Putting this in H/J since it seems that I find them most often in these circles. Recently, I’ve seen quite a few people with Amish bred horses competing in hunterland.
I never really thought about it, but how are people finding these horses? Unless I am mistaken, the Amish don’t use the internet. 
Are they just going to new holland and buying them? I can’t imagine it’s word of mouth, since some of these owners are very far from PA.
I’m out of touch with the Amish community (I lived in SE PA for four years and a lot of our community were Amish, but that was over 20 years ago), so I’m not sure how things work in the Age of the Internet, but many of the prohibitions against technology are against OWNING technology, not USING technology. They’d hire drivers if they had someplace to go that was a long way away, hired Amish workers would use the “English” business owner’s power tools, etc. I imagine that they would hire somebody “English” to run internet ads for them. There are also different rules in different sects and many of the prohibitions aren’t just a blanket “keep it old fashioned” but have nuances. Buttons and zippers are banned in most sects, but hook-and-loop is OK, which means for many sects, VELCRO is just fine (being tiny hook and loop). I understand that cell phone use is on the rise, perhaps because some arrangements you aren’t really buying the phone, or because there isn’t a physical line connecting the phone to anything.
1 Like
Actually there are LOTS of Amish here in Indiana and also in Ohio. Many of them breed and sell horses. Next time you see a nice one, ask where they got it. They may have bought from an Amish breeder. I don’t think I would try to New Holland route myself.
1 Like
I have found that Amish is one of those tags that a lot of people like to add in their sales ads for horses and furniture because it connotes old-timey quality and dedication to a long lost craft. Oftentimes, the families will be loosely associated with the Amish, as in Mennonite or some other derivative that has looser restrictions on electric use. In my area, the midwest, I don’t see the Amish selling a ton of hunter types, but there are plenty of sellers in the same region that sell all kinds of livestock,(and sadly, plenty of puppy-mills). As with anything, there are good and bad sellers in the mix, but I’d be sort of suspicious of someone claiming to have an Amish pipeline to hunterland. More likely, the horses are from a heavily Amish region with loose Amish ties. Just my guess.
6 Likes
How funny about the velcro!
I guess maybe some did buy their Amish horse on Facebook.
In our area there are also a lot of people who appear to buy from the Amish and resell so it could be that the people purchased from an English dealer who had local connections and not from the Amish themselves.
Also a lot of Amish horses are Dutch Harness Horses, which I guess are technically Dutch Warmbloods but not really? That part confuses me… but just thought it was relevant since hunters.
Dutch Harness horses are part of the KWPN registry, though the Dutch WBs are bred differently for harness, jumping, etc. These horses have different conformation and movement than you would likely buy for under saddle. (at least h/j or dressage).
4 Likes
There are some very nice Dutch harness horse Amish breeding farms in SE PA, but they arent advertising online. If you have a connection to the area or stop by a breeding farm, the Amish are usually happy to talk horses. We found a very nice colt out of an amish breeder about 4 miles from our farm while out driving around and stopped in to ask if they had young stock for sale and he happened to be for sale.
the nice horses are NOT going to NH as a general rule.
You can find a lot of Amish horses online in our area on the well known horse sales sites. My general understanding is that they get an English friend/partner to do the posting, and when you call the phone number, they put you in touch with the cell phone number for the actual seller. Some of the sellers are very good horsemen, and they see a large volume of horses at the breeding farms and auctions they frequent. We have one very nice hunter type of undetermined breeding from this background. Of course, there are others you would not put in the “good horsemen” category or who have a more utilitarian attitude towards animals. But some are real horse people with a genuine appreciation of a nice horse.
1 Like
Different Amish locales have different opinions about horses. I have been in areas where the quality and care is much higher vs others. All areas use their own auction houses. Younger stock is sold more openly, if broke to harness they will stipulate if the horse is ‘lady broke’ or stands well in traffic at corners. The Amish are all about economic opportunity so if there is a market they will develop the product.
Regarding internet use I’ve seen plenty of Amish in their local libraries using the computer. And they use solar power because as they oddly rationalize things - solar won’t have an outage on a Sunday requiring a lineman to work on their holy day.
2 Likes
Not every auction equals New Holland. There are people who buy from Amish auctions or those in heavily Amish areas and flip them. Seeking such a person/dealer would seem to be an option if you don’t want to beat the bushes.
But beware the Amish label. Rent horse outfit near here advertises a rent string of “Rescue and Amish bred”. They are neither. They buy them all at the same public auctions in spring and sell most of them in the fall at the same auctions. But their clientele eat it up and even buy “Amish rescues” as personal horses for at least twice market value. Some of those horses were owned by Amish and kill buyers may be at some of those auctions but don’t bid on useable, sound, healthy horses, it’s mostly a marketing tool.
Since this is the H/j forum, not sure Amish bred is going to be a great choice for anything above lower level unless it’s an exceptional individual and off their usual type. They specifically breed working horses to pull things and that skill set and conformation often doesn’t translate to scope in the Jumpers or style and a great canter in Hunters. If you wanted a draft cross to work in harness, a buggy horse or a Saddle Seat prospect, Id be out there looking Amish for sure. H/J not so much.
3 Likes
I am in Indiana and there are at least 2 large locations not far from me that host Amish sales - Draft, Standardbred & “Riding or Driving” horses - several times a year.
And these are not New Holland-type auctions!
Last SB sale I went to a 3yo mare sold for $77K - and she might not have been the High Price Sale as this was near the end of the sale. And most of the buyers were Amish.
There are also Friesian sales as well as Dutch Harness.
And selling prices that rival imported WB intended for H/J or Dressage.
@babecakes There’s a Sale paper I read just for the horse sale “code” in the ads:
TSS = Traffic Safe & Sound
Boy’s Horse = Equine version of a race car (friend & I joke that, if they could, Amish teen boys would have flame decals on the buggies)
Broke for Ladies = Quiet Driver
Also noted are things like “shies at road signs” & “trouble standing at intersections”
When I took my 2yo mini to be broke to harness I told the Amish kid - 15yo under Dad’s supervision - I wanted him “Broke so your Grandma can drive him” 
Also the Mennonite sect is less restricted - phones are allowed, as is electricity.
There was a STB Amish sale recently that my SO mentioned the high seller went for $310k. They do appreciate a good horse and are willing to pay for it, though I doubt too many are looking for hunter/jumpers.
1 Like
Some Amish are getting into the racing business and are raising/selling TB’s as well. If they can make money they will breed it.
That’s an interesting way to look at it.
I knew a warmblood some years back who was bred and raised to be a driving horse, and turned out to be a nice junior hunter instead. So you never know.
Dutch Harness Horses are a breed registry which has two different stud books. The KWPN DHH and the North American DHH. The KWPN is very selective in what they allow in to their KWPN DHH registry.
The KWPN DHH Have blue papers the same as the reg KWPN dutch warmbloods as they are controlled by the same registry.
North American DHH have white papers and are a little more lax with what they accept and breed; from my perspective. Of course I wouldn’t turn down a good horse regardless of papers or even if it came without them!
The Amish have invested a lot of money and imported some of the top KWPN DHH stallions and stand them here. They are making a niche market selling the super fancy young stock and getting huge price tags as weanlings and young stock and selling to combined driving, Dressage and jumping markets. I’m assuming the not so fancy or foals that have issues or injuries they repurpose as driving horses for themselves or others in their community.
I currently own two, one I bought as a “failed combined driving horse” I broke him in as a 6yr old and is showing 4th level schooling the PSG. He can piaffe and passage like he was born to it and has won almost every class he’s entered in with scores into the mid 70s at 3rd and 4th, and he made Nationals this year. The second I bought as an unstarted 4yr old from the breeder, broke her in this spring. (So nice to find an unstarted 4yr old)
They are HOT like a TB but more naturally thru their bodies like a traditional WB, also they seem to have a lot of endurance (again more like a TB)so more what I want for the upper levels of Dressage.
A good friend bought one a week ago and is vetting a second this week after seeing my two and riding them.
Also the top Dressage horse in the world right now Laura Graves’s Verdades is half DHH. So if you get a good one you never know.
That said they don’t scream hunter to me… well maybe if your literally following some hounds…
3 Likes
What an Amish person will breed/raise/make has little or nothing to do with what they themselves or other Amish in their community will buy or have any other use for. Most of the quilts they make and sell are not allowable in an Amish home due to color, pattern, etc. Many Amish in our area grew tobacco, personal use of which seems to be at least frowned upon if not outright prohibited in most sects. In PA 20 years ago, at least, and I’ve heard nothing to suggest anything has changed, may Amish in our area had what can only reasonably be called puppy mills, breeding hundreds of house dogs, hunting dogs and other non-working dogs. We even had at least one family that production-raised guinea pigs by the hundreds to sell to pet stores through a distributor. Amish do keep dogs as and other critters as pets, but typically not very many, not nearly enough for their own community to absorb what is produced.
There is zero doubt in my mind that if an entrepreneurial (and many Amish are very entrepreneurial) Amish horse breeder found themselves in a market where young Hunter prospects would sell for good money, that they would do some research, scare up some mares and a stallion of appropriate bloodlines and have at it.
3 Likes
Fb horse rescues that post horses at kill pens. Amish send platinum gaited and ungaited, healthy horses to kill pens. Bc of stigma, ppl are too wary to buy them. Someone beat me to this but by an hr. If you want to find outstanding amish -bred and raised horses with unlimited potential, look at kill pens rescues. I bought a 10 yr old pristine ungaited 16hh, broke and bombproof quartrhourse and companion donkey for u $1,800 today. A beautiful OTTB too rough around the edges for my level got shipped out yesterday. Would have bought her for $1,300 if i could have trained her right. Hot bed of potential. (Not a spokesmen for them. Just amazed at the standard of some of these horses being shipped.
Plenty of Amish businesses do business with the English, Amish horse sellers included.
Better yet, get the horse before they do and eliminate this highway robbery, misleading practice.
These people are getting rich to the tune of peoples heart strings being strummed. Its predatory.
6 Likes
