Tail Tying and Roans

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So I found 3 studs that I like... the would be gelded ASAP of course. I have no desire to make more minis around here. 2 are appy and one is a chestnut roan I think..?? He's a chestnut color with a few grey hairs and a grey mane and tail...

Anyway...I'm leaning towards the chestnut. He's got a good temperament and moves really nicely. He's built well and, even as a stud, seems to have a good mind. He's 9 which is a little older than I wanted but Clementine turned 7 this spring so not too bad. For the price I figure he's worth giving it a try. I'm taking the weekend to think about it and will make a decision. He's not trained to drive but I think he'll be willing and smart.
 
Sometimes having a blank slate is good. No having to fix others mistakes. Nine doesn't sound too old. He should be well past that "foolish" stage they all seem to go through and that's worth something, lol. And with him not being started, his joints should be good, no wear and tear.

I hope he works out for you! ☺
 
I've decided to pass on the chestnut stallion. He's a little older than I wanted but I was willing to overlook that because he is such a nice looking mini. When I called to talk to the owner today he had decided that he wanted more for the horse than he had originally stated. What is it about the minis I look at? The last one supposedly sold for more than she was asking. Anyway... I kindly told him that it was more than I was willing to pay for a 9 year old untrained stallion that I would have to pay to have gelded. He stated that he was firm in his price because he had someone else interested and I thanked him for his time. Gah!!!!

So...now I have Raymond (our Amish horse trader friend) going to a sale next week to see what he can find. If he finds one I will be buying sight unseen but I trust Raymond. He knows what Clementine looks like and what I am looking for. He is also very particular about his driving horses (as the Amish are) so he will avoid any "problem" horses. He's the one who bought our Fjord team for us and we couldn't be happier with them. We'll see how it goes.
 
I had the same thing happen to me MajorClem, when I was looking several years ago. It started of with just the horse being for sale and then when I appeared interested, it escalated to the horse and all her equipment being for sale as a package deal, all or nothing. I walked away. She went from $ to $$$$. I don't like this sales tactic at all. ?

Sorry it happened to you again.

Maybe third time's a charm!
 
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i've had the opposite problem with some I've had for sale.

Go out and take more, current photos, maybe even some video. Send it. They can only come out the one or two days im actually at work and can't take off. Some talking back and forth and OK to the 3rd day I work - which I can get off. I request it off. The time is far enough out that I'm able to tune up the horse a bit w/o upsetting anything. I clean up the horse the evening before and then rinse off the morning of the appointment (our horses on pasture, I don't usually set up a stall anymore). While drying, I wipe down the equipment and wait. And wait. And wait. and wait...

a phone call - goes straight to their VM. Go into the house, quiet enuff not to wake the 2 adults sleeping that work nights. Turn on laptop and pop out an email. No response. I go about my day - either riding or driving the said horse myself just to enjoy. Later, I try again - still no email or phone response. I never did hear from that person (& have had several more like that).

I actually took a deposit on two ponies from someone. Then didn't hear from them for 6 months. They suddenly show up with the balance of the $ owed for the actual purchase and ready to have the ponies delivered. They totally didn't understand that they would need to pay board, farrier & vet fees (each was pretty minimal actually BUT still) before the ponies were delivered and once again I told this family that the ones they chose were all wrong for them. Well they "ante'd up" the payment (totally wish they hadn't) and I delivered them. One of the few times I went against my "gut feelings". Three years later, I get a call that they need to be picked up. Both had become bucking broncs (the mare was driving when she left and had been sat on though not saddled, the colt was too young for real work but was lounging on voice command and ground driving had been started)! I had been out to their place a few times and was always assured that they were happy with their purchase and the ponies looked good. They had cancelled the castration appointment for the stud colt (I hadn't realized that) who is now a coming 5 yr old who has been left running with mares and big horses - chasing anyone who comes into the pasture with them... OI. What a mess. Had that colt had his appointment to be castrated - we'd have known, BEFORE he was mature, that what I thought was his 2nd testicle wasn't and life would have been so much better. He's still with me - w/o as bad of an attitude due to a couple of "come to Jesus" meetings he and I have had...

The guy flagged me down at the feed store recently (Ive had the two ponies for 16 months, have had vet issues with both and one almost died, but pulled thru) and told me that I owed him for 3 yrs of "board & training"... NOT.

I think 4 years ago, i was talking with someone about possibly selling one of my mares. I was pretty reluctant. I don't remember how it happened but I did agree to haul her 2 states away for a trial... I was the one that backed out because I did come down REALLY sick (this would have been after 2012 AMHR Nationals where I had originally come down with some type of gastro flu and never got over it - found to have a growth on my kidney - was "let go" from the job I had, so I wasn't working). I had a hard time talking with her - little to no voice, high fever, severe chills. I was willing to wait (it was a possible trade - she had a younger mare that was hotter/more get up and go; I had an older mare that was quiet and fun to drive - single, pair & 3 abreast) and try again, but she flat out turned UGLY - on the phone, on voicemail and on email. I did call her a couple of days before, not the night before or the morning i'd have been leaving. She did sell or trade her mare, I believe locally and replaced her with another that she was happier with - but has never been happy with me since. I do check out her site now and then, she breeds pinto Saddlebreds.

***

All that said, I totally understand wanting to go look at and evaluate a prospective horse. I've had lots of people set appointments and then not show up, but never quite like the one you mentioned. I'm not sure which is worse!

***

Can't wait to hear how your possible new purchase goes. R you the one I saw with a horse in the white trailer in a different post?

***

While going thru all my posts and such, I realized that the two full sisters that were my first pair took two whole years to really get good together and work together and fun to drive (well, they were always "fun", but at least it became a little more relaxing and easier). Part of that was their training &/or lack there of. Part of that was driving pairs and hooking anything to a wheeled vehicle was VERY new to me. I purchased them in late September 2009 and started getting them used to the equipment in Jan 2010. I was ground driving them individually BEFORE I started taking pair driving lessons in April, then started taking them to the lessons & worked them separately. finally started working them together as a pair in June & had the one mare's foal with us the whole time... Bit was a 91 model & Bell was a 92 model, so they were 19 & 18 yrs old when we started driving them... I drove them thru Oct 2014, moved to this new place and haven't really done any driving (ground or hitched). Bit was euthanized after a pony fight earned her a broken bone right below the hip joint and she went down, never to stand again - last December... She was 25-3/4 yrs old. I drove both Bell and Bit with other ponies, once they were both trained and have always loved this pic of Bit driving with Koalah - taken the summer of 2014. I was driving alone with the wagon. Bit was already going blind in her left eye here, so she had become more comfortable always being on the right side... Koalah's knifey withers were almost a full 3" taller than Bit's muttony type, but the rest of their build and their movement was VERY similar. Koalah's VERY laid back personality seemed to calm Bit and many of her last months of driving she seemed to be less competitive and more relaxed/happy than she ever was with her full sister...

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The year before this pic was taken, I was pairing Bit up with Cassie (who ended up being way more re-active than Bit had been). You'd think that putting two re-active ponies together would be bad, but Bit seemed to help Cassie while I still drove her (I gave up and eventually sold her and her daughter who had the same personality. I just was getting to where over reactive wasn't easy to deal with and was no longer fun AT ALL)... They really didn't move the same, but Bit just seemed to "fit" with Cassie well. In the first pic, I swear Bit is askin' - "Do I hafta, Ma?" To which I replied, "yep". and we had a great drive!

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The 2nd pic - Bit & Cassie were both tired (later totally EXHAUSTED) - Bit had kept Cassie pretty much grounded and held steady after Cassie blew up when she stepped over a wire (not connected, not hot) and went ballistic. She ended up getting her right hind leg not only over the other side of the pole, but between Bit & Bit's trace. It was unbelievable how quiet/steady Bit held while getting re-sorted - all while riders on this particular mixed ride/drive were getting tossed left & right by their mounts... It was a terrible start to what turned out to be a good drive.

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So - happy hunting!
 
Some of the things I've learned about pair driving -

No matter what color, they can be hard to match via shade (not impossible)

It's better to not only match them up in personality, but in type & height so that they move the same

It certainly is nice to not have them constantly "warring" with each other - either by taking turns wanting to out pull each other or one literally dragging the other at a long trot. It really gets old when you have to work so hard to keep them together.

That said - as you get better at pairs your own self - the pair will reflect that. You will pick up on issues sooner, making quiet & spontaneous corrections that become seamless driving to others.

I originally started putting together my silver dapples so that I could do a 4-up hitch. I haven't graduated to that yet & I'm currently at a different point where I'm not sure I will nor am I as worried about it. Y? BEcause I REALLY like driving a pair. It's relatively simple and I can do it by myself with out having to worry about it.

It's amazing (to me) how much harness that entails, how much work (OMG, I can't imagine doing this by myself with bigger ponies or full size horses!!) to groom & prepare the hitch. O, and maintaining that harness and the wagon...

I also have had a lot of problems with the silvers I've had...
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That's a whole 'nother story!
 
People can be inconsiderate be it buyers or sellers. We've learned, over the years, to try to roll with the punches whenever buying or selling anything. Although, I can't imagine the guy saying YOU owed HIM money for "board and training". Really? Some people. You wonder how they have lived to adulthood with that kind of attitude.

I am glad to hear you say matching size and build is more important because that is what I have been going for. I figure I'd rather have a color mismatched team than one that fights or moves out totally different. I've always said with my riding horses that "You can't ride color" and I believe the same with driving horses "you can't drive color". There are a lot of pretty flashy looking horses out there that I wouldn't take if you paid me. Then there are less attractive horses with solid minds and a good attitude that I've paid good money for.

I figure it'll take time to get Clem going with a teammate. I am looking at minis now that have been driven single and double to help her adjust to being part of a team. I'm willing to pay a little more for a good solid teammate.

I'm sorry to hear about Bit. Things like that are hard. We've had a few incidents over the years and it never gets easier.

In my search for a teammate I did pick up an 8 yo sorrel stud named Pistol that we're going to work with. We kinda fell in love with him and thought he'd make a nice project. Time will tell if we keep him or sell him.

Thank you for your posts. You always have straightforward helpful insight and advice and I appreciate you sharing what you know with the rest of us.
 
I agree with Paintponylvr about color and pairs. I bought 3 matching long yearlings from the same sire. Trained them to drive single. Worked with 2 as a pair. They never gelled. One was a prima donna, didn't want to work with anyone else, thank you very much! The other boy I paired up with a pinto and drove them happily until my sweet boy, Socks, passed away at 14 years old.

Buying the 3 yearlings out of a field

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Socks and Kidlet (the primadonna) at Lord Stirling CDE

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Socks and Steel, the best boys, at Teddy Bear Picnic

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