Thoughts and personal experiences?

Which ones are coming up?

I'm not a fan of them.  Many stallion owners treat auction buys worse than ones that actually paid.  You rarely get a deal unless it's a stud nobody really wants.  I've done it before, but I won't do it again.  

I have only used them twice but both times I have had great experiences! The first stud I won was King of the Lanes and the second one that I won was Frenchstreakinjess. Both of the owners were great to work with as well as the person who orgainzed the auction. The only stallion auction I have used the VGBRA Stallion Incentive Auction and there are great stallions every year. 

I've won a couple over the years with a couple different association auctions.  I have also purchased breedings directly from stallion owners. 

The stallions that I did bid on were stallions that I was willing to do business directly with the stallion owner.  Read your contracts carefully as some stallion owners have a different contract for breedings "won" through auctions versus dealing with them directly. 

My experiences have been good, but you need to do your research on who you are doing business with, regardless if it is through an auction or not. 

It just depends on what you are wanting. I watched pretty much all of them last year to try to get a good deal on some popular studs and honestly it was such a waste of my time. All the big names sold for their normal stud fee (if not more due to closed books). However, there are a lot of up and coming studs in the auctions and for those you can get a decent deal. A lot of them dont even sell so you can buy them for half off. Just be aware that most of the time you still have to pay the booking/chute fee on top of whatever you bid. I've seen stallions be bought for their actual stud fee in an auction but then the winning bidder still has to pay the chute fee (which is normally included in the stud fee) so they end up paying MORE than if they had just purchased directly from the stallion owner. 

Here is a list:

- https://www.vgbrastallionincentive.com/
- https://www.triplecrown100stallionauction.com/
- https://wprapesi.com/ 
- https://www.tqhastallionauction.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/BarrelJamStallion/ 
- https://coloradoclassicstallions.com/ 
- https://www.cowboystatestallions.com/ 
- http://www.cbarnquarterhorses.com/stallions.html 
- https://oqhrastallionauction.com/ 
- https://www.lqhbastallionauction.com/ 
- http://www.canadianbarrelincentive.com/super_stakes_auction.htm

I've used them for years - mainly VGBRA and have bought awesome stallions including Blushing Bug, Vanila Latte, and my most recent was at SW Desert Classic auction 4 years ago when I bought Dinero.  I've never had any issue with stallion owners and the VG stallion incentive program has great payouts.  

It's really going to depend on the stallion owner. Contact them and get a feel for them...and double and triple check any fees they may have. I donate my stallion and have had great mare owners. I had a mare owner this year bring her mare really late. No matter what I did, said mare would not show heat. So I had to send her home without ever getting covered because it was nearly August. Then the mare died of colic shortly after. I will of course let her bring a suppliment mare for 2021.