The Amish might sell if the horse is too slow on the road or doesn’t have the endurance for their use. A friend of mine has a full Morgan (with papers) that was an Amish horse, after a few trail rides we figured out why he was sold - he’s in no hurry to get anywhere.
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Smart horse
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Here in Southern Ontario there is a large and growing Mennonite population. Old Order Mennonites sound like the US Amish, buggies etc. Other groups are as modern as most of us, tho women may wear prayer caps with jeans and t-shirts. There are may ‘communities’ between these extremes as well. Our neighbour is a “mechanised mennonite” with every big machine you can imagine and over in the next concession is a family who hardly speak English, only wear black and plow with horses.
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If the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks weren’t this weekend, I would be tempted to go to this auction. Especially to see #38 (Fjord gelding), #583 (Morgan yearling), and a few of the Standardbred geldings.
Yoder Bros Large Horse and Carriage Auction (estatesale.com)
That catalog is a fascinating read. ‘Will go the miles’ ‘good for short trips’ ‘afraid of big trucks’ ‘can go to church on Sunday work in the fields Monday’ ‘classy’ ‘sharp’ ‘lots of steam’ ‘jumpy for women’ ‘been my brother’s personal horse for a year’ ‘first sale’ ‘safe for grandpa’ etc.
I’ll be honest, I wish more people would put that sort of description with their horses, even if it isn’t always accurate!
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I like “safe for grandpa” lol
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Oh, 445 is cute! How do you find out about these auctions? I need to stick to a serious budget for my next purchase
Yes, they are quite similar. There are different ‘levels’ (for lack of a better way to put it) of Mennonite. It may depend on each church/group, as to what mechanics or other modern amenities are allowed. That has been my experience.
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several of the riding horses say " Will lay down to mount and dismount." Is that a standard thing???
Mennonites and Amish are the same, the Amish take it a step further.
I asked one time a genealogist from the old country what the distinction was and at least in Europe it is what the people thought, it wasn’t a greater communal thing, or family thing.
So you might have had brothers who diverged in their believes, or cousins getting mad at each other (and change the spelling of their names)
Which makes genealogy so much fun…
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OP, any updates on the horse and your friend? Is the horse still seemingly sane after settling in? Has anyone sat on it? Is your friend still smitten?
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#254 please… and for some reason I want to hug that big Friesian/Paint mare
I keep seeing “100% TSS” in many listings. What’s that mean?
So there’s not really not much to update. We brought the mare home last Tuesday night, and then my friend left on Friday for a business trip. She gets home tonight so back into horse mode tomorrow.
Maresy needs to gain some weight, so she had delayed saddle ordering/fitting for a month - but now that her DH is seeing the credit card charges for all those brushing boots, ear nets, and bougie saddle pads…she’s reconsidering ordering a custom saddle.
At the rate we’re going it may be July before anyone sits on her.
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Here you go, the translations were up thread aways.
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No bad thing, as long as lots of ground work, bonding type things are going on, you can get so much done before getting on.
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I picked up a flyer for an auction last year at an Amish-run general grocery store. This auction is run by the Yoder Brothers Auction Service in Clare, Michigan (central to upper Michigan). If you go to their main page, they list the upcoming auctions, some horsey and some not.
Yoder Brothers Auction Company-Clare-Michigan Upcoming Sales (estatesale.com)
They usually have a fall horse auction, too, but I don’t see it listed yet.
I have, also, googled “Amish horse auctions” and found some in Indiana (low level, every Friday type) and higher end ones in Ohio, such as the ‘pure Morgan Horse auction.’ I think there are other auctions which specifically have high-trotting horses, be they Standardbred, Friesian/Saddlebred crosses, DHH crosses, etc.
I don’t know for sure—actually, I’m guessing—but I THINK maybe they teach their horses to lie down for girls/women to mount, rather than throwing their dresses over the horse when standing and POSSIBLY exposing the girls’/women’s undergarments/modesty. AGAIN, I am GUESSING why the horses are trained to do this.
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So we’re six weeks in and an update is due.
A week after maresy arrived, she had a rash at the girth. The BO thought it was rain rot due to a poorly fitting blanket. My friend sent me photos and I told her I was pretty confident that it was ringworm. Wrong location for rain rot, and given her history, ringworm much more likely.
Vet shows up the next day and declares both of us wrong. Vet says it is simply irritation and blisters from being ridden in a dirty girth. (Although there were no lesions when we brought her home and she hadn’t been ridden for two weeks prior to the lesions appearing) Vet did not take scrapings or a culture and advised my friend to use iodine scrubs every-other day and it will heal up in a couple weeks.
Meanwhile, she starts doing groundwork with the mare and finds her to have poor ground manners. Bossy, in your space, but fortunately nothing malicious. Ok fine, put a chain on and work it out.
Couple weeks go by and the lesions aren’t really healing very well. And since they’re at the girth, and she’s sensitive to them, no saddling or riding is even close to happening. Friend is lunging her and gives her a full body bath every week.
Sends me pics of the lesions. I tell her to go consult the vet. She calls the vet and wants the vet to do a scraping and/or culture. Sets appointment. Gets to the barn, vet calls and says “we don’t need to come out, just send us pictures”.
Guess what the vet NOW says it is? Yup. Ringworm.
So now she’s treating for ringworm. Clears up pretty well with some OTC tinactin. She’s darn eager to get on this mare, and asks me to bring one of my old saddles I think might fit. Alright, fine. I tell her she needs to go buy a HUNT seat girth, as my guy is huge and nothing I have would fit.
Friday I throw my old hunt saddle, shim pads, and on a whim, threw a spare dressage saddle in my car and made the hour drive to her barn with my 11 yr old son in tow.
Toss my old narrow hunt saddle on her, and shoot, doesn’t look too bad. I’m no fitter, but I paid attention enough to grasp the basics.
Ok friend, where’s the hunt girth I told you to go buy? She hands me a dressage girth. SMDH.
Well clearly that won’t work so I put the dressage saddle on, which for a lap or two at the walk, wasn’t going to be a deal breaker. Maresy is fine through saddling. I take the time to fit her brand new bridle and we proceed to the indoor. She mounts, I’ve got a leadline on her.
We take a few laps on the lead line. I guide her in holding the reins, basic seat position. I’m not an instructor and don’t pretend to be. Maresy is being quite stellar through all this and we’re both feeling optimistic.
I ask if she’d like me to drop the lead line (in retrospect, I should’ve put her on the lunge line- I do accept some culpability for not doing so). I uncoupled the lead. She gives the tiniest of squeezes and maresy takes two steps of walk and bolts.
Friend comes off pretty quick - which was better than if the horse bolted to the end of the arena and hit a stop at the roped-off open door, so that’s a plus. It’s a clean fall, knocked the wind out of her. I let her catch her breath and we discuss whether she should get back on. She was done.
I put the mare on the lunge and start trotting. Had her trotting and asked my friend if she did any canter work on the lunge. Her reply, “isn’t that what she’s doing?” - again - she was trotting.
Untack the mare 20 minutes later. Assess for damages. Friend is bruised but not broken.
By the time I got home, friend has arranged training board for 90 days at a different barn. Smartest move she’s made in all of this.
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Uh-oh. A bolt seems potentially hard to undo, and very difficult to manage for a brand-new rider. I don’t know if I realized your friend is truly a total newbie.
You are a saint for trying to guide her through this crazy journey.
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I will bet that training on lunge or lead line is all that this mare has had prior to your friend buying.
The bolting after being unclipped is my clue and I think may be hard to overcome. By both horse and rider. Glad your friend was not hurt and that she has decided to send horse out for training.
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