The Percherons of Prescott

WALLA WALLA - Eight years ago, Jim and Amy Fenley, of Prescott, had the vision to fill a need in the wedding industry by offering horse and carriage services. The couple, married for fifteen years, share a love of horses.

"Everyone thinks girls love the horses so much, but when Jim and I met he had two horses and I had one" Amy said.

Their ten-acre farm is busy with eight horses and two miniature ponies.

The Times arrived at the Prescott ranch last weekend, to find Jim and Amy working with their team. The visit revealed an obvious love for their three draft horses and a strong willingness to provide a great experience for their customers.

As opportunities grew in the active summer months in Walla Walla, the couple began taking their team downtown on the weekends to "panhandle" as Jim put it. Providing taxi-on-demand in the most elegant manner; a time- honored tradition that is still greatly appreciated in major cities.

AJ Carriages also enjoys providing transportation for the Walla Walla Historic Homes tour.

"There's a lot of history in those older homes in Walla Walla. We enjoy getting to be a part of it," Fenley said. "We meet interesting people from all over the country."

Waitsburg's Pioneer Fall Festival the Fall Festival in Dayton provide more opportunities for the horses to display their talent and beauty. Local groups cover the cost making the rides free to the public.

The team has also been working the Pendleton Round-Up Parade and sometimes serves in military funeral services.

"The horses do great in public. They enjoy doing what they do, and like the people," Jim said.

The first Percheron the couple purchased was Maddock. The premier pure-bred white Percheron male was part of a team being sold to a buyer from British Columbia.

The buyer wanted a full team that measured eighteen hands tall or taller. Maddock stands at seventeen-and-a-half and was cut from the team and from the transaction.

He became available for sale and the Prescott couple made the leap to a draft horse. Jim feels fortunate that they ended up with the one cut from the team.

"We talked to a guy who knows that other team well and he swears we got the best one of the three," Jim said.

Maddock displays typical Percheron demeanor - friendly, intelligent and willing to work. At age fourteen, he is very much in his prime. Likely to live into his thirties, he will probably retire in his mid to late twenties.

Ned and Jed are black 13-year-old half-brothers. They are not pure of breed, but match Maddock for friendliness, intelligence and workability. The two are nearly identical except that Jed has one white rear hoof and one black, with some white on the shoulder. Ned and Jed are slightly less in stature than Maddock, at about sixteen-and-a-half hands tall and weighing about sixteen-hundred pounds each.

The Percherons originally hail from western France and were bred for work as well as wartime. In the fields, these horses can go in places and elements that some tractors cannot. T

he largest population of Percherons in the world is in the United States. They are valued as working horses and sell from $1,000 to $10,000. Their average height it sixteen-and-a-half hands tall and they can weigh as much as 2,000 pounds, equal to that of an average Clydesdale.

Learn more about AJ Carriages of Walla Walla on Facebook.