A Tribute to Karma

Once in a lifetime, a special friend comes along that you'll never forget. Karma touched my life that way.  Our Karma happened to weigh in close to one ton. (2000 lbs) She could pull a plow like a tank and share a tender moment with a child. Some horses are sassy and some are skittish. Karma was a rock. She wasn't a needy horse, not begging for attention, yet she seemed to understand that humans enjoyed being in her presence. Almost as if she understood that her immense size combined with her soft muzzle and gentle disposition brought something special into the life of us much smaller humans. As though she knew people long to connect with large beasts, yet fear what damage they could do to us. She was there as an open door for that kind of interaction. 

Karma was born in 2000 on an Amish farm about 5 miles from my place. She came to live here in 2007 with another mare named, Coke. Coke was Karma's niece. She gave birth twice but both foals died mysteriously within a few days. Afterward, she tried to adopt foals away from other mares.

In 2017 I traded Coke for Karma's sister Karla. If you want to learn why I made that move, click on this link: Why Trade Horses and the sequel post Part 2 of the Trade

One good friend of ours came to visit in a wheelchair. Karla (Karma's sister) seemed nervous about the unusual wheeled vehicle. Karma came close and leaned her soft muzzle close to our wheelchair-bound friend allowing for a sweet moment of connection between them.

Good Karma

It may surprise you to know that an Amish family named their horse Karma. I don't think they had the religious term in mind. All of their horses have names starting with the K sound. 

One of my friends heard that my Karma passed away. He said, "We can't afford to lose any good karma these days."

I've posted hundreds of pictures of Karma online. She has been the heart of my Amish Horses Facebook page: Amish Horses on Facebook and of this blog: Amish Horses. The Amish Horses Blog has been viewed by individuals in almost every country of the world and has over 250,000 views.

Karma donned the covers of 4 books. These books have been read on 3 continents. Books with Karma on the cover are in homes all over America in almost every state. Karma also appeared in a TV show, Rural Heritage. The show aired twice on national television and has over 30,000 views on Youtube. Here is a link if you want to watch: Amish Horses in Print She, Karma, has never traveled over 10 miles from the Amish farm where she was born. However, without leaving the farm, she brought joy to people the world over.

Karma and Karla (her sister) are the inspiration behind the horses in my novels. I've had the pleasure of having many horses over the years, but Karma wins the blue ribbon for personality, good looks, and being the best in harness.

My granddaughters were quite willing to dress like little Amish girls for this cover pic. They were very comfortable sitting on the horses anyway. In fact, the little girls begged me to set them up on horseback every chance they got.

Not only did Karma and her teammates appear on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube, they appeared with some incredibly scenic skies. That is me with Karma and Karla under some heavenly skies.

My grandchildren developed a wonderful bond with Karma and her sister Karla. They love sitting on and giving big hugs to both horses.

They also spent hours braiding Karm and Karla's manes. 

Karma and Karla gave many wagon rides to family and friends. The horses even enjoyed a few picnics with our family. Karma showed great patience with all children visitors and she had many. She even seemed to take special care to keep them safely on board.  

Karma seemed to enjoy all of the attention she got from children. Not only could more than one child sit on her at a time, but the children could also crawl all over her back.

I wrote a short story about how I came to own the team of horses, Karma and Coke. If you are interested in reading it for free, click on this link: Back in Time

I must say goodbye to my dear friend Karma for now. However, I fully expect to see her grazing the green grasses of heaven someday.