The Prairie Star: Montana Ag Newspaper

BILLINGS, Mont. - Horse owners must take more time and care than ever before to successfully sell their horses in today's uncertain equine market, according to Montana horse sales expert.

“Processing horses was the safety net of the industry,” said Bill Parker of Billings Livestock's horse sales division during the Montana Farm Bureau Federation's Equine Seminar in Billings, Mont. “It gave riding and show horses a base value, but since that option is no longer available, the base price has decreased $30 to $40 per hundredweight.”

Not only did the legislation banning the slaughter of horses decrease the national base price for performance horses, it also caused a large number of horses to lose their usefulness, said Parker.

“Something has to be done, and the most sensible thing would be to process those horses,” he said.

Another concern Parker has is H.R. 6598, a bill banning the transportation of horses to processing plants in Canada and Mexico.

“I'm afraid this bill may become a reality,” he said. “If it does, we won't be able to sell our horses as we see fit. If we lose the right to sell them for processing, people will find a way to turn them loose. If this bill passes, we'll lose our safety net, and this will not only affect the bottom end of the horses but all the way to the top.”

Currently, Parker said there are close to 10 million horses in the United States.

“In the past six months, I've seen more think horses come through the market than ever,” he said. “With the high transportation and feed costs, people cannot afford to take care of them if they have no value. If they have value, people will find a way to take care of them.”

Despite the industry setbacks, Parker said the horse market is good for now.

“A horse with good quality and pedigree and has horse owners who have prepared it to sell, will sell well,” he said.

The horse industry is quickly moving into a new era, when it takes more than just riding a horse through the arena to sell it.

“You now have to market that horse rather than just take it to the sale and selling him,” Parker explained. “It doesn't work that way anymore. Now, you have to do some prepping to sell your horse.”

First, the horse owner needs to decide if the horse is to be marketed through a public auction or private sale.

“If you choose a public sale, choose the sale that best fits your horse,” said Parker. “For instance, you wouldn't want to take a pleasure horse to a cutting horse sale.”

Also, take advantage of the previews.

“Horses sell best when they get exposed to buyers,” said Parker. “Previews help the horses exhibit their good dispositions and training.”

Next, the horse owner has to groom the horse for the preview and sale day.

“That horse has to look better on that day than it looks on any other day of its life,” said Parker. “It needs to be shiny, fat and pretty. People are attracted to pretty, and they are attracted to quality horses. Wash and present your horse in a fashion that makes it attractive to buyers.”

Horse owners must also get their inspections done before taking the horse to the sale.

“Make sure you know all the requirements of the state you plan to market your horse in before going to the sale,” said Parker. “I also advise you come with a Coggins test certificate and Montana Brand Inspection title. If you are marketing your horse from out of state, make sure you have a health certificate with a Montana import number, Coggins test certificate, brand inspection and EVA test on studs 12 months or older.”

Now, more than ever, pedigrees are important to the horse market.

“A grade horse will sell for base value unless it has a unique color or outstanding quality,” said Parker, noting untrained horses have very little value without a pedigree. “It is often hard to find someone to ride him and break him to ride because his value will not change a lot.”

However, an untrained pedigreed horse will gain value with training.

“The price depends on the pedigree and quality of the horse,” said Parker. “And, how good it will train as a 2-year-old, and how much promise it shows. At the end of its 2-year-old year, its value will change again.”

In his 22 years of horse swapping and riding experience, Parker said he has noticed a change in the horse market.

“In 1986, when I got into the horse business, ranchers were using large numbers of young horses in Montana and Wyoming ranches,” he said. “They sold those horses when they got to be 12 to 16 years old because they thought the horses had come to the end of their usefulness. I bought those old, broke saddle horses, 90 percent of which were sound, and hauled them east to sell them to the trailriders and team penners of Minnesota. In turn, I'd buy their 3 to 4-year-old, unbroken horses with pedigrees, ride them for 35 to 40 days and sell them to the ranchers as a broke horse.”

Yet, in today's market, the ranchers are riding their horses longer.

“The ranchers will ride their horses until there is nothing left,” said Parker. “There are fewer and fewer people to ride young horses and less broke - honestly broke, usable ranch horses on the market. Everybody that comes to the horse sale to buy a horse, wants a broke, pretty horse. They want instant gratification.”

Comments »

Bill Hamilton wrote on Dec 7, 2008 4:46 PM:

" It's hard to take Shannon Ruckman's reporting seriously when she is so wrong on a basic premise of her story. Congress has NOT passed legislation prohibiting horse slaughter. It passed the House three years ago but never came up in the Senate. There are plenty of reasons why horse prices are low: irresponsible breeding, the higher costs associated with transporting, feeding and medicating and a sorry economy which has forced many horse owners to sell. Slaughter is not the culprint. "

D. Masters wrote on Dec 7, 2008 2:21 PM:

" Can we stop using the term "processing" horses when in actuality we are discussing slaughter of horses? The proslaughter contingent uses terms like processing (your tax forms) and harvesting (corn and wheat) to dress up the pig to take to church....sorry, it's still a pig called horse slaughter. And what is this "usefullness" euphemism? How about some phrase more akin to the truth? Something like..."I can get a few bucks for dumping a horse I don't want to care for or put down at my own expense. Let somebody else do it and I get a couple of bucks in the process. YEEEHAH!" Personally, I don't care if people eat horsemeat, don't belong to PETA, I own horses, retired as a Major in the Army Reserve and get fed up with people that bring horses into this world through irresponsible breeding with no lifetime plan FOR THE HORSE(30+ years)...just concern about their wallets as opposed to a living entity. You want slaughter? Then find a humane way to do it and stop breeding horses that don't sell, aren't trained and have no market other than the killers. Can anyone say horseflesh market flooded and economy tanked for pricey horsemeat and everything else for that matter? "

carolyn orr wrote on Dec 7, 2008 1:21 PM:

" I think the title of the article is wrong? "

terri wrote on Dec 7, 2008 10:47 AM:

" Horse slaughter does NOT keep the prices of horses up. It is the lowest end of the market. Historically, the market for horses falls dramatically at any livestock auction in the country when winter hits and people don't want to spend the money to feed their animals. It has nothing to do with the ban of horse slaughter in this country! Oh, and by the way, horse slaughter legislation has NOT been passed so there is no real BAN on horse slaughter. Something that these people who promote horse slaughter fail to tell you cattle producers is that 1.) it has nothing to do with the cattle industry and their practices and 2.) horse slaughter for human consumption is in direct conflict with the raising of your own cattle (direct competition for the meat market). The economy is hitting everybody hard and everything that is not a pure necessity is going for whatever it will bring (and even some cows are being abandoned and left to starve from what I'm hearing). Horse slaughter is not a public service and it doesn't serve the American people or the economy. Wake up and smell the coffee Livestock Growers! These people who promote horse slaughter are leading you down the garden path! "

rose wrote on Dec 6, 2008 10:02 PM:

" Where can I learn more about this base value of horses? Is it published with the other commodities like pork bellies? They never say it on the radio when they give the other prices.

How did banning horse slaughter cause thousands of horses to lose their usefulness? I thought the purpose of slaughter was because these horses already had no value. Are you saying people were raising horses for meat but can't anymore? "

Thomas Lee Trevino wrote on Dec 6, 2008 5:01 PM:

" Seems the last few post from Rays message is called Responsiblity this is the kind of action the whole industry should of been practicing instead of lying to the public saying horse slaughter is humane thru hauling to processing the fact is it isnt and more laws need to be in place to punish these ignorant people who abuse and neglect animals period. Most Auctioneers that allow these so called killers are now losing money because a few killers are going out of business Boo Hoo. Reality and Responiblity needs to educate them now or pay the price of fines and jail time. For the facts, photo, and videos of history of abuse, neglect and slaughter visit www.SaveDaHorses.org Here we expose the AVMA,AAEP,AQHA,APHA,Farm Bureau and other sellouts that promoted slaughter and overbreeding for profits. Not once in there lifetimes ever consider setting funds aside for retirement or any rescues in the US or Canada. Shame on you all and we will expose you all too. "

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