I realize this is a bit of a reach…can anyone weigh in on price one might expect to pay for an established Amish buggy horse? If you can weigh in…can you please also share your location? THANK YOU in advance - and I will share more as this situation evolves 
Depends on how old and how sound it is. Something old and broken down might be under $1k, but they buy and put on the road horses at over $7k. PA prices.
2 Likes
Much cheaper here in Northern IN —if you just want Amish driving horse (Dutch Harness bred are more). There are newspapers that advertise such horses --I can send you one --if you are interested. Some of the ads run every week and I expect they are dealers. Ads seem to be honest —or so I’ve heard --“Shy at corners, not for women driver, boy’s horse, safe for wife, doesn’t like big trucks, goes all day, young needs miles.” I think you could get a good driving horse (not flashy) for under $4 —generally 25-30 each newspaper. Of course some repeat. PM me if you want me to send you a newspaper —I pick them up at the feed store. FYI of course INSIST on a PPE, and drive that horse yourself. Lots. You might be able to set up 4-5 to look at. And there are weekly auctions —I would only use those if I could take the horse back (live close). Buy horse, try it, don’t like it, return to auction next week (some people do that). I am in MIddlebury, IN --auctions are in Topeka IN and Shipshewana IN.
1 Like
NE Ohio here… to my absolute surprise, $8-12k for a good buggy horse, so I’ve been told by my Amish neighbors. I figured like TBs, you could just go to the track and pick em up cheap, but apparently, I am mistaken. Those that you can pick up cheaper, have their issues and they’re not going to be a Sunday/Ladies horse.
1 Like
I am in @Foxglove 's 'hood & the Topeka,IN Auction has several Driving Horse sales every year.
Prices can vary wildly here’s a sample:
(lower righthand corner has horse averaged horse prices)
http://nebula.wsimg.com/c22856965fda…&alloworigin=1
I have seen a 3yo Standardbred mare go for $77K @ the Michiana Center Sale. But I assume that was to a Racing home.
Saw a 6yo Pulling-bred Belgian mare sell for $12,500 last week
The Dutch Harness crosses & even purebreds that don’t make the cut for breeding are being used for Daily Drivers more often these days, replacing the Standardbreds that were the Go To for many years.
So I expect a lot of these will come up at the auctions in Shipshewana & Topeka.
Shipshe will have lower prices in general, but they also have a Kill Pen and while there is a vet onsite for a roughcut PPE, it is more of a Caveat Emptor sale.
The Topeka sales will have higher prices, but you’re less likely to end up with an unusable horse.
@Foxglove I assume you mean the Peoples Exchange paper.
I love reading the ads & have learned to decipher the “shorthand”:
TSS = Traffic Safe & Sound
Good for Ladies to Drive = quiet horse
Boy’s Horse = could be a wild ride < friend & I joke if they could, the Amish teens would have flame decals on their buggies
3 Likes
Take a look at Saddlebred Rescue too. Don’t know if you want a horse to keep on the road or just want one that’s really broke, but they have good horses, health checked, evaluated, and are a super good rescue.
2 Likes
So I’m actually looking at a very specific horse. We bred and raised her - she didn’t really pan out as a racehorse so we donated her to New Vocations. She’s since changed hands several times and I tracked her down; wrote the gentleman who has her a letter and he called me back. Says she’s his favorite buggy horse but “money talks.” We’d like to have her back so I was trying to get a sense of what might be a reasonable offer.
13 Likes
Good of you to want to get her back. I hope you get her for her sake.
5 Likes
OP, ask what his price is & you can negotiate.
I’d expect if your offer can get him a decent replacement you could have a deal.
@cloudyandcallie I hope you aren’t tarring all Amish with the same brush.
Like us English with our cars, some take excellent care of their vehicles, some decent & others not so great.
9 Likes
Call Nealia at SBR and I’ll bet she could give you a good idea. They are really in tune with the Amish and I’m sure she knows a lot about the market. Also, she goes to New Holland a lot so knows the low end as well.
Very kind of you to get this horse back!
3 Likes
Hey, 2DogsFarm --how close are we? “My” mounted archery peeps (all of whom shoot better than I do) are doing a mounted archery demonstration at the Topeka Riding Horse Auction April 26th --be fun to meet you! I met Draftmare on this bb and she hunts with me now and then.
I live just south of Lancaster and have lots of Amish neighbors and have rehabbed/retrained several buggy horses (have one in my field right now actually). Prices really run the gambit- but I’d expect a STB that is their go to buggy horse to be around 8-10K in my area. I’d say the almighty $$ is the real religion among 99% of the Amish I deal with, I hope you are able to get her back.
5 Likes
Hey, where do you hunt? I am in Mishawaka and would love to try it! I have a good little QH type who I think would love it.
Good luck to you. If you can appeal to his softer side, it might help. Of course, the Amish I know and deal with are not like those that some like to paint with a broad brush; they have a heart and they take very good care of their animals with proper feeding, vet care, retire when its time to their own pasture, etc. I’m surprised with her being donated to New Vocations, she ended up pulling a buggy. 
2 Likes
Well, I’m in Crown Point, but I seem to be going to Millersburg, Middlebury & Topeka fairly frequently.
My Faux Grandson does business with both a Mennonite & Amish guys who break/retrain/barter ponies for him.
I have close friends in Orland & Fremont too.
AND the guy who built my show cart is in Napanee (Leroy Martin).
The April date may work for me as I am trying to get my cart to Leroy before Hoosier Horse Fair May 3-5, where my Club is doing demo drives.
FGS will be making at least a couple more trips before then & if the stars align we may be able to meet IRL 
I would love to see Mounted Archery - the version with guns is too loud for my taste 
As the date gets closer I’ll PM you if it looks like I’ll be near Topeka on the 26th 
I used to live on the border of Lancaster County, Pa, where there are lots of Amish people. I would frequently see one young man driving his flashy chestnut that looked like it may have been a Saddlebred: going down hills, the guy would have to stand up and hold that horse with everything he had. I was told that for the Amish teens, this is the equivalent of having a hot rod.
1 Like
PMed you
StormyDay, PMed you back --the newspaper is The People’s Exchange out of LaGrange --more in the PM
1 Like
Fordtraktor–I hunt out with Battle Creek Hunt Club --I hunt every Sunday at 10 AM, but the hunt also goes out on Thursdays at 4:00 PM --you are welcomed to come as my guest any Sunday --this Sunday --or April 14 (last hunt of the season) —you CAN come on April 7 but I won’t have time to introduce you around as I have 15 guests coming that day (all the participants in my Mounted Archery Clinic are hunting out that day) --I ride QH too! I’m posting a link to a YouTube video of your hunt --3 min long --I’m the rider on the brown horse in the black coat (so is everyone else LOL) Gives you an idea of what we do each week.–Do come any time you want to as my guest!
When I was in high school I went cruising with an Amish teen and another “English” teen in his buggy. It was 11:30pm, he wanted to cruise past his girlfriend’s house, 8 miles away. So off we went, blaring his radio that was under the seat, with a very fine and very hot saddlebred pulling us down the highway. They are people, just like us…
