# Other Pets > Horses >  Check out our new horses! Percheron Crosses

## SlitherinSisters

Well they aren't quite ours yet. We are buying them from a friend for dirt cheap and they aren't in our possession just yet. 

They are 7/8 Percheron and 1/8 quarter horse. Apparently the paint mare is registered as a spotted draft???? The people we are getting them from aren't horse people at all....I feel bad saying it, but they got them as pets and really had no idea what they were doing, and didn't really do much with these fantastic beasts. For example, this was the 2nd time all year that they've done anything with them, we had to PRY them out of our friend's hands. I kept saying, come on! We'll love them and they will be getting rode every day, they'll have something to do! 

Anyway they are both 4 years old, and yes I agree it's one of the ugliest (mismatched) teams I've seen in my life! LOL. They need a lot of work in the riding aspect. They were broke to drive by an Amish guy so they are pretty good at that. The people that own them currently "broke" them to ride themselves, which was pretty much just getting on and riding. The horses have NO idea what I'm asking them to do when I'm on their backs so I'm going to have to do a lot of back tracking and training so they aren't so confused when people are on their backs. 




The blue roan is going to be my boyfriends horse. I was looking for a really calm and gentle horse for a beginner rider and my boyfriend wanted a huge horse. Needless to say, it's a perfect match. I threw my synthetic saddle on to make sure it fit him (as well as it could). He's a BIG boy!


Me TRYING to ride him. He was so confused, poor thing. One thing I really liked about him, which I've RARELY had happen, is that he didn't test me to see if I knew a thing or two about horses. He just tried so hard to do what I asked him to do. I gave him lots of praise and he eventually started getting the hang of it. 




The mare, she has two blue eyes



The gelding



When we were leaving!

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## tweets_4611

Wow!! They are stocky things aren't they! Both very pretty, but since I am used to quarter horses, their legs look to small for such a thick body!  :Razz: 

Good luck training them! I bet they will be a joy once they understand what you want. You guys will be riding them all over in no time! ^_^

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## Jyson

I love percherons! My neighbor has a pure blood stallion, solid black; I love that horse.

Glad to hear that they aren't giving you too much trouble with riding them. 

Best of luck!  :Smile:

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## SlitherinSisters

> Wow!! They are stocky things aren't they! Both very pretty, but since I am used to quarter horses, their legs look to small for such a thick body! 
> 
> Good luck training them! I bet they will be a joy once they understand what you want. You guys will be riding them all over in no time! ^_^


LOL stocky is an understatement!  :ROFL:  The mare is ridiculously fat! I couldn't even get my biggest cinch to fit around her belly and had to ride her bareback. I agree about their legs too! I think it must be because they are crosses, full blood Percherons don't look like they are standing on stubby broomsticks lol. 

I can't wait till they understand riding comands! I'm so excited! They are so gentle and patient I don't think I'll have any troubles with them. I even got the gelding to lope! It was SOOOOO slow! I think my little paint mare could trot faster than he lopes!  :ROFL: 




> I love percherons! My neighbor has a pure blood stallion, solid black; I love that horse.
> 
> Glad to hear that they aren't giving you too much trouble with riding them. 
> 
> Best of luck!


Thank you! I'm really happy with them! I haven't worked with many draft horses but I'm always pleasantly surprised at how calm and gentle they are.

I bet that stallion is gorgeous!

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## Jyson

> I bet that stallion is gorgeous!


Definitely, forgot how many hands he is, but his back comes up to my forehead - I'm 6'3.  :Surprised: 




> LOL stocky is an understatement!  The mare is ridiculously fat! I couldn't even get my biggest cinch to fit around her belly and had to ride her bareback. I agree about their legs too! I think it must be because they are crosses, full blood Percherons don't look like they are standing on stubby broomsticks lol.


LoL, I'm willing to bet you'll have them in shape, in no time.  :Wink:

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## SlitherinSisters

> Definitely, forgot how many hands he is, but his back comes up to my forehead - I'm 6'3. 
> 
> 
> LoL, I'm willing to bet you'll have them in shape, in no time.


I'm guessing that would put him at about 17 hands, maybe a tad taller! 

Lol I hope so! It might take a little while with the mare, they seem to be a little thick headed sometimes. She might decide standing is far better than walking around  :ROFL:

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## tonkatoyman

If they were trained as buggy horses you will have a time teaching them different gates. They have been trained well in one and that would be about it. Usually it is tough to take a horse like that and change them. Good luck. :Good Job:  :Good Job:  :Good Job:

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## tonkatoyman

By the way Percheron is not a gated horse it is a draft horse. *one* gate. That is  beat your brains out.  :Surprised:  :Surprised:  :Surprised:

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## SlitherinSisters

I'm not sure what you mean by they have only have one gate? Both horses are for beginner/basic riders so I'm not going to train them in any fancy gates-because they don't have them I will agree with that. However, I do expect them to perform in all four basic gates, walk, trot, lope, and gallop. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you?

I don't think it will be hard to train these horses to be trail horses. I already got the gelding to lope and I only had to ask him twice. The people who own them got them broke to drive and they really didn't do much with them. Every now and again they would hook them up to a wagon. These horses are by no means stuck in their ways, not at four years old and hardly any driving hours other than with the trainer two years ago.

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## catawhat75

Beautiful. I really like the gelding. I am used to riding QH, but I do love the draft crosses. 
Good luck with them, consider me jealous!

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## ZinniaZ

Well I think they are gorgeous!  I love their expressions.  So sweet and willing.

They look to be good citizens, pulling that cart thingy for the first time all year and then letting you ride!  How nice is that?

As for retraining driving horses as riding horses, it's actually not all that hard.  The barn where I ride takes off the track harness horses all the time and retrains them under saddle.  They usually make a very easy transition, so I wouldn't worry about it.   :Wink:

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## SlitherinSisters

> Beautiful. I really like the gelding. I am used to riding QH, but I do love the draft crosses. 
> Good luck with them, consider me jealous!


Lol thank you! That's all my family ever rides as well. This will be a big change! They are so well behaved compared to our horses even with them not being worked with! I'm always amazed at how clam, slow, and careful draft horses are around people. 




> Well I think they are gorgeous!  I love their expressions.  So sweet and willing.
> 
> They look to be good citizens, pulling that cart thingy for the first time all year and then letting you ride!  How nice is that?
> 
> As for retraining driving horses as riding horses, it's actually not all that hard.  The barn where I ride takes off the track harness horses all the time and retrains them under saddle.  They usually make a very easy transition, so I wouldn't worry about it.


Thank you! I love draft expressions they are so sweet and tender! They were really good citizens! I was nervous all week about riding these guys since they hadn't done anything all year! When I got there they were hooked up to the wagon and the guy said "hop on!" I was thinking "oh god....this isn't going to be good!" I've only met a few horse that you could let sit all year in a pasture and hop right on no problems and they drove too. They were awesome! The mare was a bit lazy though and let the gelding do all the pulling  :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):   :ROFL: 

Awesome! I'm glad you agree that it won't be that hard for them to make the transition! I didn't think it could be that hard if they had been sitting all year and were so willing to work and listen. The gelding didn't fight me once on the ride, he was just really confused and would stop a lot.

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## Wh00h0069

Congrats on your soon-to-be new additions.

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## spygirl

Ah, I'm so jealous! I miss working with draft horses! They are both stunning!

Good luck with them. I'm sure they'll be great.  :Smile: 

I think I need to convince the family we need another pair of draft horses... It's very rewarding working with ex-racers, but I wouldn't mind a change.  :Razz:

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