Amishman Explains: How I Choose A Horse

This is a little conversation I recorded with my friend, Ben, who belongs to an Amish church in Lancaster County.

It’s the second part of the Q&A I did with my friend Ben in Lancaster County in June (here’s the first part, on Amish & auctions).

In this recording, we’re in the car on the way over to a horse auction. Ben describes how he buys buggy horses for his family – what characteristics he looks for in a horse, where he buys them, and typical price.

He also explains how different family members get different kinds of horses (for example, as he says in the video, “my sons don’t want to drive a horse like I would like to drive”).

Amishman Explains: How I Buy a Buggy Horse

Erik Wesner: How much do you spend for a typical buggy horse? Like if you’re gonna get one for your younger son, let’s say.

Ben Riehl: I just bought one for $5800, which is on the cheaper end. The breeding was not the pedigree – was not as stellar as as a lot of them.

Typical for a driving horse, it’s closer to $10,000, for a trotting horse with a good pedigree. Mine was pacing bred, which lowers the price.

But it was a good buy because he’s traffic-safe and sound, and, he has clean legs. And, overall, we think we made a good buy at 5800.

Erik: So when you buy a horse, you look at things like its age, how well it does in traffic?

Ben: Yes. Very much so. You wanna fit the horse with…like, a boy’s horse. My sons don’t wanna drive a horse like I would like to drive. My horse would be too slow for them, and it would be too mild-mannered.

And I insist on buying a horse that my wife can drive as well. You do work to make a fit between between the driver of the horse and the horse.

Erik: Kinda match your personas?

Ben: Yes.

Erik: For your family, did you buy a lot of your horses through more through auctions, or do you do you have other sources?

Ben: I do have other sources as well. And I have bought most of my son’s horses from John and Matt Martin, on the other side of New Holland. But a lot of people do buy at auction.

But I’m not knowledgeable enough about it. I like to think about what I’m buying before I buy it.

And, I am really not knowledgeable enough about horses to make a decision about spending anywhere between $5,000 to $10,000 in, like, 30 seconds.

Erik: Heat of the moment type of thing.

Ben: No, I’m not very good at that. You do have to spend a lot of time visiting the horses back in the pen and examining them there, and kind of picking them out, before they come in in into the ring.

So I hope you enjoyed that. If you want to hear more from Ben on the Amish and Auctions, we have a bit longer video of him answering my questions on that topic.

For more, see:

• Ben Explains Amish Auctions
• Ben Riehl Shares His Story
• All about the Amish Buggy
• Amish Mud Sales: Auction Calendar

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