Breed:  Morgan/QH

Color: Dark Bay

Sex:   Gelding

Age:  11

Height:  15 hh

Temperament 1

Oklahoma Sky,  This stocky, dark bay, seasoned gelding just recently came to us from a small stables south of Abilene, Texas. Trained right but more of a simple pleasure riding type horse or trail horse. Great muscle tone and looks very good in western tack. Stands still as you groom, tack, saddle or mount. Neck reins with light pressure, this horse has a ton of presence.  Very desctive way of moving . You cannot but watch him walk and tror around. While riding this horses gait is smooth and collected, he is very easy to sit you will like riding this gelding. When this gelding trots it looks like he is floating just off the ground.  This nice built gelding is healthy, sound and has no vices. Naturally low headed, nice trot and very versatile. Easy on and off the horse trailer.

To read more about Morgan Horses Please Click Here.

$1350.

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Breed:  QH

Color: Dun

Sex:   Gelding

Age:  18

Height:  15.1 hh

Temperament 1

Almost Dunn, Many times when a horse comes to us it is just a natural phase in the horses life. Then some horses come to our facility for sale because life tends to throw us all curve balls. Last years drought was a great example, but more like a bolling ball being thrown at you. We have a beautiful dunn horse whose last owner would have never sold him, but remember those curve balls! This little seasoned, tested dunn gelding lost its last owner to a tragic auto accident just miles from her farm. After the accident the owners husband could not part with his wives beloved horse. After three years a heart filled decision was finally made and the horse was recently sent to us from a small farm just north of Mineral Wells, Texas. During that time a local neighborhood yougester has riddden the horse several times. He really knows how to hold his head low and collected and could be ridden with just a hay string.

 When you are around this horse you cannot help but feel the love and care this horse has received. He is a baby sitter type, beginner horse that is very happy going slow and easy. He will also pick up the appropriate speed when asked correctly. Beautiful perfect dunn coloring with just enough white chrome to stand out in a crowd and a line down his back. Very confident while being ridden, he has an incredible willing disposition and everything a great horse should be and he has excellent saddle manners. This could easily be the perfect horse to help build your horse confidence and allow you to safely learn to be a better horse person. This well trained gelding has been handled consistently since birth and stands well for bathing, shoeing, trimming and trailers well. Here is a seasoned, pretty gelding that is the whole package with riding and safety.  If you want to ride hard and fast then this is NOT the horse for you. But if you are looking for a laid back, easy riding horse thats happy to walk all day then this gelding is looking for a new caring owner. And do not forget the angle watching over every move this horse makes.

$1350.  worth a ton more!

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$1250.00

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One common question I am often asked is what is the best first time or beginner riding horse. I often answer that the best first horse you can have at any age or riding level would be an older ranch horse. By definition a ranch horse was born and raised on a ranch or farm to basically one day work on the ranch. A typical ranch horse is started in his saddle training at 2 years old and exposed to the ranch shortly after and in many ways is viewed as a “tool”. Several of the usual tasks a ranch horse will have to perform daily could be: sorting cattle from one pen to another, checking miles of fence lines, roping and doctoring cattle, and just putting the cowboy where ever he may be needed on the ranch. After many months and years of this repeated use, riding and work most of these ranch horses become very settled and seasoned. When a horse like this reaches an age of 15- 20 he is past his ranch use abilities and would work extremely well as a beginner or first time riding horse. There are still going to be a number of these horses that will never be safe for a beginner rider so have your propested horse evaluated carefully before purchase. (These horses are safe and settled, very close to bomb proof but remember all horses are animals and cannot be predicted by anyone.)  Here are 6 reasons an older ranch horse makes a great beginner riding horse.

1.) Neck reins: Not every riding horse has the skill of neck reining and this is the one talent that a first time rider will need to be able to manage a ranch horse.

2.) Highly experienced and seasoned:  In real estate the key is location, location….well you get the ideal. in the horse world the key to a good horse is Handling, Handling and Handling and a typical ranch horse could easily be handled and ridden almost every day he is there. This level of use creates a highly seasoned equine partner that movies are made about.

3.) Been used to rope cattle: Not every horse can be roped off of and those that are use to it and even better are very good at having cattle roped and controlled from the horses back. This is an amazing skill and can almost be equine poetry in motion. A horse that can perform here is a very desensitized horse and perfect for a beginner rider.

4.) Cared for correctly:   Most ranches and farms where a ranch horse begins their life are managed by people that know how to care for a horse and keep it in working condition. They are fed correctly, regular vaccinations and handled correctly. A prospective ranch prospect gets the best of care. Well build and well cared for for most of its life.

5.) Stand tied to trailer for hours:  One of the first things a ranch horse learns is how to relax when given the chance. Many of the tasks a ranch horse performs calls for the horse to be tied to a trailer for hours, after years your typical ranch horse can stay tied all day and will not move until asked.

6.) Jump right into any trailer:  Most ranch horses are not only used on the ranch but are often taken to adjoining properties or neighbors ranches to help other ranches. also a ranch lifestyle tends to lead to taking your horse to night horse events, trail rides and other horse riding events. A ranch horse is more at home and at ease in the back of a cattle trailer bumping down the road as he is sitting is a stall on the ranch.

Bring your riding skill up to meet your ranch horse. Even as a beginner you should do your best to bring your riding knowledge and abilities up as much as you can. Taking a few lessons, seminars and reading will help you understand how to correctly cue your horse and ride him calm and safely.

Robbie Jones has been buying and marketing and handling horses online since 1999. Over the years, he has successfully launched several horse sales and video classified sites, including CraigsHorseList.com, TexasHorse.org and the Texas Horse Network, and also owns and operates a well known horse article, Horse Press Release and horse sales business working within the Texas and surrounding states.

A hinny is a domestic equine hybrid that is the offspring of a regular male horse and a female donkey (called a jenny). It is similar to the more common mule, which is the product of a female horse and a male donkey.

Hinnies are on average slightly smaller than the average mules.. Some mule fanciers feel this size difference is merely physiological, due to the smaller size of the jenny, as compared with a much larger mare. Others claim it is genetic, but the view of the American Donkey and Mule Society is, “The genetic inheritance of the hinny is exactly the same as the mule.”

Hinnies, therefore are smaller because donkeys are smaller than horses, and growth potential of equine offspring is influenced by the size of the dam’s womb. However, like mules, hinnies do come in many different sizes. This is because donkeys come in many sizes, from miniatures, as small as 24 inches at the withers, to Mammoth jacks and jennies that may be over 15 hands (60 inches) at the withers. Thus, a hinny is restricted to being about the size of the largest breed of donkey. Mules, however, have a female horse as a parent, so they can be as large as the size of the tallest breed of horse. There are some very large mules, mostly from work horse breeds such as the Belgian.

Other than size, there are some minor differences that occur often between mules and hinnies. The head of a hinny resembles that of a horse, more so than mule heads. Hinnies often have shorter ears, although they are still longer than those of horses, and more horse-like manes and tails than mules. Certain traits, such as the popular gait that some horses and donkeys possess, seem to pass more readily through the male parent. Therefore, many people have tried to produce gaited hybrids by using gaited male horses with female donkeys, in hopes of creating gaited hinnies. A gaited donkey is a highly prized individual in the donkey circles.

Fertility, Sterility, and Rarity

Hinnies are very difficult to obtain because of the differences in the number of chromosomes of the horse and the donkey. A donkey has 62 chromosomes, whereas a horse has 64. Hinnies, being hybrids of those two species, have 63 chromosomes and are sterile. The uneven number of chromosomes results in an incomplete reproductive system. According to the ADMS, “The equine hybrid is easier to obtain when the lower chromosome count, the donkey, is in the male. Therefore breeding for hinnies is more hit-and-miss than breeding for mules.”

Male hinnies and mules are usually castrated to help control their behavior by eliminating their interest in females. The male hinny or mule can and will mate, but the emission is not fertile. There are no recorded cases of fertile male hinnies or male mules.

Female hinnies and mules are not customarily spayed, and may or may not go through estrus. Female mules have been known to produce offspring when mated to a horse or donkey, though this is extremely uncommon. Since 1527 there have been more than sixty documented cases of foals born to female mules around the world. In contrast, according to the ADMS, there is only one known case of a female hinny doing so.

In China in 1981, a hinny mare proved fertile with a donkey stallion. When the Chinese hinny was bred to a donkey jack, she produced “Dragon Foal,” who resembled a donkey with mule-like features. Dragon Foal’s genes that she was a previously undocumented combination. These are truly rarities in nature.

In Morocco in 2003, a mule mare bred to a donkey stallion produced a male foal that DNA testing revealed the Moroccan foal has a mixed karyotype hybrid like the Chinese hinny offspring, Dragon Foal.

There are several outstanding reasons for the rarity of hinnies. Typically female donkeys, jennies, and male horses, stallions, are choosier about their mates than horse mares and donkey jacks. Thus, the two parties involved may not care to mate. Even if they do cooperate, female donkeys are less likely to conceive when bred to a horse than horse mares are when bred to a donkey. Breeding large hinnies is an even bigger challenge, as it requires stock from a jenny of Mammoth donkey or American Mammoth Jack. Mammoth donkey stock is becoming increasingly rare and has been declared an endangered domestic breed. Fanciers are unlikely to devote a Mammoth jenny’s valuable breeding time to producing sterile hinny hybrids when Mammoth females are in high demand to produce fertile pure-bred Mammoth foal.

Everyday information about horses and donkeys. We operate a donkey adoption facility, trinityhorse.info and try our best to collect information about mules and donkeys and horses. To check out our donkey adoption program or any of our horses for sale please click here! You may also call the main barn at 281-744-2197

There are several advantages and disadvantages to choosing to lease a horse rather than buying one. And depending on if you are experienced or just getting started in the equine world. You need to carefully look at your situation before making a decision.

So, you are ready to have a horse of your own, or at least you think so. But should you actually go out and buy a horse or do you have another option? Or is leasing right for your situation?

When you lease a horse, you don’t have the up front cost of buying an expensive riding horse. This can be particularly good if you are looking for a performance horse or a show horse, since getting a quality animal can be quite an investment. While some leases do charge a lease fee, many only ask that you care for the horse’s expenses and ride the horse regularly. So you may actually find a situation that is beneficial to both parties.

On the other hand, the horse is not yours. If anything goes wrong, you will be responsible to the owner for the value of that horse. Usually lease agreements state that you cover insurance for the value of the horse or pay for the horse out right. You are also likely to be stuck with any vet bills, should the horse get injured. Some owners will help out with the bills, but you can’t always count on that to be stated in the contract.

However, if the horse is injured and can no longer be ridden, you are not out the value of that horse. You can return the horse to his owner, and do not need to find him a new owner or a safe retirement home. Instead, you can move on and find another horse that suits your needs. Let the owner deal with the problems.

But, you will always need to remember that at the end of the lease, it is time to say goodbye. If you become very attached to the horse you are leasing, this can be very difficult. Some owners are willing to sell at the end of the lease, but generally the price goes up with training – and your training has gone into the horse, thus raising his value. Please check your contract for more information on this.

If you own the horse, you do have the potential or recouping some of your costs in the long run by selling (or even leasing) him when you no longer need him. Unfortunately, it depends a great deal on the market, and your horse’s age. It can also be very stressful trying to find him a safe, quality home on a short notice.

Leasing is a great option if you are likely to need to change horses or the location of the horse on a regular basis. This is especially true for young riders who are likely to outgrow their ponies every couple of years. Riders who are increasing in skill also need to upgrade often to a better horse just to keep their shills growing.

By leasing, you do loose the unique feeling of accomplishment of bringing along a horse from scratch and making him very gentle and seeing the rewards everytime you ride the horse. The horse usually comes to you trained and well mannered, and you don’t get the credit for the work you have done with him in the meantime nor do you get to see him grow in training knowledge.

For the rider who gets attached to their horse, and who is not afraid to put in a some of the hard work with him, buying may be the better option. For the rider who is still growing, in size or ability, a lease may be a better more flexible opportunity.

Finally, a lease offers the chance to get used to horse ownership, without having to worry about what to do with the horse if it doesn’t work out. For young riders, this can be a great opportunity, both for the rider and for the parents. You will be able to see if the young person is ready for a horse full time and if not their is no strings attached.

Whether you choose to lease or to buy, try to do your best to find a horse that suits your skills and your location. Finding the right horse makes all the difference in a rider’s advancement and the modern joys of owning a horse. Finding the wrong horse can be devastating and expensive if you make the wrong choice. Also always remember the danger of buying a bad horse that could go on to severely hurt you!.

If you are considering a horse for lease or for sale, we have several options that could work for you right now. We are located in the Houston, Texas area and have several horses for lease and sale. Please visit our website at www.HoustonHorseLease.com

Robbie Jones is a writer for Texas Horse Report, Stop Horse Abuse and Horse Business Press Release. He also write for the Texas Horse Network which owns a network of equine classifieds of quarter horses for sale, used saddles, and he is a featured author at www.AranchHorse.com and TexasHorse.org.

  $1200.    SALE PENDING

It was fate when Skipper, a older gray horse in her late twenties, was rescued from a local horse auction that catered to slaughter buyers.  At the time of the auction Jennifer, her owner, was readying herself for college. She had quit riding the horse many years back and was too busy to make sure someone was keeping Little Skipper fed and cared for.  It took two years for her to decide, with her mother’s help, that Little Skipper needed to go to the auction. Lisa from A Ranch Horse could not let this under fed horse go to an early fate in Mexico. Little Skipper only sold for $90. and the only person bidding against Lisa was the slaughter buyer. Little Skipper was thin and unkept but jumped right into the trailer for a changed life. Over the next few months the little mare passed all the exercise drills, veterinary examinations, environment and behavioral tests and horse profiles with flying colors, something, according to Lisa, only about three percent of horses reviewed can do. She still had on ideal how special this little rescue horse would soon be.

Lisa still remembers the day  Little Skipper came to the facility located in New Caney, Texas.  “the mare still had a look, a sparkle in her eye.  She was definitely special.  Her eyes seemed so kind, as if she was asking, ‘How can I help and where is the feed?’” it took us a few months for us to see this horses real talent. A real children’s horse.

In hippotherapy a child and horse work together with the assistance of a knowledgeable and experienced therapist.  Riding a horse moves the rider’s pelvis, legs and trunk in a rhythmic and repetitive way.  The horse’s walk provides the rider with essential sensory input that simulates the human gait.  With children who suffer from muscular disorders, the horse’s body warmth reduces muscle spasms and increases the child’s hip and leg flexibility.  The child’s nervous system assimilates the information this movement provides, resulting in many significant, sometimes amazing, sensory and motor gains.  A regular program of hippotherapy gives children notable improvements in mobility, strength, function and coordination.  There is no machine, no human, and no team that can offer the same benefits.  Only a horse suited for this type of activity will work. And Little Skipper was about to do what the medical community could not do.

This was what Terri Jones read in the local horse magazine article about A Ranch Horse.  Her daughter, five-year-old Megan, was born with quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy and was asthmatic.  She had already had brain surgery to repair a malformation.  Her immobility left her dependent on her family to dress her, brush her hair and teeth, and feed her.  Numerous medications and surgeries partly decreased her muscle spasms.  The casts on her arms were intended to one day increase her mobility.  In the meantime, she was unable to play and run like other little girls.  Terri hoped that A Ranch Horse could help Megan and after a short talk with Lisa, plans were made for Little Skipper and Megan to meet in June 2002.

The perfect horse for a little girl with this condition is a little horse and Little Skipper was that horse.  A special bond developed between Megan and Little Skipper that started with their first ride.  Megan loved the power and freedom that riding Little Skipper gave her and the horse loved Megan’s gentle pats and kisses on her muzzle. this was attention Little Skipper had not seen in many years.  Megan experienced a new relaxed and happy feeling that followed each hippotherapy session.  It lasted all day and helped her sleep through the night.  After Megan’s first ride on Little Skipper, Terri noticed an immediate difference in her daughter’s body.  “When I carried her into the barn [for her first session, her legs were so tense that] she could hardly get her legs around my waist.  After her hippotherapy session, her legs were so loose, she had no problem getting them around my waist.”  In time, other problems also diminished.  If Megan sat facing forward on Little Skipper to steer (hippotherapy uses lots of positions), it didn’t bother her so much to separate her legs.  The typical painfulness of Megan’s physical therapy for tight and spastic muscles virtually disappeared.  In place of the hunched over little girl who sat miserably looking down and complaining of how tight she was, a tiny, giggling sprite was sitting up, pulling her shoulders back, and lifting her chin to see between Little Skippers ears.  Megan was in control of on area of her life, even if that control was only steering a small horse, and she loved it.

As the weeks of hippotherapy proceeded, new activities were added to Megan’s therapy.  Little Skipper accepted without complaint the tasks that Megan’s therapists devised to increase her reaching; Megan hung toy rings over Little Skipper’s ears; she tugged on her mane and tail.  Next Megan lay on her stomach while riding.  Little Skipper did not mind being bumped in the flanks; she gave no irritable head tosses.  Little Skipper enjoyed her routine with Megan and may even have understood in some way that Megan needed her to be quiet, consistent and strong.  Megan enjoyed her rides on Little Skipper and the new positions.  The once shy little girl was shy no more.  She rallied others to cheer for her and made requests that they find her even more challenging riding positions.  The new challenges brought new successes for Megan.

It has been almost three years since Megan began riding Little Skipper.  Her confidence fills the air each time she is in the riding arena.  The planned surgeries to help release hip and leg muscles that both doctors and therapists had thought were inevitable have been canceled.  As long as she has little Skipper, her hips and leg muscles are better than any surgery could make them.  Before she started riding, Megan’s long fatigued days led to sleepless nights, which led to much higher muscle tone, which led to more fatigue:  an unending cycle.  Because she sleeps better on the days she rides, her muscle tone is lower, more normal, the following day.  She has more normal cycles of rest and alertness.

Before Little Skipper, Megan had no interest in, much less time for, hobbies.  Her life was an endless cycle of therapies.  Since Little Skipper, she envelops herself in horses.  She reads about horses, colors pictures of horses, watches any movie with horses, and has real friends who also love horses.  Her new friends are children she has met at A Ranch Horse, and she is comforted by this.  She calls them on the phone, plays with them on the website face book, and talks with them endlessly about how much they love horses.  She has a normal little girl’s life and she has hope for her future. All from a $90. horse that no one wanted.

The older girls in therapeutic riding do positions on their horses that she has not yet tried.  They are role models for her.  She watches them and wants to ride like they do.  Megan is herself a role model for younger children with cerebral palsy.  Their dreams grow because she gives them hope.  With hippotherapy they all have a future that was not possible before.

As for Little Skipper, at twenty-some years, she is an old girl now, even for therapeutic riding.  But as long as she seems to enjoy it and as long as her body can handle it, she will patiently carry children on her gray back, her gentle nature, and her perfect size and gait making her the ideal therapeutic horse.

After 15 years working with horses and people we have been lucky enough to been involved in many aspects of horse rescue. Many of these horses that are passed over for more “perfect” animals have a place on this earth where they are needed and loved. The very horse someone has abandoned could be a star in someone else’s life. We have a horse facility in Trinity, Texas donated to horse rescue and helping people reach their personal dreams. If you would like to see our rescue horses please click here. If you know someone who could benefit from this program please contact me direct at 281-744-2197.

For many years at the horse stables I have owned a pug. Milo is my personal dog and for 2 and a half years he has gone everywhere with me. We could write a whole story about Milo and he even has his own website, but this is not a story about Milo. One day recently I came up with the idea that I wanted to breed pugs, and Milo could use a friend. Besides more love is just more love, Right. So after a quick check on craigslist it was not hard to find a female pug for sale, same age as Milo.  And after a few short emails a young lady was very excited that her female was “so swet and perfect for Milo!”
We agreed to meet at a dog park I had never heard of, no wonder it was 70 miles from our location, and it was 5:00 pm Houston traffic. After several attempts to find this place and several attempts to just give up and drive home, ( I had never gotten her phone number), we finally found the dog park. By this time I was frazzled but got out and was ready to meet me new sweet little girl. Once she pulled up with the dog, I was excited, she was just like Milo, same size and almost same color. She seemed a bit excited to be at the dog park and I chalked to up to being left in the apartment all day. After a short time at the park we gave the young lady the agreed upon amount and loaded our new little girl. Funny the young lady brought every thing this dog owned. Every box of food, every dish and coat and toy. And the little girl had the biggest smile, never a tear shed as she was pulling out.
Well what started as a great idea quickly turned into a nightmare. This pug was absolutely nothing like my precious Milo. And once we started handling her, we quickly found out she really knew almost nothing. I started to make jokes about how big the girls smile was when she drove off. The more I joked the worse the dog acted. When this dog shook its self, a cloud of the thickest longest hair I had ever seen came flying off and got on everything. Milo has never shed or had hair like that. The more time I spent with the dog I started wondering how this girl took this dog anywhere with her. And as each hour went by the dog seemed to get worse and worse. How could this lady send this insane dog with me, this dog knows nothing. She is absolutely nothing like Milo and I actually wanted to take this demon dog back to her. Hell at this point just keep the money!

Well then it occurred to me that every week we are sending horses to new homes and people are getting to interact with their horse on their terms. I started realizing that our horses may be going to folks that may have a total different expectation of what and how this new horses is “supposed to act”. The difference between this 20 pound, “out of control pug” and a thousand pound horse could be more than intimidating. We would never send a horse out of our facility with “Issues”, if we knew. We will always disclose what we do know about every horse and would never want a customer to feel like we had “saddled them with a bad pug!”
If you get a horse to your location and find that this new horse is “Absolutely nothing like Expected” Please call me and lets see if we can fix this. In almost every single case I will not be able to refund your money, no exceptions, But I will offer you a chance to trade the horse for another animal that will be more suitable for your needs. I do not think this will fix every problem, but I do think if I personally had an option I would drive all the way back to the other side of town and give this lady back her crazy acting dog and take anything but this dog, “Got a girls bike or a tennis racket?”
All the joking aside, I plan to do my best with the new pug and between the Dog Whisper Show, prayer and a Valium for me I will get her at least manageable. I now realize I had unrealistic expectations of how the new dog was supposed to act. Since all animals are different you can never know how a horse or dog will work out. I did not like the feeling of getting something that I was expecting to be just like my perfect little boy. Realistic or not, sometimes open options can make a bad situation better.
I am offering a way to trade out a horse that may not act like you expected. I will help you get a horse that at least acts like you expected him to act. Call me calmly, and with in a reasonable amount of time after a sale, and I will do my best. Now, anyone want to buy a sweet 2 year old pug…?  Cheap? Call me please….I will throw in all her toys…..text meee…..

Texas Horse Network- One of Texas’s Top Consignment Sales, offers a horse consignment service for owners who need to sell their horses and are looking for a great home.

Need Help Selling Your Horse? We may have an easy solution. Even in Today’s Market…We are Still Selling Horses

Frustrated with placing advertisements, sending out emails and videos, scheduling for people to come see your horse, waiting for them to show up…we can make it easier for you.

In addition to selling our own horses, we sell dozens of horses for others including many ranches and stables throughout Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma..

Over the past 5 years, we have sold horses typically in an average of less than 60 days, while doing our best meeting the profit expectations of our clients. We always have motivated buyers looking for “Good Horses!.”

We can promote  your horse in our web network, and you show him, or we can have your horse transporteted to our sales facility and take care of all the details. We can take all the pictures and video needed to properly show your horses best features and get the horse ready for the sales process. Even in this tough Texas market, a good horse that is trustworthy is still worth “Good Money!” Do not just give your horse away because a few folks are selling off horses that have no talent and are hard to impossible to manage. I have a secret for you and them, That type of horse has always been cheap and people are always giving horses away that are like that. Do not lose money on your horse just because you do not have time to show him in his best light. we can get your horse on the internet and sold to someone who needs your horse.

We handle all aspects of marketing and showing your horse and also will coordinate the completion of your sale. you will be kept in the loop throughout the entire process. We advertise in a powerful internet network that we own and will always get results. No other horse marketer has access to this network and you will be amazed at its visibility.

Contact us now to find out how we can help you sell your horse. Please call 281-744-2197 and see if we can help you find your horse a new loving home. You may also visit our main Click Here!