Discussions

I have been trying to get information about these "horse meat" auctions and I would like save a horse's life. I have rescued a horse before (now fat and happy) and I would like to save another.  
 
I haven't been able to get any information on dates and locations of these auctions and I was hoping that fellow ebrandoners could help?

Has regular auctions for horses, most of the horses there go for meat. Best of luck.

RainaRo said "Has regular auctions for horses, most of the horses there go for meat. Best of luck. "

The Strathclair Auction Mart closed a few years ago (2011 or 2012)

The big horse auctions are a thing of the past now that the PMU industry has all but been shut down. There are not many horse sales left in this neck of the woods. Go to the classifieds and look for giveaway horses. They'll need looking after just as much as one you think you are "rescuing".

Virden has auctions where I know they take horses no longer useful to them. Some nice riding horses and well bred horses go through there. The other mart to check out is the auction mart in Gruthhal.  
 
Both will post sales on their respective websites.  
 
I've never been to either but know people who have purchased from them with great luck!

Gumby said "The big horse auctions are a thing of the past now that the PMU industry has all but been shut down. There are not many horse sales left in this neck of the woods. Go to the classifieds and look for giveaway horses. They'll need looking after just as much as one you think you are "rescuing". "

not true. PMU is still alive within our province.  
 
There are plenty of horses/ponies going through auction that are trained and have quite possibly shown that the owners can't sell or keep for various reasons. Only problem with buying from auction is you won't know if they are sound or not and pass a vet check as there is no opportunity to do that.  
 
We have bought several that were destined for auction ...thus saving them from the meat buyers!

I looked at HLS and there are no sales upcoming for horses.  
 
I will keep looking

The two main places for horse auctions is grunthal, Candiac sk. Whitewood sk usually has a couple per year. The meat buyer owns the auction mart at Strathclair and uses it to assemble horses for slaughter in Alberta

Oryx said "    Gumby said "The big horse auctions are a thing of the past now that the PMU industry has all but been shut down. There are not many horse sales left in this neck of the woods. Go to the classifieds and look for giveaway horses. They'll need looking after just as much as one you think you are "rescuing". " not true. PMU is still alive within our province.     There are plenty of horses/ponies going through auction that are trained and have quite possibly shown that the owners can't sell or keep for various reasons. Only problem with buying from auction is you won't know if they are sound or not and pass a vet check as there is no opportunity to do that.     We have bought several that were destined for auction ...thus saving them from the meat buyers! "

Our family was in PMU for 31 years before all the cuts. I sat on the board of directors of MERA (Manitoba Equine Ranchers Association). Back then there were over 465 PMU producers and now there are around 25ish. Reread my original post. I said "all but been shut down" in other words it is not shut down but almost.

You could adopt one from Blackbird Ranch. That then leaves them resources to save another one. So you would actually be helping 2. http://bbrequine.weebly.com/

I would also suggest going to Blackbird Rescue - they regularly go to auctions and have experience to help you pick a horse to suit your needs as well. Then you might have a bit more history on the horse as they do try to find out some of the past history if possible.  
But Grunthal, Winnipeg & Virden are your most likely options if you want to go yourself.  
 
Or check Kijiji or eBrandon or Facebook groups for others needing a home.

If you contact me I might be able to help

What kind of horse are you looking for (saddle, light, heavy, etc)? I also might be able to help.

Prefer a gelding but will rescue a mare or gelding, no preference. I am ooking for a broke horse, preferably easy going in temperament that needs tlc  
 
Edited by Buba, 2016-07-05 21:19:32

Sending you a PM Buba.

I have a gelding I rescued. I'm looking for a home for him! If interested shoot me a message!

I am looking at doing the actual rescuing, rehabilitating, etc... and preferrd one that was aready broke, but I don't mind training another.

Just my opinion, but this time of the year may not be the time to be serious about a rescue. When fall time rolls around and people are looking at the cost of wintering a horse, I think that the number of horse that could be possible rescue horses increase. Summer is sometimes a period of grace when deciding to get rid of a horse, or that's my thinking.

don brown said "Just my opinion, but this time of the year may not be the time to be serious about a rescue. When fall time rolls around and people are looking at the cost of wintering a horse, I think that the number of horse that could be possible rescue horses increase. Summer is sometimes a period of grace when deciding to get rid of a horse, or that's my thinking. "

you may be right but any time of year is the right time of year to rescue by way of auction!

Oryx said "    don brown said "Just my opinion, but this time of the year may not be the time to be serious about a rescue. When fall time rolls around and people are looking at the cost of wintering a horse, I think that the number of horse that could be possible rescue horses increase. Summer is sometimes a period of grace when deciding to get rid of a horse, or that's my thinking. " you may be right but any time of year is the right time of year to rescue by way of auction! "

You might be right but no one seems to know when there are any of these auctions.  
 
Kinda sounds to me like this person wants a free saddle horse, why would anyone care if a rescue horse was broke or not?

swmb said "    Oryx said "    don brown said "Just my opinion, but this time of the year may not be the time to be serious about a rescue. When fall time rolls around and people are looking at the cost of wintering a horse, I think that the number of horse that could be possible rescue horses increase. Summer is sometimes a period of grace when deciding to get rid of a horse, or that's my thinking. " you may be right but any time of year is the right time of year to rescue by way of auction! " You might be right but no one seems to know when there are any of these auctions.     Kinda sounds to me like this person wants a free saddle horse, why would anyone care if a rescue horse was broke or not? "

auctions are listed on line. I would buy a broke horse over a non broke horse dependant on several factors. However you are never sure how "broke" they are but then again I know of horses that have competed in shows but are just not sound. Take your chances at the auctions for sure.

You said you wanted to do rehabilitating yourself.  
Just because a horse gets sold for meat does not mean it has been abused. Most times it just has not sold by other means, it is past its prime or something is wrong with it.  
If you want a horse that needs to be rehabilitated, try calling the animal rescues to see what they have or know of.  
By the way, if you buy a horse through the auction that is destined for the packing plant, you are not rescuing it, you are buying a cheap horse. Most of these horses have had a good life and have not been abused. Selling a horse through the ring for meat is no different than a cattle auction.  
 
Edited by Milky Whey, 2016-07-08 07:57:43

swmb said "    Oryx said "    don brown said "Just my opinion, but this time of the year may not be the time to be serious about a rescue. When fall time rolls around and people are looking at the cost of wintering a horse, I think that the number of horse that could be possible rescue horses increase. Summer is sometimes a period of grace when deciding to get rid of a horse, or that's my thinking. " you may be right but any time of year is the right time of year to rescue by way of auction! " You might be right but no one seems to know when there are any of these auctions.     Kinda sounds to me like this person wants a free saddle horse, why would anyone care if a rescue horse was broke or not? "

I have previously rescued, which has cost me WAY more money than if I had bought a straight up "for sale" horse. I paid good money for that horse, just to get her off that property legally, then spent in to the thousands of dollars, not to mention the extreme amount of time she needed to get her health back and get some sense of manners.  
 
Please don't assume that I want a free saddle horse, as you know nothing about me, nor do you know what my financial means are.  
 
Milky Whey: I have just been in contact with animal protection, thanks for the tip. I was asking about horse auctions as I was told that there were abused horses needing rescuing there.  
 
Oryx: I fully agree, with rescues and auctions, you take your chances because they are ususally so sick that you can't even get on them for months, and that's if they live that long. It just makes it easier if they have already previously been ridden, as they have already had human contact and are likely less wild.  
 
Thanks for all the tips everyone.  
 
Edited by Buba, 2016-07-08 08:09:40

I could not buy a horse at an auction where horses where being bought for meat, not meaning to insult those who do, or might want to, but for myself it would sort of like playing God. As stated above meat is an end for some horses that have served their useful purpose, and choosing just one wouldn't sit well with me, guess it has something to do with my idea of rescue.  
 
At times when I read through the classified adds I see horses that have been well looked after by people who really care, but circumstance has made the keeping of the horse impossible, I guess it's still playing God, but this would be the type of horse I would likely want to rescue.  
Maybe my thought process doesn't always make sense, but that's me.

As I previously said, you would be saving more than 1 horse this way as they can then use those resources for more horses. This was taken from their Facebook page back in April.  
"Blackbird Ranch Equine Rescue and Rehab  
29 April ·  
 
A tough decision to make today....  
And we're heartbroken by it.  
 
We will not be attending tomorrow's horse auction. We have a full house here, and are already working on taking in 2 horses and a pony from a neglect case, and a mare from an abandonment case.  
We simply do not have any more room or financial resources. What we have will be used for their spring vaccines, 3 rescue horses that require dental floats, and three horses that we must make the difficult choice of euthanizing because their pain levels can no longer be managed and we have given them as much quality time and love as we possibly can.  
 
It's terrible to have to say we have no more room, but we are already stretched so thin...."  
 
So, if you have the space, grazing and money to take a horse from here and love it for the rest of its days, then I urge you to consider them, then they can help more and not have to turn anyone away.