Get the Facts on Horse Auctions

What are horse auctions?
For most people, the term "horse auction" conjures up images of elite Kentucky sales rings where racehorses may be sold for tens of thousands of dollars. But there is a darker side to horse auctions. In the United States, the local horse auction is the primary place where people buy and sell horses. Generally held at county livestock markets on a weekly or monthly basis, horse auctions are the place where people conduct the commercial trade in equines.

Where do these horse auctions take place?
Horse auctions are held in virtually every state. There are hundreds of horse auctions each year, with the largest number of horses being auctioned in Texas, California, Kansas, and New Mexico.

What kinds of horses are auctioned at these sales?
Thousands of horses are auctioned each year, including healthy pleasure horses and ponies, racehorses who didn't make it at the track, draft horses, donkeys, mules, and others.

Who buys all these horses?
While some people looking for inexpensive riding horses and ponies do purchase them at auction, the majority of horses sold at auctions—at least those auctions attended by HSUS staff—were purchased by "killer buyers" who represent federally licensed horse slaughterhouses in the United States.

Do most unwanted horses go directly to the slaughterhouse?
Most do, but not all. Some horses are purchased by middlemen who take them home, fatten them up, and send them to slaughter weeks or months later. Some horses end up traveling from state to state, from one auction to another, changing hands numerous times before they ultimately end up at the slaughterhouse. A large number of horses are shipped to Canada for slaughter. Because killer buyers are paid by the pound for the horses they deliver, they look for healthy horses in good body condition, as well as horses in poor condition who can be fattened up.

What conditions are auction horses in?
Their conditions vary greatly. Some horses are in excellent health, with beautiful coats and hooves, and manes that are well-maintained. Sometimes their owners are present, fussing over them and looking for buyers who will provide good homes. Others have been trucked to auction by anonymous haulers from farms where they received little to no care. Often, these horses suffer from extreme neglect.

Get the Facts On Horse Slaughter
2003 The Humane Society of the United States