Everyone notice me as a newcomer, as the majority of the regulars are those involved in the equine auctions. They all seem to know one another, and chatter as they wait for the auction to start.
The horses are pushed through the pen quickly, not allowing sufficient time to identify injuries, age or sex. The focus is on weight, and many horses that are announced as mares are clearly studs or geldings. With no future planned for these horses, the sex or health is of little importance.
A mare is brought into the pen with her weanling at her side. A young girl in the back row quickly outbids the meat buyer, although the brood mare is not as lucky. She is a healthy weight, and goes for $850 to the back trailer lot in the yard. The bidding process is fast and fierce, and does not offer any time to consider or assess anything about the potential of the horse. The horses are as young as five months old, and go up including a 30-year-old estate horse.
I leave the auction with a two-year old mare, and a six-month old weanling. These two were the ones that Storm Haven could outbid the meat buyers on today. They are safe now, and are slowly learning that not all people wish them harm.
They will receive medical and farrier care, and begin their training that will prepare them for a new life. A life that will include kindness, love and patience. We can never be 100% sure what their entire life will turn out like, although we do know that they now have a chance to have a life.
– Chantal




