Orange Livestock Auction, Gordonsville, VA 2/20/11

The tack and horse auction is every 3^rd Sunday of the month.  Tack starts at 1:00 pm, horses at 4:00 pm. The auction is known to be frequented by kill buyers.Several open stock trailers with 20+ lead ropes hanging from the railings were parked in the parking lot.  There was no access to food or water in most of the pens. Several horses were in poor condition: A tall TWH gelding, about 200 lbs underweight, had a fresh cut over its right eye. He also had difficulty walking and was favoring the right hind. Upon physical examination, the back right fetlock had an old injury which appeared to have gone untreated for so long that the hooves were worn at an angle.  A grey TB mare was flea bitten, and about a 2 on BCS.  A bay TB mare had a split on her front right hoof that had cut the hoof in two halves. She was a 1/2 on the BCS, had difficulty walking, and appeared be in pain. Both were sold to a local kill buyer for $150.  In another pen was an extremely thin chestnut TB. The TB would not allow us to read the tattoo, but it was visible. The TB sold to the KB for $180.  A smooth mouth grey mare had an injury to her back left leg, which appeared extremely painful, and she had stains on her tail and legs from diarrhea.  Her right eye was runny and red, but she maintained a very sweet demeanor despite the pain.  She was ridden through the auction ring and sold for $105. A black Saddlebred mare appeared to have either been drugged or suffer from a neurological illness. She was about a 2 on the BCS and had a wounded right eye.  She was constantly trying to lift her head up and shake it almost in slow motion.  The horse auction began around 5:30pm, and each horse had approximately 3 minutes in the ring. The concrete floor was covered with sawdust.  4 horses slipped on this flooring with one going down completely.   29 horses/ponies/donkeys were run through the sale: 10 “no sale”, 8 went to kill buyers/horse traders, 11 went to private buyers.