State of the Horse Market
December 13, 2007 by Daniel Beatty DVM · 10 Comments
Here is a news story from Iowa and one of the Horse Sale barns located there and their experience with horse prices and the state of the horse market there –> Horse market could be in trouble, local experts say
Here is a quote from Devon Mullet, owner of the Kalona Sale Barn
Mullet estimated 30 percent of the 700-800 horses bought and sold out of the sale barn each month go to Amish families. He said they commonly buy Standardbred racehorses that aren’t fast enough to race. He said Standardbreds, bred for trotting speed, are known best in this area for pulling buggies.
He said they used to be able to sell a horse for $700-$800. Today he said they are worth a mere $50-$100.
He blames the Horse Slaughter bill for an increased horse population and a decrease in horse prices. In my opinion the amount of increase in horses is negligible; however the price can easily be a cause of the bill. There are no longer any kill buyers at the sales in middle America. Gas is too expensive to transport to Mexico or Canada, so it is not worth it to purchase horses at these sale barns for slaughter, which means there is no longer a bottom to the market. Before a horse could only go so low before a killer buyer would bid on the horse. Now when a horse starts to drift down to the lower price ranges it will only be bought by someone who actually wants a horse. What this shows to me is an increasing population of unwanted horses. Now I also believe this only to be a temporary problem and the market will eventually correct itself. Basically it will become unprofitable for backyard breeders to just breed because they think they will get a good price for a horse.
Now the other part of the story is about concerns over the economy and health care for the horses. Claims that the horse market as a whole will be affected because of the decrease in horse value. In my experience so far this has not been the case. I am still working on plenty of horses and my field is more of a luxury than say like stitching a horse or care of a sick horse. I am also receiving new inquiries on my services on a regular basis. So there is still concern over health, which I would expect. If horse prices are cheaper than those that can afford them will be more inclined to purchase another one, until they calculate the cost of actually caring for one…LOL. Also on the other side of the coin they will be less likely to sell their horse because they will get nothing for it and therefore keep it longer. With all this said the majority of my clients have their horse because it does the job they need and want and the only reason they would sell and or buy a new horse is because their needs change or the horse they have can no longer fulfill their needs say for example in the case of an injured horse. Also the majority of them treat their horse truly as their companion not a piece of property so again the current prices of horses is not going to affect them. All this means that horse health care will be of greater importance rather than less importance and horse owners will be inclined to spend more money for better health of their current horse since they will be keeping it longer.
My feeling is that the horse market is depressed in middle America on the low end horses especially and that it is not and most likely will not affect horse owners from providing health care to their wanted horses.
Hi, Dr. B. One of your best posts, yet! I agree with your summation. I read the article before I received the google alert on your post and it’s clear, this is yet another pro article with the usual material. Did you catch the part where they said the bill was lobbied by HSUS in conjunction with PETA? PETA has been relatively silent on this issue (which is the way we want it) and yet, the pro folks are constantly trying to align us with PETA because of their reputation and knowing it would hurt us more than help.
Thanks Vicki,
I am not completely sold on this being a totally pro article…let me clarify, obviously it is an article against the slaughter bill, but I am inclined to believe that it is a piece from local origins in Iowa specifically about local interests and how they feel the bill has impacted their part of the world. I guess what I am trying to say is that I do not think this is a propaganda piece from the big boys trying to get the bill squashed.
Their experience is their experience and considering Iowa is in close proximity to DeKalb (relatively speaking) they may have a greater population of lower quality horses coming into the sale barn not selling in comparison to say Montana which would not be affected by the closing of the slaughter plant in Illinois. But I believe even more than the overabundance of horses is actually the lack of buyers that is driving the price down. A supply and demand economics lesson…LOL. The sale barn owner is blaming the bill for an increase in supply whereas I feel the increase is more dramatic by the lack of demand. But of course I am seeing it with biased eyes because my only “problem” with the bill was my theory of an increase of unwanted horses.
Which I know will only be a temporary thing as they are absorbed into the population, but in the meantime I want them cared for and not abandoned or neglected. Despite what the past has shown for a drop in neglect and abuse after passing legislation of anti-slaughter. This is evidence that there is an increase in unwanted horses. My question is what will happen to them?
I did not catch the PETA inference I am going to have to go back and read the article again. Yes, being affiliated with PETA would shine a negative light on things. PETA’s heart is in the right place they are just too radical of a group and do some of the most ignorant things in the name of saving animals.
Thanks again for reading, Vicki. I get more comments by writing about the horse slaughter bill than any of my horse health articles or my Santa pictures. Did you know that Santa drives a white Dodge diesel dualie? Click here to see —> http://www.horsekinetics.com/santa-drives-a-dualie
Yep skipped almost completely over this sentence -
“Lobbied through the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) in conjunction with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the bill passed in the House of Representatives in September.”
I most likely read “lobbied through the Human Society” and skipped the rest of the sentence because it is old news…I know who is lobbying it…LOL
Dr. B, I haven’t seen that Santa in my neighborhood, yet but will keep an eye out for him! LOL
John Holland just published a new paper on the abandonment issue. He researched every claim that has been circulating and as suspected, not one can be verified. It was published in the Ocala paper over the weekend and titled, Run For Your Lives. The paper hasn’t published an on-line link, yet but I noticed a few blogs have posted the paper – here is one – http://amghorsesetc.livejournal.com/5863.html I’m sure you’ll find this very interesting! We suspect the pro groups have hired a PR firm to circulate these articles because they all smack of the same theme and scare tactic. When you research, you can never find the source of the information….
Thanks again for your informative blog and perspective.
http://www.billingslivestock.com/Horse_Sales/Hot_Topics.html
News! September 25, 2007
BLS September loose market trumps Sept ‘06
Amazing – even with the unannounced closure (again) of the last U.S. processing plant on the Friday afternoon prior to the
September sale weekend, the BLS loose market maintained it’s strength AND – was actually $126 per head BETTER on the top 100 than in September one year ago!!
How about that??!! The top 100 in September 2007 averaged $653 per head – the top 100 in September 2006 averaged $527 – the comparison on the top 50 is even more astounding – in September 2006 they averaged $643 per head, while September 2007 they brought $838 per head – now that’s $195 MORE!!!Top market prices ARE paid at Billings Livestock – rhyme and reason – a full slate of buyers are in attendance at BLS – from top-end to bottom-end – from prospects to recipients – from riders to buckers – the buyers are on the seats to buy them “as is, how is”. Your loose horse is marketed to a full sale arena.
Comparing September 2007 against August 2007 prices (when one U.S. plant remained in operation) – the top 100 brought $692 per head in August vs. $653 in September.
HONESTLY – It’s worth the gamble and coggins test (if nec) to bring them to BLS – you stand a good shot of your loose consignment exceeding current market value. It’s not a secret at BLS – we publish the averages!
Here are the stats for September 2007: 469 head offered loose; top five averaged $1,260; Top 10 came in at $1,003; Top 20 averaged $817; top 50 brought $643; and the top 100 averaged $527.
Next loose offering: Sunday, October 28 at 9 a.m.
L Matte,
Of course the Montana sales are going to be higher there are going to be more kill buyers there than before, even two extra would cause the price to elevate like that, plus the fact that now 90,000 or whatever are not going to be produced here in the states the supply is made smaller thus increasing the value of horse meat, thus increases the price of loose horses in areas where it is still convenient to buy and sell slaughter horses, such as Montana. They have to travel just over the border to Canada to go to a slaughter facility there. Gas price is not a factor.
Now you are promoting where to go to send your horses for the killer buyers to purchase them. I have seen this press release on here from another comment and several other websites stating that the closing of the US slaughter houses is not going to affect the price of horses and it hasn’t here is the proof. I am actually stunned that you all would actually use this to support your theory because truly you are advertising for the kill buyers and a way for people to dump their unwanted horses to get a good price for them at a facility that is obviously PROMOTING they are still buying and selling slaughter horses. What do you think “loose horses” are being purchased for?
Yes I am against horse slaughter and yes I read the website that I linked. The reason for the link was for the source of the document I posted and the reason for posting the document is to show that the sales are not as bad as the opponents would like you to believe.
But do you realize why this document is invalid proof?
So is the document you posted.