RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- Black as night and 18 hands high, Clemente trotted up and down the pen as the auctioneer at Mike's Livestock rattled off bids machine-gun style.
The barnyard scents of alfalfa, leather and sweat wafted through the cavernous auction hall just outside Riverside, Calif., where Clemente and dozens of other horses paraded before bleachers overflowing with bargain-seekers, sellers and gawkers on a cold weekend night.
There were whispers of a "killer buyer" lurking outside, buying up swaybacks and broken-down mares to be shipped off for slaughter. A trio of amateur Mexican-style rodeo riders eyed horses suitable for hogtying and tail twisting.
