Waverly Midwest Horse Sale

by Ida Livingston of Davis City, IA

We expanded our home a couple years ago to include a teenage son. As he learned how to live on a farm he found a true love – horses. He nearly rode the legs off three of our beginner level horses and so we knew he was needing something more (and our horses something less) so we decided to look at what was available at the Waverly Fall Auction in 2024.

The Waverly horse auction had changed hands that year with Leon Martin as the new owner. We drove three and a half hours northeast on the Saddle Horse Sale day. The fall sale was a three-day event with buggies, wagons and tack sold on the first day, draft horses were sold on the second day and light horses on the third.

Angel

We came home with Angel, a horse with just enough devil in her to be a great educational experience for our son. She was an older horse and well broke but she could read her rider and wouldn’t go if she didn’t want to. Khoke showed Opiy how to correct this. Once she was willing to go, she was a very energetic horse that had a lot of power; if she’d been younger, she would have been much more horse than he could handle at that time.

2025 Spring Sale

A couple months after we got Angel, a tragic accident in the pasture cost her life. So March found us returning to the Waverly 2025 Spring Horse Sale. Here, Khoke found a three year old gelding with admiral confirmation that rode well in the arena. We paid handsomely for him but Waffles came home with us anyway.

Once home, Waffles was put in an isolated pasture to quarantine him for a couple weeks. Before handing the lines over to Opiy to ride, Khoke took a test ride first as he is a confident rider. Khoke barely had his leg hung over the saddle and certainly not in a stirrup yet when Waffles leapt into a series of bunny hops and a bucking spree. Khoke found himself bucked off a horse for the first time in many years, much to the entertainment of his onlooking son.

Not one to let the horse win, round two had the foot in the stirrup quickly. Now prepared for it, Khoke rode out the bucking. This was the last time Waffles tested him.

We noted that the horse sale catalog stated that sellers who left their animals with too poor of a halter and lead rope would have a new one of each charged to their balance and these would be provided for the new owner. The catalog also said that anyone who suspected that their horse had been doped could have the animal tested up to three days post-purchase and if a positive test turned up the animal could be returned to the sale barn where it would be resold as it was, and the original owner covered the difference.

Doping a horse can be in the form of a mild tranquilizer that sedates them somewhat so they appear easy to handle. Once this wears off, the devil in horsehair comes out. Another form is using pain medication to cover lameness. This causes a horse to appear sound when ridden or driven in an arena.

In the sale ring, there was a horse that was brought in to resell that had been sold previously at a much higher age than what had been stated by the original owner. The new owner did not want a horse at that age and not at the price they paid for it. Since it was proven to be older than advertised, the sale barn explained the problem and resold the horse.

2025 Fall Sale

This past autumn found us driving north to the Waverly sale again, this time with horses to sell. A couple of our Amish neighbors came along as they had horses to sell, too, and we had room in the trailer. We had both draft and light horses for sale, so we had to be there to show them both days. There is a fairly large pasture parking lot so instead of driving so far home only to return, we pitched a tent on the outer edge of the lot. We were not the only ones with this idea, there were a number of tents and quite a few travel trailers. Enos, Crist, and Joseph, the young Amish who came along, got permission to sleep in one of the facility lofts. The barns were so noisy that I did not envy the little rest they got.

We noticed that the catalog had updated their return policy. Anyone could have their horse tested there at the facility if they suspected doping as there was a vet on site I believe. But once the horse went home, sales were final. I imagine this is to protect the seller as well. A lot can happen in three days that the original seller is not responsible for.

We had three horses that we were selling. They were comfortably roomed in a spacious stall. I discovered a litter of kittens in the hay. Our Kaya enjoyed the hissing, spitting furballs despite themselves. These stalls were great places to hang out while we had the many hours of waiting for our horses turn in the lineup. There were several hundred horses sold between these two days.

A partial day at the auction arena would be a great school field trip experience for children. There were quite a number of professional trainers there who would showcase what their horses or ponies could do. Often small children would be riding or driving a horse to demonstrate how gentle and responsive it is. I enjoyed watching the trainers who would stand on a saddle and snap a bull whip around the horses’ head and body (without touching the horse with it of course), large balls could be bounced off some of the horses, many would drag a tarp to demonstrate that they would not spook easily. Some trainers had balloons tied to the horse that they would then pop to show how bomb-proof the horse was.

Auctions Help Make the Connection

Whether buying or selling, I imagine the Waverly horse sale will see us again. There is a staggering number of horses that pass through the arena. It is hard to guess sometimes why some horses bring the prices that they do. I watched a bidding war over a pony that brought $16,000, yet other horses and ponies equally trained sometimes brought only a fraction of that. I have seen horses no-saled at $20,000. And others who were well trained but didn’t bring $2,000. Training is important, but often the color of the horse significantly influences the price it will bring. Blue roans are one of the most popular coat colors in demand at this time.

Auctions are a great place to meet your next work partner and equine friend. It is also an opportunity for them to find the new homes that they need. I appreciate the trainers who help make horses the helpful partners that they want to be. Above all I am grateful for the gift of the wonderful horses that have been in my life and thank you Waverly for helping us meet some of them.