Week 13 Blog #3

In the article “How to buy a horse at an auction,” by Dr. Jim Hamilton, DVM, he states what is the best way to buy a horse at an auction. This is very hard because auctions are where problem horses go. Either the horse has a very serious medical problem or is crazy. People have no real way of telling this without having an actual vet check before buying a horse. This is impossible at horse auctions because there is not enough time to bring a vet to check the horse out. Potential owners therefore have to rely on their own horse savvy to figure out whether the horse is worth the money they will be paying for it. They need to be able to tell through a fence when the horse is being sold. This is very hard because from far away a horse can look completely different than up close. At auctions horses can also be drugged to look calmer or to look like they don’t have a problem. Many owners may send their horses to auctions with pain killers in them too so that the horse will not show if it has a lameness of some kind. The vet, who is the author of this article, gives advice as of how one should make sure the horse they may buy is not a problem horse. One thing the buyer has to do is look over the horse’s body in the back pens and make sure there are not any scars, which may be evidence of an injury that could affect them. The owner also needs to look at the eyes, teeth, and feet, in order to make sure the horse can see, eat, and walk without a lot of difficulty. If these three things are not healthy the owner will have to spend a lot of money on a vet and farrier to fix the horse. One question about this article is whether auctions allow vets to be on site and give horses vet checks at a buyer’s request, or is that not allowed?
Article used: http://www.ultimatehorsesite.com/articles/hamilton_howtobuyahorseatauction.html