I wanted to see if anyone had dealt with this farm before I jump to conclusions. Had someone email me asking for info, I had never heard of it so couldn’t provide any info. So I googled…
I think its nice they donate a portion of sales to charities…but…
It would be nice to have some new good farms in the area…but…
Yes, I am keeping my 2 cents to myself right now, optimistically hoping I am wrong and there will be positive feedback.
go go gadget-flamesuit:lol:
I’d like to know, too… I had contacted them regarding a horse they had for sale that might have worked for a friend of mine. I never got a call back, and I was persistant! Three calls in a week…never heard from them.
Weird. 
Went to the website.
The thing about advertising yourself as a Christian based barn is that some people may want to deal with you because they themselves are Christian. Others may not want to deal with you because they’re happier dealing with people who don’t intermingle personal faith with impersonal business.
If they want to tithe 10% of the purchase price that’s their business. Why would they let ME the buyer choose where the money goes? What if my choice of charity was not in line with their beliefs? I don’t ask my dry cleaner where she spends her profits, and I certainly would’ve said MYOB to anyone who wanted to buy a puppy or pony from me and asked “Have you accepted JC as your Savior?”
Anytime I see someone who advertises with a fish symbol I perceive it as a sign of discrimination, that they prefer to deal with others of the same faith. If their point is that just that they keep the Christian faith, well, why wouldn’t you just treat EVERYONE the way you wish to be treated?
So on that basis, they wouldn’t be my first choice for horse shopping. And then there are the horses…
OK I’m not sure but didn’t this place come up on a recent thread about a trainer? Let me check with the cother who had that info.
OK so go read the “old orchard farm” thread before doing any buying.
And as a 1/2 south carolinian and Xtian, I can say that people in the south and religous are to be viewed with the same skepticism as any one else. Caveat emptor of everyone.
I’m confused but what does the “Old Orchard Farm” thread have to do with this farm other than that they are in the same state?
Too funny, the first thing that I thought when looking at the website is that it sounds an awful lot like Thomson Moore (Old Orchard).
I haven’t looked at the other thread, so I don’t know whether or not it is… but I would be EXTRA careful doing business with them!
[QUOTE=KristiKGC;5546829]
Too funny, the first thing that I thought when looking at the website is that it sounds an awful lot like Thomson Moore (Old Orchard).
I haven’t looked at the other thread, so I don’t know whether or not it is… but I would be EXTRA careful doing business with them![/QUOTE]
My EXACT thought. :lol: If you need a good read, those threads are very entertaining.:yes:
Well, since nothing experience wise has come of it, here my sketchy observation. There are horses on Mallard Springs reference page that are almost cropped photos of horses on O/O sold page. The reason I notice is on O/O a horse named Java is pictured at a farm I boarded at in the past… on Mallard Spring his name is Cleveland. Now could the horse moved … absolutely… could it be a different horse… absolutley…but why use a picture that’s 3 yrs old. Or why would Cleveland’s sold pic be from a different farm… one he hasn’t been to in at least 2 years.
And from two people I’ve spoken to apparently trying to look at a horse its been a difficult process.
But… no confirmation of such allegations so this is all my own speculation. I just wasn’t sure and was looking for some outside accreditation if anyone has actually done business with them. As I said someone emailed me while horse shopping and I don’t have anything appropriate right now, they asked for references and dang if I have never heard of the place til a few days ago.
Was wondering if this was gonna come up
Mallard Springs is Old Orchard… just check it out…
This has Thomson written all over it. I encourage everyone to do their research and know what they’re getting themselves into.
I didn’t see a contact name on the website. Did I miss it somehow?
I wonder if young Ms. Quattlebaum will come to his defense again here.
[QUOTE=Carolinadreamin’;5548621]
I didn’t see a contact name on the website. Did I miss it somehow?[/QUOTE]
Well, you see, there isn’t…but if you inquire about a horse…
[QUOTE=Long Spot;5548625]
I wonder if young Ms. Quattlebaum will come to his defense again here.[/QUOTE]
:eek: This seems unnecessarily catty. Why bring up the name of a girl who isn’t involved in a the topic already, to incite drama? I don’t know who Ms. Quattlebaum or Mr. Thomson are, nor do I have a dog in this battle, but I fail to see how this snide comment is providing any positive input to the topic.
Plain Jane, I think the point is there is NOTHING positive about EITHER the Mallard Springs or Old Orchard threads, except the Old Orchard one made for very entertaining reading what with the strident protestations of Thomson Moore and the over the top defense of him by his young rider, Ms. Quattlebaum.
This thread just serves as a PSA that Old Orchard has been reinvented at Mallard Springs, and that also a leopard cannot change its spots.
Ahhh, yes. A sneaky one that “William” is!
Popcorn anyone? Ok, well I will take one (or two) for the team and share my recent experience with the good ole boy. Ahhh, where does one start?
I did the lovely deed and purchased two horses from “William” from Mallard Springs. For those of you wondering, it doesn’t take a CSI detective to figure out he’s from Old Orchard and he’s really the old school Thomson… cute name he chose to switch to, eh? Now, I know some of you are going to jump on me and say “BUT HOW ARE YOU SURE?!?”… go look at both websites, the videos and his overall style of writing… I personally like his “CONGRATULATIONS” trash- don’t patronize me. Perhaps his Beethoven background music in his videos help him feel a bit more legit or fancy if you will.
Long story short, “William” wouldn’t hold for a vetting so I figured, ok, fine, I’ll buy them and they aren’t very expensive so we will see what we can do. You can usually fix poor training with time. I saw pictures and videos of legs and the horse in general and thought- they look fine. Both had a cute jump and relatively attractive in many aspects- why not take a chance?
Well, shipper picked up the horses in SC, called me on his way home and said "Hey! Who did you rescue?.. " I thought, Ha. Ha. Funny, okay, what do you need? Well, no joke, I paid for two rescue horses- which I’ve now come to terms with. The shipper said there wasn’t any hay to be found on the farm so these two trailered the ENTIRE 10+ hr trip without hay… Even after I told “William” I would pay for two bales. I asked for the horses to be pillow wrapped- said I’d pay for that too. He agreed and said it would “not be a problem!!!” They were not…
The horses each had over 30 plus ticks on them, welts oozing all over their bodies, the chestnut’s teeth are so horrid that his tongue is lacerated, their hooves are an utter mess… very quiet, sweet and hungry though. They are hanging out for portions of the day in our grass fields and happy as can be.
Lastly, my favorite part of his last correspondence with me was when he pulled in the “puppy mill” approach. “If you dont like them. Just ship them back to me, and I will be happy to sell them for you, for the price that you paid, according to the terms of my consignment program. Or if you see two other horses on the web site that you like… I will be happy to trade them. The only horse that can not be traded is TatabraLulu. She is not mine…She is consigned, and not be traded.” … Oh William, yes, if only I could have the luxury of sending them to your lovely sales barn.
I have posted pictures on Flickr of what I thought I purchased and what came off of the trailer. I’m shocked and appalled. I have been exchanging interesting emails with this naughty William. Oh and he’s a Christian? Bestow my heart. No worries, I’m on this one like white on rice.
Here is the link to the photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61855169@N05/sets/72157626520999840/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61855169@N05/sets/72157626520970358/
… A little more cow bell.
How sad. 
Thanks for doing right by them, TheHarrier.
I asked a friend just last week who these people were as I’m going to be down that way soon and was looking for some horses to look at for different customers. I never see it as a good sign when you cant list your name on your business site. I mean, who does that?
I sincerely hope you can nail them to the wall. 
TheHarrier, did you use a local vet (local to “Mallard Springs”)for the PPE? What were his/her comments regarding the horses’ conditions? Has Thomson really moved to Greenwood? Let’s see, he was in Orangeburg, then Anderson and now Greenwood?
Edited to add: were there any pending legal issues he left behind when he left his Anderson location?
I see where the Old Orchard Farm website is still active, by the way.
TheHarrier-my goodness!! Horses should never look like that :no: looks like they will need a lot of TLC. What’s it going to take for this guy to stop?
Carolina- I wasn’t able to get a vetting because he wouldn’t hold for one- even with a non-refundable deposit. If I had it scheduled for two days later and he sold the horse the following day, than I would have paid a cancelation fee for the PPE and for all of my travel expenses. In any event, the shipper said William told him he lived an hour away. William told me he worked an hour away… The vet who pulled the coggins and health cert is Dr. Steven Matthews. I guess it’s his vet? Not sure but I am calling that man tomorrow as well to see if A) those documents are legit and B) who this William/Thomson is after all.
I’m so disgusted over all of this. It seems as though it has passed through so many hands and not one person has been able to make enough of a difference to stop him. He also got chatty with me and told me his wife wanted him to sell off his broodmare band and that “I had a great eye because those are his two best horses.” I was also informed that he had a stallion by Ironman… Wonder what condition those guys are in.
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