October Auctions

Drat. The Sioux Falls Regional Livestock sale barn is having a horse auction Saturday October 15th. Mitchell Livestock will be having an auction sometime in October too although I don't know the date yet. I'm worried about these auctions. Fall is the time people cull their horses before winter really hits. It's the perfect time to swoop in and get a lot of plump horses for slaughter. I'm worried. Especially because we've had two bad winters in a row. Will people be willing to hold on to their horses for another winter and ride out whatever Mother Nature sends our way?

The other drat to the Sioux Falls Regional sale is that I'm supposed to go on a trail ride. I might see if I can't do some wheeling and dealing to move the ride. Otherwise, I guess my butt will be in a bleacher instead of in a saddle. Even though we are full to the brim, I still need to be there. Even though I can't do a darn thing, I still need to be there even just to report prices and remember the horses that run through.

I really hate auctions. Now, if we could fundraise to pull one or two to rehome, I'd be all about it. But I'm not sure what everyone thinks about that prospect. Going in to winter, the horse might be here for a long time and we would need sponsors until the horse found an approved home. I don't have the numbers crunched yet on what it takes to sponsor a horse. I was following Rosemary Farm's theory of $5 but that adds up to $150 a month. I guess spread over the entire year, that's about right what with vet bills, farrier bills, and feed bills. But some have higher/more expenses than others so the cost might not actually be as high while others might be much higher. I'm going to try and crunch some numbers this weekend to see what it would cost to sponsor a horse without any ailments.

The horse itself will probably be about $100 (if that) at an auction but then there will be feed and possibly medical. I'd prefer to run the horses through a vet for an initial eval but my pocket book isn't deep enough right now to do that. Most that I bring home, simply need food and dentist work.

I'd appreciate any brainstorming ideas on what Borderlands can do to pull one or two horses from the upcoming fall auctions. Please spread the word. There's diamonds in those loose horse pens. They just need time and a bit of polishing to really make them shine.