It was another extremely cold day with temperatures at just 25 degrees. Investigators arrived at the auction 8:00 a.m. The horse barn was half empty, likely due to the weather, with only approximately 60 horses present. In addition, there was one mini, a few ponies, and a group of alpacas present for the sale. There were no serious injuries noted though some horses were thin, a few had harness marks, and several had overgrown hooves.
Kill buyers Brian Moore and Bruce Rotz were in attendance along with horse traders Cedar Ridge Farms, Cranbury Sales Stables, Charlie Dehart and Fisher.
The sale started at 10:15 a.m. and since there were not enough horses there for buyers trying to fill a load, bidding was very aggressive which resulted in prices being slightly higher than usual. Many of the horses sold “as-is” with signed papers.
The majority of the horses went to Rotz (16 horses), Moore (12 horses) and Cranberry Sales Stables (13 horses) for prices between $160-$925. Cranberry Sales Stables also bought most of the alpacas for $90-$180 each. A few of the horses walked through the ring who appeared to have some leg issues and were sold for $75-$185 to one of the horse traders.
A large, 10 year old Thoroughbred gelding with Tag #313 was ridden through the ring and was purchased by Brian Moore for $475.
Draft horses with bad feet were snatched up by Rotz for $200 and $475. Just like the previous week’s auction, a group of very well fed loose horses were moved through the ring and picked up by Rotz for $725-$825. Investigators were happy to see that some horses were “no saled” after the seller realized who was going to buy their horse. The sale ended at 11:45 a.m. with no further eventful observations.