Thanks 
I will say one of the absolute WORST behaved horses Iāve ever encountered was a full draft that an older lady had purchased thinking it would be a great fit for her as a novice rider with no showing plans. It was big and knew it, and would just leave when it decided it was done for the day. She couldnāt stop it. I got used to unclipping the cross ties real fast for it to trot by me and my horse as it left the barn.
She sold it and bought a 3 year old 
it was no better behaved. I left before I got to see what happened with that. However, I do know that big draft got sold to a 11 year old vaulter who LOVED him so much, and he never put a foot wrong for her.
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I didnāt know that about them, thanks! I wonāt worry about them as much.
Weāll, as you say, theyāre incredibly rare still, so keep worrying about them, but as ātheā all-round horse breed!
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But the term uppity seems more than a bit derogatory.
Iāve seen some videos of Amish horses for sale, and most of them were well trained under saddle and working well and only a few were colourful, no standing on the horseās back either. I never thought of them as āuppityā for showing off a decent horse. Shame on them if they do sell a horse of colour, even if they donāt usually use them themselves. I guess a paint horse trainer would be in your bad books if they advertise a solid?
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i get it. There are a lot of people that are not the right size for a 15h horse. I would much rather see a big person aboard a big horse.
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Disagree. The Andalusians Iāve ridden, registered or not, are worth their weight in gold. I actually think most are underpriced for the kind of horse they are.
Personally speaking, Iāve had less vet bills, ferrier fees (known for having awesome feet), and lower training costs than my warmblood and TBs. Last point may be because Iām a better rider now, but overall training has been smoother with my PRE.
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Thereās a rider in my area with an Andalusian stallion and youād never know it was one unless you looked underneath. Extremely well behaved horse and unflappable.
However I have a friend who had an Andalusian mare who was a psycho. 
When the mare had decided she was done trail riding, sheād dump her rider and then trot home. Iād be doing something and youād hear a horse trotting down the barn isle and it would be that mare, going back to her stall.
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Dang, that Palamino (that spelling looks wrong for some reason) is STUNNING!!!
We just started to jump him a little a couple of weeks ago too- he loves it!!
Silly yellow floof! And heās starting to get his lead changes too.
I have to say heās been the most fun, coolest little horse Iāve ever own. And he will absolutely try to do ANYTHING we ask of him!
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The gal who rides my 14.2 Morgan on occasion is 5ā11" (Iām 5ā1"). You would never say she is too big for my mare, who takes an extra-wide tree and looks like she could start a stoneboat with the best of them. But she is not coarse and drafty, just sturdy (and somewhat overweight).
The folks who ride drafts (including Gypsy cobs and similar) whom Iāve spoken to rarely would squash a 15 hand horse. They just love riding on a hairy sofa with legs. To each his own.
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Palomino.
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Wowā¦ love his dapples. Heās gorgeous!
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Oh, for sure! My only caveat is that big horse doesnāt automatically equal ideal mount for a larger beginner rider. No matter how big a horse, it must be well-conditioned. Iāve seen a nice, sturdy Haflinger-Percheron mix t(ironically, an Amish plow horse turned schoolmaster) crash to his knees with a forward-leaning novice rider whom Iād describe as just on the heavier side of average ā like a US size 16-18. Horse was a lovely, try-his-heart out type and in the recent past had proven himself quite capable of carrying a larger rider. Heād just been sitting in a field for the past 2 years through no fault of his own. Being brought back into work he had not been given sufficient time and conditioning to get back into shape and could not counter-balance the weight on his front quarters to lift off over an X-rail. A solidly built, teenaged OTTB with good conditioning had no problem jumping an 18-24" course with the same rider.
I guess thatās not my only caveat! lol. Itās nearly 6ā4" to the ground off the bare, stationary back of one of my big guys. Thatās a heck of a distance to fall. Especially if youāre my age and donāt bounce anymore. Add in the extra height from the saddle and force vectors created by a moving horse. That is not going to be a fun fall. The trainer where we board is still recovering from the injuries sustained falling after her 18hh baby WB spooked at a trot. And sheās a CCI** eventer.
No. Because those paint horse trainers arenāt adherents of a religious order that frowns upon form excessive to that which is required for function; attending Select sales to buy and sell horses for mid-5 figures+.
Most adult Amish donāt ride. Doing so is considered on the boundary line of worldly sport. Thus, sale video riders are usually not Amish. Nor are Amish generally responsible for putting on the riding training youāre seeing. Mennonites, Travelers, and English cowboy types are. And most well-broke driving horses are ridable on a basic level. A local trainer bought a horse that rolled up to the sale pulling itās owners in a buggy and had the same horse out hunting 2nd flight in under a month. You probably canāt hop on and pilot one to a 70+ in an Intro dressage test unless your name is Stephan Peters. You can probably hop on and go for a relaxed walking trail ride in western tack, though. And if youāre a sale pen rider with with a sticky seat, good nerves, and the skills/knowledge to find and showcase the best in any horse you meetā¦well, youāll be able to get that horse doing more on camera than a casual trail ride.
Iām a social Libertarian. None of the above would matter to me except for having dealt with numerous older or injured work horses dumped at New Holland. If youāre making $60K on the sale of a spotted draft to a rodeo/parade home, I believe you have a moral obligation to invest some of that back into the basic welfare of your animals. Not dumping the ones you feel are a drain onto the van to Mexico for a few hundred bucks.
ETA: @StormyDay, Iāve found the developmental stages of full drafts to be like that of a WB on 'roids. LOL. Theyāre often the proverbial bull in a china shop until they hit around 10yo. I never wondered if it was possible for a horse to pull a Morton barn down around us until the day I had a 6yo Belgian with a temperature of 105F throw a tantrum at me and the on-call vet. 
They get into their teens and theyāre basically a human in a horse costume. Once hitched our aged Percheron on a slight incline. He AUDIBLY SIGHED while sitting back into the breeching to bump the forecart onto level ground 
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Oh yes! The āGentle Giantā phrase really should be retired though. Drafts are āin your pocketā types for the most part, they like to work, they like to please. But!! They are still just as much a horse as any other horse. And if you arenāt in charge, they will take charge. Just like any other horse. People think draft horse equals late teens, road and plow broke, patient old draft horse. That is most assuredly not the case until age 10 and even then only if they have spent hours in a full time job.
On pulling barns downā¦we spent the weekend reinforcing the run-in shed. It is extremely well built, and has withstood thirty odd years of OTTBs, ponies, QHs, Arabs, etc. However, a front corner is The Best itching spot for my young Shire. I decided we needed to do something about it when I observed him really lean into the itchā¦and lift the entire corner and wall a full inch off the ground!! Nothing like a well built, four year old draft to test your construction skills. Constantly.
(the shed is not a Morton, it is a 30 by 14 by 16 high, native lumber, beast. He was lifting it with his neck muscles for all practical purposes.)
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My Percheron is hard on the furniture too. Heās a big lug. Knocks everything down or overā¦and what is part of the problem, (besides his 18h big black sweet SMART self), is he has bilateral stringhaltā¦ so those hind legs do tend to go akimbo at the beginning of any first few steps.
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