The first Saturday of every month there is a local horse auction and tack sale that starts at 2 PM. I LOVE TO GO!!!! The used tack is sold first and that is what I go to bid on! Forget that new stuff, it is not for me! I love good old leather tack that I can clean up, oil, use and or sell myself. I love a cold rainy day when I can go out into the tack room put on some Gordon Lightfoot albums and clean and oil the day away, just me and the dogs. I use Effax Leader Balsm and it is made of avocado oil, bees wax, and lanolin. All good stuff, natural and it water proofs the leather as well. I have brought back many a good bridle and reins with this stuff and a little bit of time.
Yeah, I learned to do this from my Grandpa. He used harness oil and I never liked that stuff, course Grandpa did not know about the Effax. And he did not have Gordon Lightfoot either just an old radio set on a REAL country station in the old milk room he converted after he sold out the dairy. We use to sit and work on the leather. He never had dry brittle leather and neither do I.
As a young girl I would go with my Grandpa and Grandma to all kinds of sales (auctions) cows, horses, estate, machinery etc . I guess no one has ever enjoyed an auction any better than my Grandpa! We would go and sit for hours until he saw everything sold. Now I am not that bad but I do stay until I am sure I have seen everything sold that I am interested in. I love the sound of the auctioneer’s voice as he chants and I LOVE the interaction the auctioneer has with the crowd.
My Grandpa, Les and I use to go to horse auctions together and that was the most fun! See Grandpa went to buy and I got to help pick the horse. Usually what ever the trailer would haul. Then Les and I got to ride the horses what fun that was! Grandma would send me out the door saying “Now don’t let Astor buy any horses!” “I wont!” We would get in the truck and if this was a catalog sale we would be discussing the blood lines as we went up the driveway. Do you think she knew? LOL
We were at Bennetsville South Carolina Horse Auction years ago. Ned Smith a good friend of my Grandpa’s and a great horse trader from Forth Smith, Arkansas was trying to get as much as he could for one of the 100 plus head of Registered Quarter Horses he had brought back east to sell. Well ole Ned could tell a tale and if you were listening you would likely buy what he was selling. He was good! I only wish I could recall his words! But on this night I do remember what Ned said” There sits Astor Delk bidding on this mare and he needs another horse like a dead man needs an over coat!” I thought we would all die of laughter ! The bidding picked up and Ned doubled the price of that mare! He could turn a phrase! I know of none like him today. And while I am on Ned Smith I want to say he did so much for the American Quarter Horse Industry ! By being the good trader he was, and bring these good horses to little out of the way places helped the Quarter Horse grow in popularity like no other breed has. Ned Smith and some others like him had a big part in that growth.
Four Horse Sales stand out in my memory as the Best! One was in Georgia were I met Carol Rose and we bought 4 horses I believe. Another in Georgia and we stayed at Frank’s house, my brother in law, and Grandpa so enjoyed that time as did we. In fact he commented he could not remember a better nicer place and time. We ate at The Georgia Pig ! And at the sale they gave each buyer a bottle of wine along with the horse! Very fancy doings that one! Then a long time ago we went to a sale in Bristol at the Thunder Valley Stables (just Grandpa Grandma and me) And Last was the trip to Mt Hope Ohio to an Amish draft Horse Sale! This was to be his last long distance sale and the best one for all of us. We stayed in Mary’s Bed and Breakfast, went to Lehman’s Hardware Store, went in an Amish barn with no electricity but had water that ran through all levels of the barn in troughs by gravity and pumped into the barn by a windmill. This was a 3 day sale and it was the Real Deal! We came back with 2 draft horses and a load of antiques! Fun! Fun!
After my Grandpa passed away it was four years before I could go to a horse auction again ! But my joy did return and now all the wonderful memories sustain me. And just like this evening I had a fellow talk to me in the barn area. He said “So you are Kay? Astor’s granddaughter .” “Yes” “I use to come out to your Grandpa’s and talk horses with him, my how he loved to talk and he knew so much! I really enjoyed visiting with him!”
Humm, boy I sure miss those times under the maple tree and beside the wood stove! Tonight there are more “whispers and memories” for me.
5 comments
Skip to comment form
I enjoyed your memories of your grandfather, thanks for the reminders! I too shared many a long pickup or bob truck ride with my grandfather as we went from auction sale to auction sale around his Southeast Missouri home. Later in life as a grown-up (at least on the outside) I made a lot of auctions without Papa, but I was fortunate enough to become acquainted with Ned Smith, Cletus Hulling, Sonny Thompson, Dick Cole, Percy Hunter and and a host of others that made horse trading such an exciting sport – either as a participant or even as a spectator.
Again, thanks for jogging those pleasant memories.
John A.
My father In Law asked me to look up Ned Smith from Arkansas. My father in law is Tom Peterson and he was a horse trader and knew Cletus ,Sonny and Ned Smith and Dick Cole but he didn’t know Percy Hunter. He says your memories and quotes are correct..
I came upon your website by accident, and all those traders of yesteryear brought me back to my horse sale days of the fifties andsixties. I went to all those sales you mentioned plus Joplin and Springfield, Mo.,Fort Smith, Ar, Clovis,NM, and Norfolk,Ne. We bought mostly grade horses and hauled them by the trailerload to Bunchy Grants sale on Wednesday night in Iselyn,N.J. those were the good old days meetin dealers like Ingraham brothers in Ponca City,Ok and Buddy Walker in Fort Smith,Ar. I could go on and on about those days. It really cheered me up when I saw that there are still people alive keeping the old traditions alive. Sincerely, Bill
Bunchy Grant’s real name is Louis Grant Sr and he’s actually my great grandfather.
Jamie – I guess you know, but your Great-grandfather brought a lot of joy to us folks in Iselin back in the day. I bought a few horses there as did others in my family. In those days there were horse barns all over the New Dover Road / Grove Ave section of Edison and miles of trails to ride.
It’s all gone now, plowed under for ugly housing complexes where the auctions were and more housing where the stables all used to be. But those of us who remember will always be grateful.