Where to look for draft horse

[dani0303]

Thanks for all the info guys. I’ll try to address all questions/concerns but please forgive me if I forget

The girl I’m working with has worked for the driving company in nearby Winston-Salem. She has experience driving but is fairly new to the industry and doesn’t have any contacts. The people she works for get their horses from Ohio but we’d like to try to get something closer to us (we’re in central NC).

We haven’t totally discounted a rescue horse but the lack of background on them is a bit of a hesitation.

This is our larger wagon. It seats 8 in the back and 2 up front. It has brakes on it but our terrain is a bit hilly. The horse we leased for this event was a 17.1h Percheron/Standardbred. He did not struggle with the weight at all
http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs076.snc3/14367_1141518789216_1564830099_30308008_3141910_n.jpg

I don’t have a picture of the other carriage but it’s smaller. It seats 1 up front and 2 in the back. Unsure about brakes. It has been pulled by a regular sized horse (15.2 TWH) at our farm.

Ideally we’d like to find something who could pull both…so around 16-17.2h

[TBROCKS]

I just adopted a Shire from our local rescue Sunday- he’s broke to drive and saddle broke. He’s an absolute big doll and just eating up the love and attention (oh, and food) he’s been getting. They also had a draft that I believe the woman said is broke to drive. I bet there are big fellas all over the place needing homes. Good luck with your search!

[Cielo_Azure]

[QUOTE=ASB Stars;4585142]
I do not have drafties- now, I’ll admit, I’d loff to own one…some day…

But, I do have more than a passing experience with the Amish, and with their draft mules, and drafties.

Those in my area rotuinely drive down the roads, because, in order to move cut crops, or the spreader, or whatever, because of the nature of things, they have to go down, and cross roads. Further, the roads are generally Gawdawful busy…as in, I would not want to walk down them, let alone drive my horse.

SO…in this area, wherein New Holland and AC4H function, there is every reason to believe that they have been exposed to more than the average work horse/mule has been. In fact, I do not know a single Amishman in my area who does NOT have to cross roads with their teams.[/QUOTE]

That is YOUR area. Go to parts of Ohio, TN, KY or other areas around and that is not that case. It is just not the case that all drafts go off the farm or even on roads.

In fact…thinking about it. I have spent a fair amount of time in Lancaster, PA (lived in MD for a decade), and have ex-Amish as well as Amish friends/business associates in this area and I would disagree with you. Many, many drafts that I have visited/known/trained/considered buying did not ever leave the farm or get exposure to roads.

I have trained and owned such drafts, they are around -and there are more of them than you might think. They can be downright scary when exposed to new things and are not the choice for a commercial horse, as described by the OP as what she is looking for.

Just cause a horse is a plow horse does not make it road safe by any means. Certainly a person going into an auction or even taking a broker’s word for it and buying an Amish plow horse because it has been behind a plow would be a dangerous undertaking for someone who wants a road safe horse suitable for hiring out. I just couldn’t imagine taking such a horse and putting it in front of a wedding coach with a fairly green driver -even if that driver had years of experience in the HJ world! Could you imagine a horse spooking and having a young child in the vis-a-vis? Driving such a vehicle is a huge responsibility and not to be taken lightly.

How much driving do you do? Would you really recommend this as a course of action for someone looking for a commercial horse?

For me -these would be a must:

1. Full behavioral background
2. Experience in all city/town road driving experiences
3. Background of any wrecks/spooks/weird quirks
4. evaluated by a fully competent and trained teamster or driver as to driving level and centerness
5. A full PPE

This is a horse someone is going to hire for you to drive in their wedding, a dinner, an event, a funeral (what ever function) -it needs to be 100% reliable. You can’t have it be lame 3 weeks out of 4. You can’t have it jigger and pace and be too forward. For me, it would need to have the proper temperament and be vully vetted by a competent driver as well as a vet before purchase.

I personally, would not buy such a horse from an auction or broker for all the reasons above. Safety of the clients is paramount. Sounds like the OP has already come to this conclusion, which is a wise one.

[fivehorses]

Another location is Charleston and Savannah.
The vet is Edisto vet, and if you contacted them, they might know of some of the carriage horses no longer needed or the contacts for some of the carriage companies, or do a google search too.

I am sure they are downsizing too in this economy.

[dani0303]

[QUOTE=fivehorses;4585255]
Another location is Charleston and Savannah.
The vet is Edisto vet, and if you contacted them, they might know of some of the carriage horses no longer needed or the contacts for some of the carriage companies, or do a google search too.

I am sure they are downsizing too in this economy.[/QUOTE]

I actually know Edisto Equine and Dr. Malark very well. I lived in the Hilton Head area for most of my life so I may be able to find some contacts back there. Thanks for the idea!!

[danceronice]

I agree with Cielo–there’s a large Amish population (or used to be, 'til a lot of them moved to IN this last year) where my parents live. One of the men broke my neighbor’s mule to harness, actually. And to be honest, I’ve never seen them drive their drafts on the road. The buggies all take light harness horses and the Belgians (seems to be the breed of choice) are strictly for the heavy farm labor.

That’s a cute cart! Reminds me of the ones they had for the carriage tours in Lexington. When I was at W&L (weird kid that I was) I used to go hang out at the carriage tour barn and talk with the owner, who’d been with the caisson horses for military funerals in the Army. The company seemed to favor Percherons and Percheron crosses in general.

[Sportpony]

If there are Amish or Mennonite communities within a reasonable distance, I would suggest you go there and find the local harness-maker or farrier. They will know all the people in their local communities and know who might have a suitable horse for sale.

Buying an Amish-trained horse through an auction is no “safer” than buying a horse owned by any other seller. You may get a good one that is absolutely everything the seller says it is and there may be issues that they didn’t mention or you forgot to ask about!

However, for the most part, I think if you buy privately from them, you will likely pay a bit more, as you would with any privately sold horse, but generally speaking, I think you will get what they represent to the horse to be.

I got a grade Haflinger mare a number of years ago that had been Amish trained. I got exactly what I wanted. She was exactly as represented … had been hitched and worked both single and double, doing everything a horse in harness could be asked to do, with no bad habits.

There is always going to be a certain amount of risk, but I think this might be one of the less risky options.