I have a mustang who appears to likely have some draft blood in him. He is an absolute saint and so pleasant to be around. He wasn’t that difficult to get going; but, like many he is all about conserving energy for those moments that are life or death. He has awesome gaits and is built to collect BUT he has absolutely no desire to work that hard. He’s one of the best trail horses I’ve ever had and he’ll go all day long…just don’t ask him to do much beyond first level type of work…there just isn’t enough incentive in it for him LOL. Fortunately for me I wanted him for guests and family to be able to ride and goof around with me on the trails; so, discovering that his interest in dressage is nil, I wasn’t disappointed or felt the training was a waste. He’s worth his weight in gold and gets a lifetime ticket to stay but the dressage court will not be seeing us. Luckily I have two others (welsh cob and a morgan) who are more willing to dance around and between the letters when asked.
One of mine is def drafty-type. But of a ‘fancy’ mind. He knows he’s beautiful and will take any excuse to display. Big sucker who is light on his toes… But, he’s 15, and i’m not aboard him yet, so he may never see a show-ring. I’ll train him and take him to lessons with my coach just to get him going on the right track though. Do not know if he will be able to carry anybody though, i think his temperament may be a little too hot for someone who isn’t really a rider.
I love Arabians and think they can do anything well
What about a PMU horse? Years ago they would auction off the young ones and we’re quite popular. Hopefully this mare urine factory isn’t going on anymore (I haven’t heard much about it lately). Most were pretty solid horses.
The PMU thing was scrapped in North America several years back.
It s now done in China.
Because yeah, oversight, right.
So that isn’t a viable option anymore to grab a prospect on the fly.
Well, glad it’s not happening here anymore, but wish it wasn’t going on at all.
My previous barn had a saddlebred they trained in dressage. I don’t know if it’s just due to the breed, but he looked like a dressage giraffe. Never filled out or muscled up and lots of knee action. Lots of trouble keeping weight on him too. Again, not sure if it’s typical of a saddlebred.
I also love STBs and if I had the time and money for a project, I’d definitely try one. Smart, solid and athletic.
With the TB thing, is it also the ride? If so, Saddlebreds may not be your heart horse. I love both because I’m a lazy rider, lol. But both are lighter rides, IMO. I find some riders/personalities can set them off - nothing wrong with that as other horses are fine with the same rider. Just a thought if looking. Both breeds are high on my list due to their brains.
I also own a STB. I’ve done a ton of retraining OTTBs and others at sales barns, but my first STB. I adore him, but what took months in other horses is taking years with him. Literally. So if hoping to find a blank slate to move up or resell, the time factor could be a thing. That’s only one example, but it’s echoed on many of the STB FB groups with the few pursuing dressage with them. More people jump and the pranter thing isn’t a problem. But for quality, sustained canter, it’s a long road for many it seems.
I would agree that the quality sustained canter has been an issue for most maybe all the standardbreds I’ve observed. We have a harness racing track nearby so a steady supply, and they are nice looking horses. However all the ones I know of are being ridden by ammies so I’ve never seen how one progresses with a really good trainer. They are also fairly hot, they are race horses. Not TB hot, but definitely not QH calm either.
All the Craigslists in this region have a ton of young horses in your price range. Grade trail horses, QHs, Tennessee walkers, etc. Many look like nice horses just needing an upgrade. There’ve been many that I would have vetted if I had the time/budget for more horses.
If you live in an urban area, find the CLs that serve more rural areas. Even if you have to travel a few hours, it’s worth it at that price point.
I’m jealous, I don’t live anywhere near where STBs live, but I would love one!
if you decided to go the mustang route, feel free to PM me. I have a BLM mustang that I adopted (unhandled) and gentled. I just got my bronze medal on her, and she’s truly my heart horse.
Fwiw most of this year there were no projects on craigslist in my area, but i just saw a jump this week in sub $1k horses (mostly 10+ years old though). Winter is coming, so no surprise.
@LilyandBaron I’m a Lusitano/PRE person, so no stranger to hot and light, but the brain has to be there to back it up. I might upset some people with this but I’ve found a lot of TBs and a couple of the Saddlebreds I’ve met to be hot AND dumb-- not a winning combo to me. I think STBs sound like great LL ammy horses, which isn’t what I’m looking for either.
@anon55755751 Where are you located? I think my plan is to sit around and wait for something to come up.
Sorry for the delay - I’m in the midwest.
@blue_heron if you are still considering looking for a project through the auction pipeline, one farm that seems to be finding useful horses is T.H.A.N.K.S A Lot farm. Granted, they are an eventing barn, but they breed nice WB babies and also pull project horses out of the auction pipeline and train them up into a nice lower level mounts. They have an Andalusian right now, as well as a DraftX and a DutchX. They’ve also had some cute sporty PaintXs. Might be worth checking out a farm that is successfully doing a path that you are considering.
I’m curious how much they anticipate getting for these guys. The Andalusian and the bay mare with the big blaze are cute! I think for my purposes I would want one that hasn’t been restarted but it is cool to see someone is doing it successfully.
It looks like most of their projects sell anywhere from $7,500 to $20,000. If you go on their website, it gives you a feel for what they’re selling them for. They do a nice job getting solid citizens out in the world. Maybe you could pick their brain for how they are finding them (in person at auction? Online from a “kill pen” FB marketplace?) and do something similar?
Cool concept. I like that they’re putting some miles on these horses and giving them real-world experience to help them succeed in “life”. There’s a - what I’ll call - “horse dealer” a few hours away from here who finds cheap grade horses and trailers them in, usually in bulk, from out west. She’ll give them a quick assessment, takes a photo, posts it up on social media, and there’s a line up of people waiting to buy sight unseen. It seems like a license to print money! Not passing judgement, but I prefer what THANKS A Lot is doing.
Also, I envy whoever bought Denira (about halfway down on their ‘Horses for Sale’ page). Yowza!
I flew to look at one of their homebreds in 2018. I really liked their farm and their program. They put quality miles on their horses and are very honest about their temperaments and what they are suitable for. I think they actually sold all of their homebreds and switched their breeding program from breeding primarily TBs bred for sport, to WBs.
I think their success in selling all their homebreds led to them taking on a few project horses. It’s a neat business model and something I enjoy watching them do successfully. They definitely put quality miles on them and invest their time in giving them a good foundation.
I noticed this as well, this week - sudden uptick in babies and oldies being offered for cheap. Definitely a good time to project shop!
OP - if you’re interested in a mustang or ranch-y type and you’re in the Northeast, have you reached out to Pond Hill Ranch in VT? They truck in lots of horses from out west. When I was a teenager my then-trainer got a killer pony/hony from them - sort of a Welsh Cob type, fun jumper but would have made a great little dressage horse, too.
Reviving this post because I recently came across a Facebook post for an auction. The auction was mentioned in this group because there’s a Warlander in it. I didn’t care much for the Warlander (too old I think, I don’t remember) but I did see these guys:
https://enumclawsp.hibid.com/lot/122832586/chente-5yo-15h-azteca-gelding/?q=&ref=catalog
The second is definitely a little fugly right now but I like that his legs are stocky.
Questions: how do you find out about auctions that aren’t for high dollar horses, like the QH sales? Can you bid from out of state, and if you win, do you have to arrange transportation overnight? I’m not driving from New England to Washington state tomorrow, especially with diesel prices right now.
