- Skills / Disciplines
- All Around, Beginner, Companion, English Pleasure, Foundation, Finished, Flashy, Kid Safe, Lesson, Pony Club, Ridden English, Ridden Western, Trail, Trail Riding, Trained, Trail Class Competition, Western Pleasure, Western Riding, Working Equitation, Youth
Additional Comments
Annie is the kind of horse so many parents hope to find for their child. She is exceptionally quiet, gentle, forgiving, and far more interested in taking care of her rider than going anywhere in a hurry.
Annie is only being offered for sale because of the unexpected passing of our father. This is not an easy sale, and finding the right home for her matters very much to us.
Her registered name is Shields Yo Yo Annie. She is a 21 year old AQHA bay roan mare standing 14.... (read more) 3 hands. Annie has the substantial bone, sturdy build, and traditional look people appreciate in a foundation Quarter Horse. Her bay roan coloring and the silvery strands throughout her mane make her especially pretty and memorable.
Annie has been part of our family for around eight years. Our dad originally bought her with plans to breed her because he appreciated her foundation breeding, build, and temperament. Life went in a different direction, and Annie never had a foal. Instead, she spent those years passing something equally meaningful along: confidence, patience, and a love of horses to the many children she helped teach.
Annie came from an Oklahoma ranch breeding program and carries old Hancock bloodlines that trace back through an important part of Quarter Horse history. Some of these older ranch bloodlines are becoming increasingly difficult to find in modern pedigrees. Our dad originally bought Annie hoping she would raise a foal and carry that heritage into another generation. Although that never happened, Annie has spent years helping raise another kind of generation instead...the children she has patiently taught to ride. In her own beautiful way, she has still passed along the very best of herself.
For at least the past five years, Annie has been part of our children’s summer camp and lesson program. Many children have learned the basics of riding and caring for a horse with Annie. Campers have caught her, led her, groomed her, saddled her, picked up her feet, and ridden her. She is patient with inexperienced riders, forgiving of beginner mistakes, and very much a “more whoa than go” kind of mare.
Her experience with children is not something we are describing only from years past. Just within the past few days, Annie carried three little girls (ages two, four, and six) at the walk and trot. The 4 & 6 year olds were led for part of their rides and also rode her independently under supervision. That is our Annie. She’s the exceptionally quiet, gentle horse our family continues to trust with even its smallest riders.
She has been ridden both Western and English and will ride independently in the arena or head out alone. Annie direct reins and neck reins and willingly steers, stops, and changes gaits.
Annie has also been ridden out on the trail and has experience with the typical terrain and activity found here in Pennsylvania. She has encountered steep hills, rocks, bridges, water, brush, woods, open fields, roads and traffic, wildlife, dogs, bicycles, vehicles, farm machinery, equipment, and trail obstacles. She has the kind of patient, sensible nature that has allowed her to be successfully used in many different situations.
It goes without saying a horse like her is so hard to find! Anyone who has ever searched for a truly quiet first horse knows just how hard a mare like Annie is to find. Plenty of horses are described as gentle, but it is something entirely different to watch one patiently carry a 2 year old and then take care of 4 and 6 year olds as they begin riding on their own. Annie has earned our trust over many years and through many children, one ride at a time. That kind of patience, experience, and naturally good heart simply cannot be replaced easily. If circumstances were different she would not be for sale!!!!
Annie traditionally had time off during the late fall and winter before returning to work in the spring. She has consistently handled that schedule well and comes back to riding easily. That is a wonderful quality for a child, family, or recreational rider whose own riding schedule may change with the seasons.
Annie is sweet and loving on the ground and genuinely enjoys being around people. She ties, stands quietly for mounting, accepts fly spray, bathes, picks up all four feet, and behaves well for the farrier and veterinarian. She loads, unloads, and hauls well.
She is comfortable living outside in the pasture or spending time in a stall, and she gets along with both mares and geldings. Annie is currently shod but has also routinely been kept barefoot for approximately half the year. Annie’s teeth were floated in August 2026 and the equine dentist commented that her teeth are in excellent condition for her age. She has no known vices, health concerns, or special maintenance requirements.
Annie is AQHA registered, and we have her papers and a signed transfer. Her pedigree includes Robin JP Hancock, JP Hancock, Blue Boy Hancock, Hancocks Double, Frosty Yo Yo, and other recognizable Hancock and foundation bloodlines.
At 21, we know Annie is not being represented as a young performance prospect. Her value is found in something much harder to create and honestly difficult to find: years of genuine experience, an exceptionally quiet disposition, patience with children, & a long history of being the horse trusted with beginner riders.
She is the kind of mare a child can learn to catch, groom, lead, and ride… the kind who can help turn nervousness into confidence and a first lesson into a lifelong love of horses. She is unbelievably gentle, naturally unhurried, and very easy to love. We will honestly have a very hard time seeing her go onto her new family.
We want Annie to go to a home that understands how special a horse like her truly is. We hope to find a child or family who will appreciate her patience, protect her as she grows older, and give her the same kindness and security she has given so many young riders. She deserves to be someone’s treasured first horse and to spend her next chapter being loved every bit as much as she has been here.
Located in Northeast Pennsylvania, 18470.
Nationwide shipping can be arranged for an additional fee. Buyers from outside the area are welcome to contact us.
Please message for more information, videos, or to schedule a time to meet Annie.
If Annie is not quite what you are looking for, please feel free to reach out. As our family works through the dispersal of our horses, saddles, and tack following the untimely passing of our father, we have several horses available and may have a different one who would be a better fit.
Our dad spent his lifetime in the horse industry and more than 40 years building his life with horses on our family farm. We are the third generation of our family here, and horses have always been a big part of our lives. We are especially proud of the lesson and camp horses we have right now. They are honestly one of the best groups we have ever had, and finding good homes for them matters a great deal to us.
Shipping Notes
Nationwide shipping can be arranged for an additional fee. Buyers from outside the area are welcome to contact us.
