets and other places of sale.
It's alright selling foals away if they are deemed old enough (and the afore mentioned garbage only gives scant guidelines on that bit of welfare!) but when the auction catalogue doesn't print the DOB of the foal being sold then how the hell do we know it's age?
The passport gives it but is in the auction office you don't get that till the end of the sale if you buy the foal, so why isn't it Stat. that when foals are auctioned that the catalogue must display age as well? food for thought and more ummph to get that minimum age to be sold away clarified.
Anyway, one wily old vendor thought he was on to flog his very young foal away from it's mother, but ah!!! aha! he didn't bank on it's age getting questioned in the ring, good for McCartneys, Mr Wily Vendor states 4 months, Mr Auctioneer said No Go! and that was that! but it just goes to show there is bugger all thought for young foals like this one, hatcheted away from their mothers in one nasty action! would these wily Old Vendors do that to their own young?
So we watched the majority go through the ring, foals fetching rubbish money, remember these foals ( unlike the poor buggers at the next sale who's fate for most is a meat hook) have been chipped and passported so cost a good £40 minimum to have that done (if done legally!) then add on fuel to get to auction then add on auction costs...when you've paid that lot out is it really really worth filling the mares bellies again for next year when your selling price is 5 guineas ( for the young amongst you readers that comes in at 5 pounds and 25p) a bit of a loss eh what! and a bigger loss to more than a few of these foals who may well end up worse than dead. We've all read the horror stories and this charity has seen more than our fair share of 'after' cases, as in after they have gone through hell of being towed round auctiona fter auction to raise a few more quid (guineas) or stuck in some filthy barn/shed on nothing proper to eat. We've ended up having to mend a few of these along the way.
So we watched the majority go through the ring, foals fetching rubbish money, remember these foals ( unlike the poor buggers at the next sale who's fate for most is a meat hook) have been chipped and passported so cost a good £40 minimum to have that done (if done legally!) then add on fuel to get to auction then add on auction costs...when you've paid that lot out is it really really worth filling the mares bellies again for next year when your selling price is 5 guineas ( for the young amongst you readers that comes in at 5 pounds and 25p) a bit of a loss eh what! and a bigger loss to more than a few of these foals who may well end up worse than dead. We've all read the horror stories and this charity has seen more than our fair share of 'after' cases, as in after they have gone through hell of being towed round auctiona fter auction to raise a few more quid (guineas) or stuck in some filthy barn/shed on nothing proper to eat. We've ended up having to mend a few of these along the way.
We almost came home with a little 17 year old mare with a full belly of foal, such a sweet mare. She bid up to 20 quid in the ring, how sad is that.
Vendor man didn't sell her through the ring but she did get sold outside. We can only hope she drew a long straw. A nice older riding pony mare of about 14hh went for a sad sum of £85 ( you can't buy a bloody rocking horse for that money!)
As for the bloke with the little tiny Shetland pony that didnt' go through the ring but was being offered in the loading bay.. no thanks mate, seeing a grown man sit on a tiny scared pony doesn't actually sell that pony to me. Can't think what he was trying to prove, though we did wonder if it was a 'size' thing him being a big man and all!
I see the gap is still there alongside the weighbridge leading to the exit doors. I pulled the pallet across to stop little foals trying to get out of the holding pen that way, we've seen them try before, it's not a nice sight nor is some bloke dragging them backward by the tail or leg.
Shame there were so many people in the sale ring. It'll soon be a case of hunt the pony it's getting that difficult to find whats on sale among that lot stood in there..
Maybe we could respectfully suggest they get sold instead! I'll pay a fiver each for them.
Why the hell they all stand in the ring I don't know, what point in that? there's space enough outside the ring.
Good to see a lot of pens with shavings but sad to hear that it was the vendors that had put that down.
All in all it was alright, nothing was skeletal, nothing was distressed and all done by about 2-30pm.
Vendor man didn't sell her through the ring but she did get sold outside. We can only hope she drew a long straw. A nice older riding pony mare of about 14hh went for a sad sum of £85 ( you can't buy a bloody rocking horse for that money!)
As for the bloke with the little tiny Shetland pony that didnt' go through the ring but was being offered in the loading bay.. no thanks mate, seeing a grown man sit on a tiny scared pony doesn't actually sell that pony to me. Can't think what he was trying to prove, though we did wonder if it was a 'size' thing him being a big man and all!
I see the gap is still there alongside the weighbridge leading to the exit doors. I pulled the pallet across to stop little foals trying to get out of the holding pen that way, we've seen them try before, it's not a nice sight nor is some bloke dragging them backward by the tail or leg.
Shame there were so many people in the sale ring. It'll soon be a case of hunt the pony it's getting that difficult to find whats on sale among that lot stood in there..
Maybe we could respectfully suggest they get sold instead! I'll pay a fiver each for them.
Why the hell they all stand in the ring I don't know, what point in that? there's space enough outside the ring.
Good to see a lot of pens with shavings but sad to hear that it was the vendors that had put that down.
All in all it was alright, nothing was skeletal, nothing was distressed and all done by about 2-30pm.
If we didn't have a poorly old horse today I'd have been back to Wales today to a 'dispersal sale' where ponies and everything furred and feathered will be on sale but priorities are here not there today.
15/15/17 is Builth Wells cob sale - Brightwells auction. Wonder how prices will compare.
15/15/17 is Builth Wells cob sale - Brightwells auction. Wonder how prices will compare.
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