Hello, I know this post is old but I seen this on google and just had to stand up and say something.....I hope you guys don't get angry at me or about this post......I am not going to slander or bad mouth Mystic Valley Mini Horse Farm in Ohio in any way.....but I do know this mini horse ranch very well as we purchased a couple of mini's from them.....and want to tell you about my family and I's and several other people I know experiences that we've had with this mini horse farm.....my family and I had came upon Mystic Valley Mini Horse Farm in Peebles Ohio a few years ago. We had driven by it several times and decided to stop and see about purchasing a mini horse from them. We otained a number to which we called and talked to the owner. She told us what she had available for sale what sizes and how much they would cost and if they had registration papers. Well we decided to go see these little horses she had for sale as she said she had a gorgeous little male.....but upon getting there we noticed she had the little male she had told us so much about tied up to a post.....as were several others.....to which I didn't pay much mind to at the time.....as I had never been to a mini horse farm before.....I had owned horses before but not minis so this didn't seem odd at the time.....so we got out introduced ourselves and she showed us the little horse we wanted to purchase. Walking up towards the little fellow he seemed extremely timid was pawing the ground badly and was shy and kept almost freaking out.....we were taken back by this immediately but she reassured us that he was just nervous.....I wish we had seen and understood all this before we purchased him and another stable mate as it would have saved us a lot of heartache. She claimed that the little mini's for sale who were tied up had been out in the pasture for a few months so that's why they had them tied up to calm them down and to work on their ground manners. Well they also recommended that we purchase another stable mate for him as it wasn't good to have just one. So they offered to sell us another male to keep him company. We commented that wouldn't they fight once they got older.....and they said no they'll get along great....that they'd be buddies. So believing them and taking their word for it we purchased both little horses. They told us that we should keep them tied up in their corral for about 2 weeks so that they calm down and get used to their surroundings. Little did we know that the reason they said to tie them up was because they were wild. Apparently these horses were never handled at all from birth. People asked us why we had them tied up and we replied well the breeder we got them from said that we had to and that we were to untie them to feed and water them then tie them back up which let me tell you was a nightmare.....once you untied them they were nearly impossible to catch. So after about a week and a half of going through this we decided well we'll just not tie them up anymore as they look miserable and kept pawing the ground profusely and we didn't want people thinking we were being cruel to them, as they were receiving the best possible care but were having to be restrained by the advice of their breeder. They were more like wildlife than pets that I had purchased for our family. We tried so hard to work with them, but spending 2 hours in a small pasture trying to catch them was crazy. And when you finally did catch them they trembled so bad and would try and run you over.....yes even for a little horse they do weigh quite a bit and can still hurt you.....we were bit.....almost kicked and I even got 2 broken toes out of the ordeal. We worked with them everyday and it never seemed to work and we even called her back and were instructed to tie them up again.....which we thought ok that's just cruel.....and we should have never had to do that especially for what we were told and what we paid for them.......and we had worked with bigger horses who never gave us this much trouble but bare in mind the bigger horses we had were imprinted and handled from birth....these two obviously weren't handled at all and were allowed to run wild.....until being caught and sold for purchase. We loved these little guys and thought we could fix them and their wildness.....one of them we could do more with than the other.....but not much....but at least you could ......they even tried hurting our sons.....bucking and kicking whenever you tried to do anything with them. Well after about a year or so of dealing with this chaos.....and worried they would hurt our kids.....and omg if they ever broke through the fence you would never be able to catch them......and then the little horses started chasing each other....which I understand horses will do that......but we were reassured that they would get along.....well they DIDN'T.....they constantly fought......and we had to seperate them......which really was bad..........we decided to try once again and try not to give up on them.......but through this craziness and 2 years of trying to catch and tame these little horses that were and should have been able to be handled from day one.....finally we decided it was best if we sold these two......they were becoming worse and worse and were a threat to us and our kids and were on the brink of hurting us or themselves. We did manage to find homes for them......and made the new owners aware of their wildness that they weren't tame at all and that they were like that when we had purchased them and explained our situation.....and not to let them around kids being this wild.......the one little mini went to a good home and was allowed to be a pasture mate with cows and a donkey so they didn't care he was wild....as far as the other one.....I'm not sure what became of him....as we lost contact with their new owners......I hope they are doing well and hope they aren't being passed around because of what I see as bad breeding/raising/deceitful information. We feel that it wasn't right that we were allowed to purchase these horses not knowing that they were that wild and the previous owners/breeders should have said something about them being that wild or that they hadn't handled them until right before they tied them up and we bought them. We feel that that we really should have done our homework......but in the same sense people like this shouldn't be allowed to sell or pass off horses that are that wild and have trust issues because they were never handled. They would be great to leave out in the pasture and eat grass or look at.....but if you wanted a horse/mini that came up to you and enjoyed your company.... a great little horse that is fun to be around......then these two weren't it at all. I mean they were far from what I had pictured and had experienced in my days of horse ownership. So I did learn something from this.....go in several trips to a place where you're purchasing a horse/mini and spend time with it......watch their behavior.....and if anything seems odd....walk away....you don't have to purchase it because they are so cute and adoreable.......there are a lot of little horses.....great horsies out there that need loving homes that have wonderful temperaments and are easy to catch and handle that you aren't afraid will hurt you or your kids.....and the most important thing.....have the owner put the horse/mini in an area/pasture and see if you can just walk up and catch it.....and if it exhibits head shyness or any signs of extreme timidness like these two did....please save yourself some grief and heartache. It's just not worth it. Learn from my mistake. Because not only is soundness and health important but so is it's temperament and behavior..... I'm not putting Mystic Valley Mini Horse Farm in Peebles or their owners down in any way.....I'm just saying that what we went through and how we weren't told of these horses upbringing and habits and their behavior due to not being handled was very wrong and misleading....I don't condone their methods of breeding/raising for this reason......but that's my and several others opinions due to our situations and honestly no one should have to go through that and neither should a horse.....because they become a problem and then continue to be passed around because no one can or wants to deal with this issue. We had tried to purchase another two mini's from separate locations later on a few years ago.....and upon going to the one residence they already had the mini caught just like at Mystic Valley Mini Horse Farm....which was a red flag and then upon talking to them they said that they had purchased the horse from the same mini horse farm and that they had to sell him because he was just too much for them to handle and their kids and they bought a different one from someone else who was easily handled. Also another mini I had wanted to purchase.....they raised minis and they had purchased a mare from them to use as a broodmare and she was the only horse that they couldn't catch in the field.....they didn't use her for nothing but breeding but it was still a pain for them to work around when she foaled.......I've also talked to several others on the internet trying to sell mini's they had purchased from there......who like us had the same *wild mini* problem........I'm not saying all of the horses you purchase from them are bad....I'm just saying considering several people we've talked to and dealt with have like us.....dealt with purchasing *wild horses* from this breeder.....and have in turn had to sell or give these horses away......so *caveat emptor*(buyer beware)......and in closing I'd like to say don't let this deter you from buying these wonderful little horses......even from this breeder.....just know before hand what you're going into before you buy......it will save you so much time and heartache. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I'm sorry if I stepped on any toes or offended anyone it wasn't meant that way.....just informing others of what we and others have gone through with this breeder.....as I wish I had found information like this when we started our journey to mini horse ownership.....would have saved us a lot of grief.....but I assure you we learned a long a valuable lesson from all of this and I hope that if someone else reading this is more cautious when buying/purchasing then thank you
