Amish are Happy People

 I sat at this little booth all day selling books.  This picture was taken at about 8:00 am, when I first set up, but by about noon the place was so packed a person could barely see this table.  At one point I looked around and realized I was completely surrounded by Amish people.  The thought crossed my mind, that I could get some great pictures without anyone knowing it.  Then, I reminded myself that many of these Amish were my good friends and I know they don't want their pictures taken.  Why would I do that?

It would have been fun to share that moment with you, my reader, but I just couldn't let down my Amish friends!  So, instead of taking pictures, I sat and watched all the Amish folks visiting.  And I noticed something, they were all smiling.  When Amish are in town they often seem stern and quiet.  If you can visit Amish people in their own environment you will find something else; they love to tease and have fun.

During the day, I got a chance to visit with several of my Amish friends. I gave a copy of Under the Heavens to the man I bought Karm and Coke from, he was excited to see his old horses on the cover. Another Amish friend bought a book from me, and made a comment as he did, "I helped you write this book."  He didn't know how true that was!

By the time this horse pull was taking place, all the local Amish had gone home.  Kalona Amish don't believe in contests of any type, including horse pulls. There are some Amish people in these horse pull pictures but not from our community; it is off limits.

Kalona Amish 1978

These pictures were taken in 1978.

A retired couple that lives on my mail route recently read my Amish novel. After reading it Jerry told me about these pictures he had taken in 1978 near Kalona.  I think his photography is great.

There were several things I noticed, such as the cars in the background, which look outdated.

 You may also notice that the Amish haven't changed much during that same time.  These pictures could have been taken this afternoon, minus the old cars.

The picture of corn shocks (below) reveals a change among Amish in Kalona.  I haven't seen any corn shocks in a really long time.  We still have a few families in our area that shock oats, but not corn.

Buggies, at first glance, look exactly the same in 2014 as they did in 1978.

I moved to the Kalona area in 1980 and have noticed changes in Amish buggies.  They now have headlights, which didn't exist in our community until only a few years ago.

Jerry took a number of other great pictures in 1978 but I am saving those for other blog posts.  Keep checking in on this blog and you will be blessed with many more great pictures!

If you see one you really like and want to purchase a print, Jerry said that he would be willing to accommodate that.  Simply email me at amishhorses@outlook.com and I will get you in touch with Jerry!

Amish Horses For Sale

Are you looking to buy horses from the Amish

I think I can help you!

This is a Help Page,

    How to buy horses from the Amish in thee easy steps.

 1) Horses owned and trained by the Amish are available for sale throughout much of the U.S.
Because most Amish communities don't have electricity or computers, it is difficult to find these buying opportunities online. 

 Don't give up ...  there are websites 

 I will share them with you.

2) The easiest (and maybe the best) way to buy horses from the Amish, might be at auction facilities. 

 There are large sales held every spring and fall called Draft Horse Sales. These events draw many Amish sellers and buyers.  There are usually buggy and riding horses available at these sales also. 

        (Good Horses)  Scroll down for Sale Barn Links.

Buyer Beware!  Just because an Amish person is driving a horse through a sale ring doesn't mean they own the horse or even trained it. Many Amish are paid to drive horses through the ring because they are great horsemen, making horses look better.  Before the auction starts talk to the horse owner.  Most Amish people are very honest, if you ask them straight out, they will tell you if they raised or trained the horse.

 3) If you want to buy from an Amish family on their own farm, that is quite possible!

It is actually very easy to find horses for sale in any Amish community.  Horses are a huge part of Amish life, anywhere there are Amish, there are horses. Most Amish folks are excellent businessmen and love to wheel and deal! Another feature of Amish communities which make them great places to do business is that they are extremely close-knit.  This makes it very simple to find what you're looking for.  Merely stop at the first Amish farm or business you come to and tell them what you are looking for, more than likely they will know exactly where you can find it.

If your first Amish encounter seems difficult, don't give up. 

Many Amish people are reluctant to open themselves up to strangers. Be persistent. Once they take you in, most Amish people will go to great lengths to help in any way they can. I am Thomas Nye and I wrote a book based on my experience buying horses from my Amish neighbors.

This book is about draft horses from cover to cover.

Under the Heavens is more of a draft horse manual than a novel.
Click here to find out more:  Under the Heavens

"I thoroughly enjoyed Under the Heavens. So much so that I hurried and read the next two and then the novella... It was a great story, a bible study, and training manual for draft horses all in one." 

                                                                                    Jack

"Such an enjoyable adventure into the Amish faith and lifestyle. I enjoyed the book and went out and bought 4 copies to give away as presents. I am now a follower of the Iowa Author Thomas Nye. I have sat down many times to re-read and enjoy this story."

                                                                             Curtis

Links

State by State Amish Community Guide

Click on the link to find an Amish community near you!

http://amishamerica.com/amish-state-guide/

Horse Sale Links

Kalona Draft Horse Sale

http://www.kalonasalesbarn.com/home/       

Mid Ohio Draft Horse Sale

Multiple Draft Horse Sale Dates if you click on events... 

 (Draft Horse Journal)   Draft Horse Sales

Belgians at the Horse Sale

This Belgian horse is one big boy!  I tried to take my picture in front of him to give some perspective but it didn't work that well.

Yesterday was a great day for me.  My wife and I went up to the Waverly Draft Horse Sale and spent the day.  I sold copies of my novel, Under the Heavens, which happens to be a book about draft horses.

There are always Amish people at draft horse sales.  Many of them stopped to look at my book, and a few bought copies!  I am hoping they will send me a note, telling me what they thought.  There is a P.O. Box address on the back of my book, so that Amish will have a way to contact me.  Of course, I welcome letters from anyone at this address.
Amish Horses
P.O. Box 495
Kalona, Iowa 52247

These Belgian horses were big and beautiful.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I am a Percheron man.  Even though I own a team of black Percheron horses, I still enjoy looking at Belgians, Clydesdales, and every other breed of horse.

If you enjoy looking at horses, click on this link below.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/set=a.144988085694409.1073741834.135416786651539&type=3

Hay Sale

 Hay is a precious commodity this time of year. Mountains of bales, round and square get stacked up one day and hauled off the next.

Kalona is one of many rural communities that are fueled by hay.  Cattle, horses, sheep and now days goats all need their staple, hay!  Almost all Amish farms in the Kalona area now have milk goats, only five years ago they all milked cows.

A local Amish man I know said recently, "When I go to sell my dairy herd, I will have to take them to the exotic sale!"

If you are looking for good hay, check out the Kalona Sale Barn, they have a hay sale every week.
http://www.kalonasalesbarn.com/home/

There is also a Auction house near Frytown that has a hay sale every Wednesday.  Here is their link
 http://www.yoderauctionservice.com/

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Step Back in Time

 Amish children walking home from school

near Hazleton, Iowa

 We stopped in the Hazleton Amish community today.  As usual, when I get into an Amish area, I stop in the first gas station and ask the attendant, "What direction do all the Amish live?"  They normally point, "Over that way" and off I go.  Every now and then, they hand me a brochure giving directions to help find Amish stores.  The Hazleton Commercial Club put out a fantastic map of this area, complete with dots showing all known Amish farms in the area and numbered business locations. As we arrived at #4 Plainview Country Store, we saw this man hauling manure. (The store is in the background) He and his horses didn't seem to notice that their field was mostly under water.

 This picture was taken in the parking lot of Plainview Country Store, a dry goods store with a variety of interesting items.  I bought some Maple Creme Nut Clusters, I'm eating one right now and they are crazy good! We enjoyed watching some little Amish children teetering around in the yard but I didn't get a picture of them.  I liked how the wash-line headed up over the buggies.  A teenage girl came out and started reeling in the dry clothes shortly after I took this picture. Her clothes line is on a pulley system between the house and the barn. She stood on the edge of the porch and gathered everything in from that one spot.

This picture was taken near another interesting store, not on the map, named 150 Discount.  Easy to find because it is just off of Hwy 150 on 150th St.  A really nice young couple run this place and I recommend it as another great variety shop.  Step back in time and visit an Amish community today!

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just click on the link above

Tour Kalona

If your looking for a relaxing weekend in a quiet Amish/Mennonite community, Kalona may be the perfect spot.

Kalona has a number of quaint shops to visit.  The Rug Cottage Country Store is between Iowa City and Kalona on Hwy 1.

 This store is beautiful inside and out! Our family has been long time friends with the proprietors and they are great people.  2014 has had a rough start with snow and cold; but the ice is slowly melting and here comes the sun.
Spring will be a perfect time to get out into the countryside and see Amish farmers working up their fields with horses.

 As you can see (pictured below) The Rug Cottage also carries, Under the Heavens.  This novel is about a fictitious place "Bull Town" but is based on the Kalona area.

On the counter, next to Under the Heavens, is a display of locally raised, un-pasteurized  honey.  Did you know that eating honey, bees have made from local pollen, builds immunity to those allergens. This is a good place to pick up some of that sweet medicine and get immunized before hay-fever replaces cabin-fever.  

This store "Barntiques" Antiques Mall, is located just behind the Rug Cottage, on the same acreage.  You will see a big American flag on Barntiques as your coming up the hill on hwy 1, toward The Rug Cottage.

Amish Quilts and Woodworking

 J & K Creative Wood and Gifts
This beautiful store is located a few miles from Kalona on a gravel road. Don't let gravel discourage you from making a visit, the drive is through scenic Amish country.
Once inside you will find a wide variety of items ranging from handcrafted clipboards and cutting-boards made on site, to amazing Amish made hardwood bedroom suits.

 Amish made quilts hang on the walls filling the place with color, they are all for sale.
You will also find artwork from local artists, framed and ready to display in your home.
The Brokaw family are terrific people and they all take part in running this business.

 Oh, and by the way, did I mention that Under the Heavens, my novel is available here too. A fitting location because it is written based on the Kalona area. I bought my first team of draft horses only a short way from this place, and the first time I drove them was to J & K Wood! The Amish man I bought my horses from was showing me how to drive a team, and we came here to pick up a load of wood shavings. He uses the wood shavings as livestock bedding on his farm.
Here is a link to J & K Wood and Gifts:
http://jkartisans.com/

Harness Shop

 There is nothing like walking into an Amish harness shop.  As soon as you walk in, a rich smell of leather mixed with harness oils and a scent of horses greets you.

If you are a horse person I promise you will be in paradise.  Most shops, like the one pictured above, sell items from saddles to horse wormer, brushes, hoof picks, blankets, bits and a million other such things. Even if your not a horse person, I believe you will enjoy the experience.  Go in and ask if they would be willing to make a custom leather belt, most will.

There are at least three harness shops in the Kalona, Iowa area alone.  I make a point of going to all three even though I have my favorite. (I won't say which one) The shop east of Kalona a few miles and then south on a gravel road has mostly bio-harness.  A nylon covered with a very durable synthetic coating. They also specialize in show harness.

 The shop pictured above is in town, straight north of the Casey's General Store. That is a mostly leather harness shop and happens to be the first place I did business with, when I first bought a team of horses.

A third harness shop specializes in nylon harness, and is located north of the leather harness shop, several miles on a gravel road (the road jogs west a little at one point.)

My two favorite harness makers are now deceased. One of them had a shop a few miles from my home and was one of the kindest men I have ever met.  He was full of horse wisdom and told great stories, many of which appear in my novel, Under the Heavens.  
I am saving his best story for my sequel, about an amazing pony.

My other favorite harness maker told me that he went to grade school with my wife's grandfather.  He was a nylon harness man and also was a very kind, wise horseman, with great stories.  Both of these men I used as examples for my Grandpa character in my novel, so if you read my book, know that there really are men like him out there in Amish communities.

I took a single harness in to this last man mentioned one time, to be repaired.  He told me that it may take a while to fix it and wondered if I had any other errands to run while he worked on it.  I did, so after spending an hour and a half in Kalona, I came back to check on his progress.  He was just finishing up when I got there and then spent what seemed like 5 minutes figuring before he gave me my total bill.  I was getting nervous about the price!  He finally looked up at me and asked, "Does $1.75 sound alright?"  I told him that it sounded awful cheep.  He replied, "Well, I didn't use much material, it was mostly labor."  Don't let me lead you astray, I doubt it will be that cheep when you go in to get a leather belt these days.

Check out Amish Horses Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses
Under the Heavens, on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Heavens-Thomas-Nye/dp/1936746794/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390142726&sr=1-1&keywords=under+the+heavens+thomas+nye

Amish Never Forget

 One day I was driving down a country road a few miles from home and saw a mare with a colt in a small pasture.  The Amish family, who lived on that farm, were all out in the pasture admiring their new addition.  I slowed down, wound down my truck window and called out, "Nice Colt!" They all waived, with big smiles. I didn't know this family at all, but drove by occasionally to look at their horses.

A few years later, I bought a team of horses from this family at the sale barn. They asked to use the horses they sold me, that next spring, for plowing.  I was more than happy to oblige.
They invited me to come plow for a day with a six-horse-hitch, that included my two horses.

Stonewall and Jackson

(the horses I bought from this family)

When I was on their farm, I thought I should ask if they remembered a guy stopping by, one day years ago and hollering, "Nice Colt."  I doubted they would know what I was talking about.  If they did remember, it would surprise them that it was me.  Oh no! That's not how it works with the Amish!  Not only did they already know it was me; they told me, "You know what we were doing that day? We were counting the starlings on the telephone lines."

Most of us Americans are more familiar with celebrities or sports stars than our neighbors.  As a letter carrier, I have found that many people have no idea of their neighbors names. The Amish, on the other hand, are completely community oriented.  Once they know your name, they never forget it!

That day plowing and other experiences I had on their farm are part of the stories I share in my novel, Under the Heavens, http://www.tinyurl.com/underheavens
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