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Amiable Acres in Oregon?

Has anyone heard of these sport TB breeders? I got a slightly-crazy vibe from the website but I want to be fair. Thanks!

I know nothing about the farm, but Googled

They look like happy well fed horses. But I don’t see sport horse conformation here. And nothing about what their babies have gone on to do. They are certainly affordable, $1000 for a two year old, so clearly not the main of income. I’d say backyard breeder with a good website :slight_smile:

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I was looking through their website and came across the quote below under “About Us.” Thoughts, COTHers?

“Having personal relationships with each of our horses is essential to their health, security and well-being. One of the most effective methods is establishing ourselves as fellow herd members by encouraging mutual grooming between us and the horse. Contrary to popular belief, this does NOT encourage biting, but rather discourages it by giving the horse a means of instinctive communication by physical contact. (Although sometimes they will give the occasional nip!) This is the basis for fostering happy, contented horses that have complete trust in us, and respect us as their herd leaders.”

Yeah I saw this.

I let my mare groom me lightly when I was 14. She did not nip and was never pushy, very submissive horse. I don’t let horses do it now as an adult. And I have other ways of fostering trust. I no longer want to be a horse.

This was one of the parts of the website that said “back yard operation” to me.

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I bought a colt from Amiable Acres! It was an experience, to say the least. My boy has an incredible personality and is built like a tank. The main negatives with his purchase were that he was feral and his feet were in poor condition.

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Dayton isn’t far from me, but I’ve never heard of them either. Their FB page has a lot of pictures of somewhat thin horses who don’t look very well maintained. The website sends up red flags for me too.

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@theequestrianlifesty - what do you do with your horse? I am considering one of their 2yr olds who has good bloodlines, but I have my own set of red flags as well.

Hello again! Checking to see if you saw my last post. Very cute guy! What do you use him for? I am looking for a dressage/jumping prospect and wanted to see how yours did with training, ect.

I have some experience with this farm. The owner is an ex-jockey who loves horses, and the farm would probably best be described as a small breeding farm. He is quite a character who has his own views on how to raise horses, which is probably what what you are referring to in his website (ie horse grooming humans).

I purchased a 2 year old stallion which I quickly gelded and wanted to train dressage. I had a trainer look at him who said all his angles were ‘correct’. It has taken some time to figure out (as I lack experience with this) what to supplement to get him properly muscled and moving correctly AND happy. He needed muscle support supplementation. He didn’t have any training and was sound when I purchased him.

At the time I bought from AA, there was no indoor arena but the owner was planning on putting something in. That is something to confirm and should help you decide if the horse is suitable for you, just keep in mind the horse probably doesn’t have much training and it may be you lunging it. If I saw something interesting, I wouldn’t hesitate to look at one of AA’s horses.

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Thanks for the reply! I did end up buying a 1.5yr old colt from Amiable Acres- it was quite the experience. I got my guy gelded right away as well and spent the past year doing all the basics with him. He has an awesome personality, lovely movement and solid jumping potential. That said- I don’t believe this farm gives any vet care. He was not vaccinated and his feet weren’t trimmed. Also- he appears to have an old injury in his back left fetlock upon x rays from potential new owner performing a PPE. Vet said it healed fine and hopefully won’t cause any long term issues- he has been sound since I owned him. Anyhow, no injury was ever mentioned upon purchase and I’d imagine he would have been noticeably lame at time of injury. Just something to be aware of for any potential buyers.

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