Blue, as she came to be known, was a beautiful blue roan mare who passed through the auction market far more times than any horse. She probably had some Appaloosa breeding.  It was a wonder she never fell into the hands of the meat man. I had seen her at the auction market and was familiar with her story.

Horse auctions happened once a month. People could bring any horse, or tack, and consign it for sale. The sales started at 6:00 with tack selling first. The highest bidder would take their purchases home at the end of the night. All types of horses were brought through the ring, typically most were unregistered horses of various ages. A few were broke to ride and would make good riding horses. Some were old horses, unwanted by their owners, a few were lame or crippled. It was always sad to see these pass through the ring. A few were foals, and this is where Blue got her start. I am fairly certain I saw her there years ago as a young filly being sold. A beautiful frisky blue roan foal, she sold for a good price because of her less than common color.

It was probably a few years later when she passed through the ring again. After that she passed through on a fairly regular basis, sometimes once or twice a year. As I worked at the auction market I became aware of her, and always noticed how beautiful she was. It was probably the one thing that saved her.

Every time she came to auction somebody bought her, putting the price just above what the meat man would pay. While some regulars came to the auction, many people would only come once or twice a year, these people where the ones that often took Blue home, unaware of her history.

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Although she was fully halter broke, word got around that Blue was otherwise not trainable. She was unpredictable. She spent at least one summer as a bucking horse on the rodeo circuit, but was resold at auction in the fall rather than being fed throughout the winter.

She may have had a foal or two, again another lifesaver because when bred horses passed through the ring the meat buyers would not get them. Every now and again long stretches would happen where I did not see her, however inevitably she would resurface at another sale and pass through the rounds again. It was sad to see. She was getting older.