madelyn wrote:Rachel Alexandra wrote:........If you ever attended a sale, especially the Nov. Sale at Keeneland, usually by the end of the sale, old, worn out mares that have no business being there are dragged through the ring to only to dragged back out because she couldn't even fetch a $1000. These are the mares the auctions are trying to discourage sellers from bringing and they have every right to.
Poppycock. It COSTS $1,000 to put a horse in the catalog, and through the ring at Keeneland. Plus prep, consignor, sales commission if the horse goes above a certain price. What sort of fool would pay about $2500 out of pocket to put a mare through Keeneland and not expect to get at least $3,000? You could as easily try to place her, along with a tax deductible donation of about half that, with one of the TB retirement places. That said, I have picked up just AMAZING bargains at Keeneland. I am quite HAPPY that sellers brought those bargain mares for me to pick up. I say leave the status quo as it is.
BTW NOTHING going through the ring at Keeneland looks the least bit tired or worn out.[/quote]
Really? So are you trying to say there have never been horses that go through the Keeneland ring that can't even get the minimum bid of $1000?
How many sales have you worked? I have lost track of the sales I have worked, and I have seen a fair amount that had no business being there. Mares, stallions, weanlings, all of them.
Try attending the Nov. sale the last few days. I remember one year some idiot brought a trailer full of old broodmares and weanlings from Montana. They looked absolutely terrible. Their coats were dull, hooves in bad shape, manes long etc. Needless to say, the idiot took them all back home. There are just some people out there that want to say "I sold my horse at Keeneland".