The Continuing Saga of Karla and Mushka

 

Hello Friends-

If you follow this blog, you are probably wondering how Karla and Mushka are getting along.

We had the normal issues horses have with deciding dominance. It should not be understood the same way as humans working out a relationship. Horses have their own way. It involves a pecking order that must be established.

Once this is decided (Karla is one up in the order) they then have to decide if they like each other. Karla and Mushka are getting along great.

I let this play out before I even tried hitching them up. Many a "Cowboy" or Amish person would have hitched them the first day. I'm not that brave.

My personal strategy is to do like the horses and work out my place as a kind leader. If you work with horses they should see you as someone they can trust and turn to for leadership.

After we established Tom as a friend and leader, we moved to getting harnessed up and finally hitched.

Mushka pushed her head through the collar when I held it in front of her, revealing she was not afraid of it and in fact, extremely comfortable with a collar.

We had a few snags along the way. The first struggle is that I know nothing about Mushka and her past experience. She seems kind and calm. I found out she hates to have fly spray near her head. Unfortunately, I got brave because she didn't seem to mind being spayed until I got near her head and she went ballistic. She hauled back and tried to break free of her tie rope. This is not a good sign! This caused me to lose confidence in her. What if she tries to haul back while in the harness with Karla?

In the end, everything has gone smoothly. Mushka does seem a little prone to haul back on her halter. This is an extremely bad habit for a horse and can be quite dangerous. When we were finally hitched to my flat sled, everything seemed calm. I will say, Mushka acted a little confused. My guess is that her experience is as a single horse pulling a cart. She did not panic or resist being hitched at all, but she did not seem comfortable with a wagon tongue. She did not show fear, just a little confused by it.

All in all, I'm satisfied. It's not the same without Karma, but we will have a lot of fun with Mushka.

Starving?

 When I starting writing books about the Amish and horses, my brand became "Amish Horses."

Little did I know that I was diving into a controversy.

My Amish neighbors are experts with horses and take great care of their steeds. Apparently, other people have had the misfortune of witnessing something to the contrary.

It is not wise to lump an entire race or ethnic group into a pot and label them. That is called profiling.

Each person in every people group should have the right to be seen and known for who they are as an individual, not pre-judged.

Beautifully fit workhorses on an Amish farm.

I would love to mediate between those who have never met an Amish person and my Amish neighbors.

First of all, let me acknowledge the truth in some of these accusations. Yes, unfortunately, there are some individuals in every people group that are cruel to animals or other humans. But, let's not accuse all NFL players of using dogs wrongly because we heard about a few who did.

The first thing you should know about the Amish and why their horses look so thin: Amish use a breed of horse that is naturally thin. The best breeds for pulling a buggy are trotters and pacers, horses that have been bred for hundreds of years for use on racetracks. This would be much akin to the dog breed, Grayhound. What if you owned a Grayhound and your neighbors didn't understand that these dogs are born looking hungry.

Some of the kindest people I have ever met are Amish. I have personally known elderly Amish men that love their horses like family members, caring for them tenderly, weeping when they pass away at a ripe old age. I've also known sweet little Amish children that love their ponies as much or more than city kids love their dogs.

I promise that you will find many a fat pony and overweight draft horse on Amish farms all over America. There is a good explanation for this: draft horse and pony breeds are naturally "easy keepers" unlike trotting horses. Workhorses would be more like Bulldogs and ponies like Pugs.

I have traveled all over the U.S.A. visiting Amish communities and I have found that most Amish horses are dearly loved by their owners. I will admit that have witnessed a minority that are less than enthused about their horses, and even a few that are harsh.

If you know of an individual that mistreats an animal, you should be bold enough to speak to them about it. Please, don't hide behind your computer and toss accusations against an entire people group.

Instead, take time to look for the good in people. You will be pleasantly surprised when you personally get acquainted with Amish people.