Heart of an Amish Farm

Horses are the heart of an Amish farm.

No matter how little you know about the Amish, one thing is obvious, horses are a big part of daily life in their world. It would be very difficult for most modern people to step into that lifestyle, mostly because of working with horses. I was driving home from work the other day and passed an Amish girl driving a buggy. I noticed her horse was galloping, which is not common for a buggy horse, and usually a sign that there is trouble. Not far down the road was an Amish farm, so I turned into their lane and watched to see if she was going to need help. Her horse was galloping so near the ditch, at one point the wheels on one side had slipped down a foot into the ditch, I was sure her buggy was going to overturn. Somehow she got her horse back under control. By the time she passed me her horse was trotting along fine.

I took this picture from my dinning room window

My novel, Under the Heavens, is all about a teenage boy from town that goes to spend a summer on an Amish farm. His greatest challenge is learning to work with horses. Throughout the story it becomes quite clear, that if you're Amish, working with horses is just part of everyday life, whether you like them or not.

Here is a short clip from a letter I received from an elderly Amishman that read Under the Heavens.

Every letter I've ever gotten from an Amish person began with a scripture verse.

I liked how he used this verse to lead into his statement of thankfulness for "... the useful horse."

In the old days, hoof-beats were the heartbeat of America; those days are gone. Today, we can get a glimpse of what that life was like, by visiting an Amish community. If you step onto an Amish farm, you will soon figure out that horses are at the core of that lifestyle. The heart of an Amish farm.

Amish Cart

 I purchased this old two-wheeled cart at an Amish farm auction. It was old when I bought it in 1992 and that was over twenty years ago now. Believe it or not, it went for $10. I had to take it to another Amishman to have a new tongue put on, which cost me another $15. I have used this little two-wheeled "hitch cart" hundreds, if not thousands of times and it is as good as the day I bought it. (never had a flat tire yet!)

This steel-wheeled cart made it onto the cover of my 1st book, Under the Heavens. I like how simple and authentic it is. It's too bad I don't know how old it really is. It's fun to imagine all the many adventures my cart had on the Amish farm it came from. More than likely, it pulled many a loaded hay-wagon, and barge-box full of grain. It is also quite possible it pulled out numerous vehicles stuck in mud or snow. Carts like this one have been used to pull a dead sow or cow out of the lot, not to mention logs and shrubs.

The wheels make an squeaking sound as they turn, but Karma and Coke don't seem to notice.

Karma spent the first 7 years of her life on an Amish farm and Coke was 4 when I bought her. I know they had a lot of adventures before they came to live with me.

I like to tease them about how easy they have it on my place. I do a lot of the same types of work on my acreage but only a fraction of what work is being done on an Amish farm.

Of course, they had about six other big horses helping when they were on the Amish farm.

Karma is Coke's aunt. Coke's mom was a full sister to Karm. That may be why they work so well together, and look so much alike.

Mennonite Carpenters

My old "horse barn" needed some help soon, or the roof was gonna fall in. I had been telling my brother-in-law that I wanted his crew to come do the work as soon as I could scrounge up the money.

My wife's granddad put up this corn-crib some 80 years ago and my dad-in-law plastered three sides after they stopped using it to store grain. That made it into a wind-tight and useful horse barn. This wooden side (pictured below) was starting to get really weathered. It didn't show from the road, so looks weren't the issue. However, I love this old building and wanted to save it.

You can see in the picture above, that the rafters were getting soft in places. These Mennonite-raised carpenters knew what they were doing and got us all fixed up. I think this barn will outlast me now!

You can see Karm and Coke were displaced for a few weeks, till the carpenters were done. There is a strand of electric fence keeping them out. They seemed to enjoy all the company they had while the crew was working (normally things are pretty quiet.)  I spent about a week with a magnet picking up nails before I let them back in this area. Sure hope I got them all!

My brother-in-law is way up top fixing the peak.

Dan put in a clear piece of siding, for a window to let in light.

Randy and Henry put in the final touches on my doors.

The whole place looks a lot better now, huh? (Rear view: above. From the road: below)

A special thank you to Randy, Dan and Henry.

You guys did a great job... and it was really fun having you around the home place!

(...by the way, this farm was Randy's home place when he was growing up.)

Working with horses on an Amish farm

Under the Heavens, is all about that!

This was one of our cover options for Under the Heavens 

Have you ever looked through the pages of a Draft Horse Journal? If not, you are really missing something wonderful. The Draft Horse Journal is a beautiful magazine that is published quarterly. It is full of well written stories, articles and best of all pictures! Yes, even the advertisements are full color pictures of the most amazing draft horses you've ever seen.

Here are the links to their Facebook page and main website
DHJ Facebook page                    Draft Horse Journal

They also review books!

I took a snapshot out of my copy of The Draft Horse Journal so you could read this review. (with permission from the nice folks at The Draft Horse Journal)

Amazon Link for Under the Heavens

If you are interested in reading about life on an Amish farm, or working with draft horses... this book was written just for you!

Winter on the Farm

Wild horses thrive out west, even in the worst conditions. Yet, people worry about horses on a farm getting cold. Horses are as tough as deer or buffalo. They have it made on a farm where people are providing food and shelter.

Up until around 1920 almost everyone depended on the horse for transportation year around. The Amish help us "Englishers" get an idea of what our great-grandparents lives were like. It wasn't quite like... getting in a warm car, in a heated garage, and jumping out to run into the mall.  Someone has to harness up a horse and hitch it to the buggy before going anywhere. Those buggies don't have a heater in them either.

When you get home, no matter how late, someone has to un-harness, brush and feed the horse. Wintertime is get-by mode on a farm. Amish are hardworking people, who are rarely caught unprepared for cold weather. Barn full of hay, crib full of corn, pantry loaded with canned goods, woodpile heaped up, they are ready for whatever winter brings. When the weather is really bad, chores can take all day. 

You might have to use an Ax to chop open the water tank. Spend extra time bedding down livestock with a fresh layer of straw. Plow snow or shovel the walk. Imagine how nice it is, to finally get inside after fighting the cold for hours, and then sit close to a wood burning stove with the smell of homemade bread circling around you like a wreath. 

 In the picture below, you can see that we have a few Amish homes in Kalona. The city is accommodating for Amish, even providing a shelter for tying horses while shopping.

James (pictured below) is using a team of draft horses to plow snow out of a drive. He is 16 and not sitting on a couch, playing video games, or texting his buds. It was -4 when this picture was taken and this young man is getting a job done. Molly and Mary (his team of Belgians) are more-than-likely happy to have something interesting to do, rather than standing around looking over a fence.

Photo courtesy of Laurie Erwin Gabbert
Interested in reading about Draft Horses and Amish? Read my novel...
Under the Heavens