Amish Harness Shop

 There are at least three Amish harness shops within 15 miles of my home.
I've done business with all three and enjoy stopping in at each of them as often as possible.
This picture (on the left) I snapped a few weeks ago. The harness maker is leading his horse away from a buggy. That's my hand in the foreground.
Everyone I know calls this harness maker, Davey Dutch. Mennonites and Amish are big on nicknames, partly because so many people have the same name

 Our little dog, Wesley, keeps breaking those little nylon collars we buy at Walmart, so I used an old piece of horse harness as a collar.

My wife said that my old harness part looked nasty and I should stop in at my Amish friend's shop and have him make a new one.
I took her advice.
Davey Dutch spent 15-20 minutes cutting a piece of leather, punching holes and crimping the ends. I stood and watched, listening to a crackling fire in his wood-burning stove.

When he finished his work, Davey handed me the new collar and said, "That must be a small dog you have."
The little collar did seem tiny.
He headed to the cash register and said, "I'll call that scrap leather. You can give me $2.00.

Granddaughter Lyla and Wesley

Amish harness shops are amazing!

Who wouldn't rather have a custom Amish-made leather collar than an el-cheapo nylon one that costs 4times more?