I bought my Percheron from a lady who deals with the Amish. He's great to ride, drives just as well, and he clearly was taken VERY good care of. He's as good a horse as I have ever hoped to ride. Amish horses are well broke and have sweet personalities.
Other horses she's bought, including a "pity buy", have been in awful shape. She explained that some Amish view their horses as property, not living beings. Some of the animals she's bought have had to be rehabilitated. The "pity buy" is now a great horse, now in excellent shape and has a great personality. It's sad that some people won't take simple care of their animals.
Paired with puppy mills, some of the Amish worry me. I've seen sites dedicated to just Amish horse abuse. There are cases of horses being tied tight for hours, no food or water, and even worse. What do you guys think?
Answers:
I've heard the same thing. To the Amish, a horse is their car, tractor, whatever. Often, they trot them into town, tie them up without cooling down or a drink, and then run them back home. As yousaid, I'm sure some realize that they can be a long lasting "tool" if cared for properly.
The shore town I go to uses former Amish plow horses to pull carriages for tours and weddings. They often say that pulling a carriage is a vacation compared to pulling a plow. Those horses are practically bomb proof and look fat and healthy.
i wish i could own a horse evev if its a pity buy
i am ashamed of e human race for being so un******* with any animal, we should do the same to them what do you think
good luck to you and your horses
cecillew@yoahoo
excuse me..this is not my regular forum, so please forgive
..is an amish horse the ones with an orange triangle on their back side or but,..ya kno..what ever that part of the horse is called?--peace and fortune--have a great holiday weekend-K
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I think that you'll find abuse in any cultural group, it's not just the Amish that have the corner on that, it's the same with all abusers. They're all the same no matter what color gender or culture they are.
I have seen it happen in my area. Horses tethered without food or water for long periods of time and skin and bones. ASPCA has been called on them several times only for them to buy another horse to the same appaling state to fatten the other to pass inspection. It is so sad. It has happened in the Amish and several different cultures. I saw a man run a team of horses hooked to a covered wagon only to be stopped by police and issued a DUI. He lost his ALL of his horses and couldnt get anymore until he started AA meetings and could prove he was sober enough to take care of them. He got a large fine and jail time out of it.
It's not just Amish. It's all over. Just look at the racing industry, and all the injuries associated with that. Look at the use of mares and PMU foals. Go to any horse auction, and you will see abused horses from all over.
Not defending abuse by any means, but you really have to look at the person and not generalize. I have known some amish that take care of their animals and are in tip top condition and anothers that are emaciated.
However, I see others that aren't amish doing the same thing.
There is never a reason for abuse, but I have seen far too often those misunderstand abuse for training methods and vice versa.
When I was younger I went to an amish auction with my family. We were watching the first half of it, and everything seemed fine and normal, all the animals were healthy and everything. The auction was mostly people like us that wernt from the area, and just stopped by to see what it was like. Well half way through the auction they took about an hours break, most of the non-amish left during the break, but we decided to hang around.
After the break they started bringing in the animals in absolutely disgusting condition. There was a draft horse that had one eye missing and infected, and another eye basically hanging out of its socket, there was a horse with what looked like a broken leg, some pigs came through that clearly had damaged/broken legs and were underweight. They would take these animals in the ring, completely terrified and some were hardly able to walk,and would basically beat them to get them in the pen. The conditions were far worst than any other auction I have ever been to, almost every animal that came in after the break should have been put down.
We left the auction after seeing the horse with its eye hanging out, it was too sad and disgusting. I live near a horse auction that used to be mostly for horse meat buyers, and there were never horses in as bad of condition as this Amish auction.
I don't really think there would be any way to prevent things like this from happening though, the Amish have a different culture, I can somewhat understand (although I don't agree with) their stance on animals being merely property considering their "culture", it is kind of a necessity.
Most Amish take wonderful care of their horses.. (ever been to Lancaster, PA? You'll see some beauties there.) Although I suppose there have been times when that is not the case. But being Amish has NOTHING to do with abusing horses! I have to say, you are looking at a small little piece of horse abuse when in reality, there are wayyyyy more abuse cases out there. . You will find it all over the place. I guess some people don't realize what type of things are done to horses. You think the Amish can be bad? Check out PMU mare and foal cases. Google off the track thoroghbreds. Check out what happens to horses going to slaughter. Read the stories on rescue sites. A few Amish are not the worst horse abusers out by any means. Usually they treat the horses with great respect. (If you didn't know, horses are a sign of status and pride in the Amish world- Having gorgeous, well kept, fit horses for them, is like rolling into town with an 07 Hummer for us.) So, you can't just pick on the Amish. Every culture and nationality has its own cases of stupidity and cruelty.
I have never heard of this about the Amish.I have seen many of their aniamls and they have all been in excellent condition. As for the tying for hours this is known. Maybe these concerns need to be made know to you aspca and let them address it to the Amish.
I live not too far from Amish country and I have heard a lot of BAD stories about how they keep their horses. I have heard a lot of it is just because they dont view their horses the same way we do. To them they are property, work animals not the companions and pets they are to most people. I do know that its not all Amish but in fact it could just be a few bad cases blown up and now people are beginning to generalize that all Amish are bad horse owners.
As I work for a man that breeds the Amish breed, the American Cream Draft horse i see alot of Amish horses.
ALL of them are such sweet horses. They really are just soo well trained and just very friendly well bred horses.
But as you said the condition. The person I work for sends his horses down to the Amish to be trained to drive and some come back in kind of poor shape. That's how they train them.
They in a way starve them to brake them.
He had a few spirited ones go down there and come back a bit thin, but well trained an now calm.
The horses werent beat just that's their ideal of how to train. From what i understand they just have a different view and i do not think they treat them as property. Those horses are their way of getting around and most understand their needs and cant afford to lose the horses that are their transportation, field horses, and harvesting animals. And they cant afford to have an untrainable horse.
I really think they have just another idea than the rest of us, we can choose to agree or not. They just dont have the media to show them other ways, its an ol' fashion thing.
I took an organized tour of the Midwest that went into Amish country many years ago,and I didn't see evidence of abuse at the farms I visited. But I agree, there is just NO excuse for abuse and neglect of animals. I can't stand seeing horses abused or neglected; it upsets me more than seeing dogs and cats abused, which is just as bad.
granted not all amish abuse there animals but it is far from uncommen. mainly because its cheaper to use up a horse, sell it to meat and buy a replacement than to spend the time and money to take care of it right the first time. many an ex standerdbred racer ends up as an amish cart horse, so its not like theres a shortage of cheap cart horses. i myself dont live all that far from amish country, i've seen what they pass through the auction houses. personally i'd shoot my horse before i let the amish get ahold of mine. not that i think all amish will abuse but most have no issue with horse slaughter and i refuse to take any part in it.
Alright...Well here is the deal with Amish ways of breaking a horse. When I used to work at a girlfriends barn(she trained race horses for Balmoral) well when she would get one that was completely unrully and just a p.i.t.a to work with she would send him to an amish family. Well since they dont used anything economical ie. tractors, cars, phones, wagons, etc. They use horses for their means of ANY transport. They dont see them as anything but. Not to say that they "abuse" their animals, but they have a different way of caring for them. With a reg. trainer, or atleast from my experience any given horse at my facility might be ridden anywhere from 4-10 hours a week. Where as with them, they are used for about 6 hourse A DAY! They dont have any shoes, or huge pastures to run through. They are normally kept either tied up or in a small stand stall. The reason as to why so many people love horses that come from Amish families and rant and rave at how broke they are is because of how much they are worked! So its best when you do get a horse from a lifestyle such as this that you dont right away throw them into a huge pasture and let them graze to their leizure, slowly get them into a fixed schedule, since they were always kept busy its healthier for them to be slowly drawn from that!
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