Percheron X pony mare

[Lothiriel]

So my sister, dad and I went to look at another horse today. Well, pony, actually. I'll try and make this post brief and concise.

She's just across the border in PA on a farm with beefers and 3 other ponies The mare is an 8 year old Percheron/pony cross named Taffy, mostly white - excusing the dirt - but with a light dappling of grey. She weighs 950 and is approximately 13.1 hands.

When we got there, the owner took us into the barn where the stalls were. She said to go right ahead and take her out. So I slid my hand along Taffy's back as I went into the stall, unhooked her and told her "Back Up" and she did. We brushed her, led her up and down, turned her in a circle. She had very nice manners: no nippy/lippy behavior, knew her place and respected humans. We checked her teeth for parrot/monkey mouth, abcesses; lifted all 4 feet with no trouble, (they were really clean and healthy looking; no cracks; and for not being trimmed since August are in reallynice shape); ran our hands from nose to tail, down legs and neck feeling for lumps - nothing. She has had rabies, tetanus, 4-Way and Coggins tested. No shoes. No limping either.

After a while I asked the owner to harness her up and drive her so we could watch. Wanted to make sure they weren't trying to fool us. Not that I suspected it; Taffy's owner used to ride saddle-horses and drove 3 teams up until last year. Taffy is the last one to be sold. She drives single or double, has been worked/hitched with all Amish farm equipment, pulled both a sled and wagon. She was bought directly off an Amish farm in Ohio. They have owned her 1 1/2 years.

We watched them harness her and they knew what they were doing as much as the horse.

The owner had said the horse knew her commands, so I asked her to demonstrate today while we were watching. She walked her up and down the road in front of their house at least 3 times, doing all the commands: Gee, Haw, Whoa, Stand, Step Up, Back Up, Lift. And the horse did them.

Over the phone the lady mentioned how Taffy was traffic-safe. Well, while she was walking her on the road, 3 cars drove past and a logging truck roared by (not even bothering to slow down. I mean, how rude! Not to mention potentially dangerous!) But Taffy was very well-behaved. She didn't even blink an eye at the 3 cars that went by. The logging truck: she did swing round real fast to see what it was but didn't buck/spook/bolt.

Taffy is selling for $600, price including her halter and fitted collar. We talked to a farmer friend who said that if we are serious, try talking them down to $500, or at least $550. Another friend told us that for an already trained, Amish broke pony, $600 is an awesome bargain.

So....what do ya'll think?


We made a list of requirements to look for in a horse that will fit our needs and Taffy fills nearly all of them:

*Plow garden

*Pull loads

*Drive cart/sled - The owner said she could easily pull about 1000#, she's pulled about 10 people around on a wagon

*Ride - Taffy has been broke to ride but her current owners didn't pursue it as they were interested only in driving her

*Good with cows/dogs

*Easy Keeper - Taffy eats approximately 1/2 a bale of hay a day and gets 2 quarts of grain in the summer on days when she's worked

*Good disposition - Taffy is very gentle, calm and quiet. She happens to be low-man-on-the-totem-pole where she is now.

*Sound feet

*Already trained

*15 hands or less

*Good conformation

Here are some pictures.

Taffy in harness:

Sideview:

My sister standing next to Taffy:

Backview:

Back feet:

Front feet:

This got longer than I expected! What happened to being brief?

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

She is pretty.

Did you see her pull anything? Is the current owner will to at least get on her back to see how she will respond?

FYI - If you house her with goats, goats like to eat the horse's tail. Just so you know.

 

[CrazyCatNChickenLady]

I think talking them down would be insulting them. $600 sounds great if she's exactly like you describe her. I think she's a pretty, stocky little thing too.

 

[redtailgal]

600$ is a pretty darn good deal.

I'd jump on it, but be careful.

Why are they getting rid of her?

Can you drop by one day unannounced? (it's rude yes, but its common practice around here to see very well behaved horses that have been drugged, and turn into lunatics after you buy them)

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

600$ is a pretty darn good deal.

I'd jump on it, but be careful.

Why are they getting rid of her?

Can you drop by one day unannounced? (it's rude yes, but its common practice around here to see very well behaved horses that have been drugged, and turn into lunatics after you buy them)

I would agree, price is very good and I like the idea of stopping by. And I really think you should have someone ride her, if that is important to you. I heard this lesson the hard way. Years ago, I fell in love with this big beautiful paint mare. Well I rode her at the owner's farm in their riding barn. Never thought to take her outside. Well got her home and attempted to ride her outside for the first time. She destroyed a good saddle, stepped on my leg (no lasting damage) and was an all around nut. She left 2 weeks later.

 

[carolinagirl]

If it was me, I'd jump all over that deal! It sounds like she has had some extensive training and will be a good little horse for your needs! I think even if it turned out she was not 100% broke to ride, the horse has enough intelligence and manners to learn to ride pretty quickly.

 

[77Herford]

600$ is a pretty darn good deal.

I'd jump on it, but be careful.

Why are they getting rid of her?

Can you drop by one day unannounced? (it's rude yes, but its common practice around here to see very well behaved horses that have been drugged, and turn into lunatics after you buy them)

Ditto

 

[Karma]

Her feet look really good for not being trimmed in so long and she looks like a nice solid pretty little mare. Her size looks really nice she is solid enough to ridden by even adults. I would want verification of her age since there are no papers for that, you can tell pretty well by the teeth if you know what you are looking for though. I also agree about having her hooked to something, being ground driven is so different from having something dragging behind them. As far as the riding, with her price so low and her nice temperment, being well broke to drive, and road safe, I don't think I would mind paying for additional training later if it were required but I am not you so that is something you guys should decide. You can always hop up on her bareback with someone holding her to see how she handles being mounted and the weight.

As for the surprise visit, I've done this for everything from yearlings at someones home to fully trained horses at a show barn, I do like to let them know I will be stopping by again and ask what time is best to catch them around the barn. I don't like to inconvience them but at the same time I don't give them a specific time in which I will show up usually just a "i'll be out next week to talk more what time are you usually at the barn?". Asking what times really helps avoid things like missing the owners when they run to town or are at work, especially when you're driving a ways to see a horse.

I would try to get her harness included if you can, it will be a big help to already have one fitted to her. If you can get the harness with her at $600 I think the price would be excellent since a new one will cost atleast $100 on it's own. Even without the harness though I still think the price is good.

 

[goodhors]

Ask how much work she is getting now. With the Amish broke horses we see, the
Amish work them almost daily and the horse gets tired. When horse comes back
home, they only get worked now and then, maybe weekends, so there is a LOT more
horse ready-to-go, than what it looked like at the Amish persons house.

I wouldn't recommend giving her much grain of any kind, unless she starts losing weight.
With her build, breeding, she is bound to be an "easy keeper" on very little food. Just
the way they are made! Use every calorie 110%. So if you have fair pasture, she will
look pretty nice on only grass, with the small amount of work you have named for her to do.
Unless you suddenly take up long distance driving, her work won't be that strenuous to
need much extra in grain feed.

So do the asking about how much she is worked daily, weekly, does she get "prancy" or silly? Anything
she dislikes greatly in machinery, dogs, things along the road, bike riders and so on.

Are YOU folks familiar with harnessing and what needs to be attached here and there? You might want
to find a local person to work with, learn those driving horse things. Especially with keeping her shoulders
from getting damaged under the collar. Horses working daily get thicker skin there, but if she
is only used occasionally, she could get galled or scalded quickly when you work her harder. Harness
needs to be kept cleaned up, supple and soft on her, to prevent rub holes. You need to pay
attention to worn places, get replaced or fixed before things break and hurt someone. Harness
has to be strong enough to pull the load, not snap unexpectedly as she goes forward. Leather
does WEAR OUT, so the horse user has to be caring for harness things, ALL the parts, to prevent
accidents. I do NOT recommend getting your harness hot oil dipped, that is very hard on it.

Do limit her turnout on the new grass for a while. Sounds like extra work, but that
sudden food change from hay to grass, is what gets founder/laminitus going. Horse
body can't digest the new grass body is set up for hay in winter. Nothing in the system
because they haven't had grass since last year! Takes about 4-6weeks of slowly increased
time on grass, to let body develop the grass digestion system in your horse. I am VERY
careful, we start out with horse eating their hay first, then getting 15 MINUTES a day, for
a couple days, then 30 minutes for a week. I increase it 15 minutes about every 5 days.
I do time it, they can put away a LOT of new grass in those short times. Feeding hay first
fillls the stomach, so they are not overstuffed quickly on the grass to shock their
body systems.

Horses love the new grass, so you sure can't depend on them to quit eating when they
should. We just lock them out of the pasture, until they are acclimated to grazing again in
that 4-6 weeks. Spring grass founder CAN BE AVOIDED, if you are willing to put in the time.

She SOUNDS wonderful, gave good "yes" answers when you visited. Time spent getting her quiet
and reliable is worth something. I think she is a fair price for what she has demonstrated, good
size for many uses. Sounds like a good beginner animal for draft uses.

 

[Lothiriel]

Ask how much work she is getting now. With the Amish broke horses we see, the
Amish work them almost daily and the horse gets tired. When horse comes back
home, they only get worked now and then, maybe weekends, so there is a LOT more
horse ready-to-go, than what it looked like at the Amish persons house.

She's not getting any work right now. The last time she was worked was in August, and then they got their shoes off and have been on pasture, handled daily, etc. The owner was very pleased with how well she behaved when they put the harness on, she wasn't expecting her to be so easy with the long time between. Oh, and the current owners aren't Amish -- they bought her from an Amish family.

I wouldn't recommend giving her much grain of any kind, unless she starts losing weight.
With her build, breeding, she is bound to be an "easy keeper" on very little food. Just
the way they are made! Use every calorie 110%. So if you have fair pasture, she will
look pretty nice on only grass, with the small amount of work you have named for her to do.
Unless you suddenly take up long distance driving, her work won't be that strenuous to
need much extra in grain feed.

We were planning on just the 1st cutting hay and pasture when it's grown. Right now only the cow and chickens get grain -- the steer gets 1st cutting only.

So do the asking about how much she is worked daily, weekly, does she get "prancy" or silly? Anything
she dislikes greatly in machinery, dogs, things along the road, bike riders and so on.

Will do...

Are YOU folks familiar with harnessing and what needs to be attached here and there? You might want
to find a local person to work with, learn those driving horse things. Especially with keeping her shoulders
from getting damaged under the collar. Horses working daily get thicker skin there, but if she
is only used occasionally, she could get galled or scalded quickly when you work her harder. Harness
needs to be kept cleaned up, supple and soft on her, to prevent rub holes. You need to pay
attention to worn places, get replaced or fixed before things break and hurt someone. Harness
has to be strong enough to pull the load, not snap unexpectedly as she goes forward. Leather
does WEAR OUT, so the horse user has to be caring for harness things, ALL the parts, to prevent
accidents. I do NOT recommend getting your harness hot oil dipped, that is very hard on it.

Actually we found a local farm that does all their work with draft horses (Percherons and a Belgian). They have agreed to teach us all the ropes for free. We went out last Wednesday and harnessed/hitched/unharnessed a team and are planning to go out every week. Eventually we'll learn to drive and possibly help out with their plowing and stuff.

Do limit her turnout on the new grass for a while. Sounds like extra work, but that
sudden food change from hay to grass, is what gets founder/laminitus going. Horse
body can't digest the new grass body is set up for hay in winter. Nothing in the system
because they haven't had grass since last year! Takes about 4-6weeks of slowly increased
time on grass, to let body develop the grass digestion system in your horse. I am VERY
careful, we start out with horse eating their hay first, then getting 15 MINUTES a day, for
a couple days, then 30 minutes for a week. I increase it 15 minutes about every 5 days.
I do time it, they can put away a LOT of new grass in those short times. Feeding hay first
fillls the stomach, so they are not overstuffed quickly on the grass to shock their
body systems.

Horses love the new grass, so you sure can't depend on them to quit eating when they
should. We just lock them out of the pasture, until they are acclimated to grazing again in
that 4-6 weeks. Spring grass founder CAN BE AVOIDED, if you are willing to put in the time.

She SOUNDS wonderful, gave good "yes" answers when you visited. Time spent getting her quiet
and reliable is worth something. I think she is a fair price for what she has demonstrated, good
size for many uses. Sounds like a good beginner animal for draft uses.

We've read about the founder -- cows will get bloat with new grass too, so we'd limit all of their time on new grass.

I called the owner this morning and we talked about a pre-purchase exam. She called her vet to find out his fee for it, and she'll call me back when she hears from him. If he's too expensive a friend of ours recommended someone local, with a $150 fee for a pre purchase exam. She wasn't sure if that was the complete price or if there was a travel fee as well. Going to call the lady this afternoon and find out about that. If both of those are not a very good option, we found a vet closer to the horse that might be a possibility.

They are asking $400 for the harness... It's a beta biothane harness, and I've heard that those are quite pricey. She does come with her collar though, and halter. The bridle she's wearing in the picture wasone of their other ponies' and a bit too small for her.

I think someone asked why they are selling her..... They want to get out of the ponies and focus on their beefers. They had at least 12, maybe 14 ponies, and have sold all but 4. They are keeping 3, selling this one. Two of the ones they're keeping are the ones they will do a little driving with. The third they refuse to sell because she's dangerous. They don't want her to end up at a slaughter house and don't want to get sued for someone getting hurt. My dad (unknowingly, and perhaps rashly) went into the stall with her, and nothing happened, but when he came out and they noticed, they were very shocked and slightly upset because she's dangerous. I don't think they're the kind of people who would drug up an animal they're selling, especially when they have another one they won't sell because it's mean.

As far as pulling a piece of equipment, all their things are frozen to the ground, so that can't be done. I do wish it could be though.

I'll let you all know about the pre purchase exam and what goes from that.