If you’re building your racing stock, an affordable way to acquire horses is through a racehorse auction. Often, you can also find fully-trained performance horses, such as barrel horses, for sale at reasonable prices. At the same time, buying a horse for sale at auction may mean that you’re purchasing another trainer’s problem horse or that you’re purchasing a horse not tested for the track. With enough understanding of horse sales and auctions, though, you can come away with winners.
As you acquire information about horse sales and auctions for beginners, you’ll want to focus on the sorts of sales that will meet your goals for your horses. Here are some possibilities to consider:
1. Attend a specialized auction, such as a racehorse auction or a breed-specific auction, where you can find stock like paint horses for sale or appaloosa horses for sale.
2. Find consignment horse sales locally through contacts with race horse sale companies or horse ranches.
3. Locate online horse auctions to conveniently bid on horses across the country.
4. Research each horse for sale through pedigree searches and additional records.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Acquire horses through a racehorse auction or another specialized auction
Whether you have a specific skill you need in a horse for sale, or you want a specific breed, you can look into specialized auctions. Though somewhat more expensive than general auctions, you'll be able to more readily locate the type of horse you need. Another benefit is that you'll be interacting with sellers invested in seeing their horses go to reputable buyers.
I recommend: The
Texas Arabian Breeders Association sponsors a regular auction that features Arabian horses for sale and specializes in racehorses. Its auction page includes regular updates on the sale and its results. For information on why public auctions aren’t the best place to buy a horse, see information on general horse auctions on
the Humane Society website.
Buy a local horse for sale on consignment
The owner of a horse sold on consignment often has more accountability than those in other sorts of sales, since the owner's and the seller's reputations are both dependent upon the horse meeting its description. You may need to check with local horse auctioneers or stables to find consignment horses in your area.
I recommend: Read about the consignment horse program to understand how consignment works at
Barnes Paddock. You can buy prospect race horses on consignment through
Bits & Bytes Farm, located in Canton, Georgia.
Bid in online horse auctions
An online auction makes bidding more convenient, and most online auctions have full information and video footage of each horse for sale. When you bid in online auctions, though, you do need to consider shipping options if your bid wins.
I recommend: Review the benefits of online horse auctions, as well as tips for participating, at
Horse Auctions Online. To see a specialized online auction, go to
HorseAuctions.com, which offers an online quarter horse sale.
Online Equine Sales offers an auction ring with information on online sales.
Investigate the stock at horse sales and auctions
Though public auctions often have only minimal information on the horses up for sale, racing horse auctions may offer a more complete picture of their horses. If you have the names of the horses, you can find out even more about them through pedigree searches to ensure you're buying the best race horse for your money.
I recommend: Check out Larry Thornton’s article at
PedigreeNotes for information on what you can find out through reviewing a horse's pedigree. You can find out basic pedigree information about specific thoroughbred horses for free at
Pedigree Query. If you plan on regularly purchasing at auction, you can subscribe to the site’s full database.
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