Draft horses were auctioned off at the Waverly horse sale Friday. Other types of horses, machinery and riding gear were also sold during the sale. Photo by Mac Slavin
MAC SLAVIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Horse enthusiasts from all over the world filled the Waverly Sales Barn on Tuesday Oct. 6 for the 63rd fall horse auction.
“As for the number of horses, there are probably around 500-600 horses sold a day for three days,” Jamie Back, an auctioneer, said.
The horse auction lasts for five days, this year’s auction ran from Oct. 6 through Oct. 10.
Back is an auctioneer and has made the trip to Waverly from Independence, Wis. for seven years.
“I started out reading numbers and working the ring, and now for five days we come down and work,” he said.
Back travels the 180 miles for the bi-annual event, and said the trip is worth it every time.
Brad Messersmith makes a shorter trip from New Hampton for both the fall and spring events. Messersmith fits horses and gets them ready for the sale.
“I put shoes on them, drive them, know how the horses operate and then I bring them down so I can represent them,” he said.
Messersmith said he represents horses from all over the Midwest, but sees horses from all over the country at the sale.
Trailers and cars lined the parking lots of the sales barn with a variety of license plates from all over the country.
“People come from all over the United States and Canada. I just met a lady from Manitoba, Canada and Bob, he’s from Oregon,” Back said. “Oregon is almost 1,800 miles away, and that’s a ways.”
Messersmith said he saw people bidding on horses from as far away as Japan.
One reason both Messersmith and Back think people keep returning to the sale is because of the family atmosphere.
“It’s mostly a camaraderie thing,” Back said. “There’s a lot of people that come for the camaraderie of the sale and just [watch], we are a pretty tight knit group ... I call it a big family of people who work here.”