Amish Horses Tour (1)

 Jump up here on the buggy seat beside me, and I'll take you on an Amish Horses Tour of Northern Indiana. There is nothing quite like looking over the fences on a quiet country road.

 I took these pictures in LaGrange and Elkhart Counties about a month ago. I have so many great photos that I decided to split them into two blog posts. This is your first installment of the tour.

 Touring through Amish communities is one of my favorite things to do in life. Looking at the beautiful horses is the highlight for me. I try to snap a few pictures in hopes that my blog followers can get a taste of what I'm experiencing.

 Some moments are breathtaking and surreal. 

 Other moments are just too sweet for words!

 As you can see, I enjoy driving at sunup and sundown, my two favorite times of the day.

 I like to say, "If you are driving through an Amish community, any direction you go is the right one."

 All of these pictures are of horses in pastures except this bottom one. This little guy found himself on the outside of the fence, and I think he was trying to figure out how to get back to Mama.

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Amish Garden Tour

 The sun rises on an Amish farm and garden near Shipshewana, Indiana.

As an author of Amish fiction, driving down country roads in Amish country is very inspiring! I'm mostly looking for draft horses. However, I've learned to appreciate the gardens I see while looking for Amish horses. I decided my blog followers might enjoy a tour of Amish gardens.

 Hoop buildings are popular on Amish farms. They can be used for livestock and equipment. Notice the grapevines in this photo. The sweet corn made more beautiful with a flower bed.

 This entire field of corn has been lined with flowers. Maybe these flowers ward off bugs? That is one reason Amish line their gardens with certain types of flowers. If you want to know more about what types of flowers work like that, ask an Amish person or google it. I'm sorry but I'm an author and a horse person, not a gardener. I don't know the answer.

 This farm near Kalona, Iowa fits my ideal of a perfect Amish farm. As with most Amish farms, there are multiple gardens, fruit trees, and grapevines.

 This Amish farm has a church wagon in the drive. Since Amish church is moved from farm to farm they use wagons carry benches, songbooks, and tableware from farm to farm.

As with many Amish gardens, good luck finding a weed. I passed by this farm near Arthur, Illinois twice. The first time there was a teenage girl sitting between the rows working. I didn't feel like I should take her pic. She finished her work and headed inside before I came back by.

This is one of my favorites garden pics. A very common sight in Amish country... families working in the garden together. This picture was taken near my home in Iowa. I didn't mind the pic of people because they are facing the other way and hard to identify.

 Another classic Amish farm scene. Wagonload of hay in front of the silo. Grapevines on the side.

We have flower sales in the Kalona area. I love seeing horse-drawn wagon-loads of flowers heading into the auction barn. (Is this France?)

Pastels

 Another garden lined with pink flowers.

And the finished product: Strawberry pie.

I have more garden photos on my Amish Horses Facebook page.

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Shades of Blue

How about a few winter scenes from Amish country?


This horse is enjoying the power of solar heat on a chilly morning.


Note: people often panic about how cold horses must be. Keep in mind that they, like deer, buffalo, cattle, moose and other creatures, have built-in defenses for all weather conditions.
Fortunately, horses and cattle have people providing them with food, open water, and shelter. Deer, buffalo and other wild animals have to fend for themselves.

 Snow and cold make farm life difficult. Amish people don't let it keep them from doing what must be done.

 Many hands make light work.

 Dashing through the snow.

 Winter shades of blue and gray with a hint of fire!

 Horses know how to stay out of the wind and how to use solar power.

 Sometimes you have to shovel around a gate to get the thing open!

Amish Getaway

My wife and I recently enjoyed a wonderful Amish getaway!

I can't offer you a whole week on an Amish farm like the Heller family experiences in my novella Amish Park, but I have a great suggestion.

We spent a weekend in Shipshewana, Indiana. Let me tell you what to look for and offer ideas about where to stay, shop, and eat.

We stayed just a mile or two north a Shipshewana in one of these little log cabins.

Shipshewana North Park Campground

They were about the same price as an average hotel room and so cute!

The sound of horses pulling buggies can be heard as you sit on the front porch.

I have no connection with this campground and I'm not getting anything for suggesting it... I just want to help you enjoy a fun Amish getaway.

After waking up and savoring a cup of coffee on the porch swing, head on into Shipshewana for a family style meal.


We love the Blue Gate Restaurant located at the only stoplight in downtown Shipshewana.





Be sure to try the Amish peanut butter on homemade rolls. I promise you it is authentic and exactly what you would have if you visited an Amish (on the farm) church service. Some of the cooks and servers are actually Amish.

For entertainment: There are usually plays depicting Amish life on stage at the Blue Gate Theater

Downtown Shipshewana has several shopping malls and a plethora of gift shops to stroll through.

You will see Amish buggies clip-clopping past as you walk. Not to mention Amish families shopping alongside you.

This display (these are dolls about two-foot tall) of Amish girls playing volleyball is in a front yard between the campground and the restaurant. Amish young people LOVE volleyball and they are good at it! (Notice the girl rising above the net to spike the ball.) Almost every one of my books mentions Amish teens playing volleyball because it is a huge part of Amish teenage life. Check out my books. They are authentic, based on my nearly forty years of experience in an Amish community.  Author Thomas Nye

My favorite thing to do while visiting Shipshewana is driving around the countryside.

You will find scores of Amish owned stores that welcome the public. These businesses are scattered around the area on Amish farms.






Take time to drink in the beauty of Amish farms in the area. (And they are BEAUTIFUL.) Listen to the wonderful melody of horse hooves and the rumbling of buggy wheels. It has to be about my favorite sound in the world. If you are interested in Amish life, I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Amish (Horses) Paradise

 If you love horses... you need to visit Shipshewana and the surrounding area.

My wife and I visited Middlebury and Shipshewana last weekend and for me, it's an Amish Paradise!

Draft horses are everywhere! I saw a few Percherons but for the most part, the Amish here use Belgians.

 My wife is not horse crazy like me. However, she enjoyed our drive that lasted for hours... I mean hours! There are miles and miles of Amish farms. Gardens with vegetables and flowers. Hundreds of shops to visit in town and on Amish farms. Buggies coming and going to and fro. Amish people on bikes. Little children driving ponies. Yes, I kid you not, it IS an Amish Paradise!

 Pastures were lush and green.

 White houses and barns set off the green fields.

 Fences and horses are close to the road in areas.

Streams, ponds, rivers, and lakes make everything even more heavenly. This is the area that inspired my novella, Amish Park. A story about one modern family's experiences as they vacation on an Amish farm. This part of Indiana is an Amish (Horses) Paradise!

Horseman Bachelor/Bachelorette

In reality, it is both wonderful and terrible to choose between a group of beautiful girls.

I get to keep all four of these dolls in my life, they're my daughters. However, over the next few days, I need to make a decision that is about as tough as anyone on the Bachelor show has had to face.

It turns our that I have to choose between four amazing Percheron mares. It may seem like a wonderful opportunity, and it is. But, it's also a terrible dilemma.

Let me give you a quick history in how I fell into such a burning ring-of-fire.

Between my home place and Kalona lay ten miles of rolling Iowa farmlands. Most of the farms are Amish owned. Yes, it is a virtual paradise for a man who loves draft horses as much as I do. So much so, that I wrote three full-length novels about my experiences in this heavenly place. If you have read my first book, you will know what a kind, gentle horseman Grandpa was. My Amish friend that I bought Karm and Coke from is about as close to Grandpa as he could be. Every time I step onto his farm I learn something new about horses.

My Amish friend is at a transition point in his life, he is going to be moving into the "grandpa house" and his son-in-law will be the main farmer. He wanted to borrow my horses back one last time before that happened. While they were at his farm, all four mares got a chance to be reunited. My friend told me that I could take home whichever two horses I want. They are all four amazing. I didn't hesitate to say, "I'll take my own two back home." There was one huge problem, though, one of the horses is a full sister to Karma, the best horse I've ever owned. My Amish friend and I had many conversations about it, and we both agree that Karm and her full sister make a better match in multiple ways than Karm and Coke. You see, Coke is a beautiful horse but she is a handful. Much like a sheepdog that needs a full-time job, Coke needs to be hitched often to keep her out of mischief. She will get that if she stays on the Amish farm.

Since all four horses were happily reunited, and I had the tough job of separating them again, I decided that I might as well give Karla a try. I brought her home on a ten-day trial basis. What I didn't see coming was that I was about to fall into the same ring-of-fire every man on the Bachelor show falls into. I fell in love with multiple girls and I can't have them all.

Over the next few days, I will have to give a rose to one of these two beautiful girls and say goodbye to the other. I am in a most wonderful and terrible predicament. Pray for me and I will let you know what happens in a week, or so.