Hauling Manure~

        I bought this manure spreader at the Kalona Sale Barn draft horse sale a year ago.  When I started bidding on it, I realized the Amish man I purchased my horses from was standing next to me.  He started teasing me while I was bidding, "Your not going to pull this tiny manure spreader with that big team of Percherons I sold you, are you?"
       Trying to keep my focus on the bid, I told him, "This spreader box holds all the manure I want to scoop at one time!"

       It also happens that I don't have a lot of storage space and this little manure spreader just fits in my barn.

       When I took my chainsaw to another local Amish business man, to get sharpened, we got talking about my draft horses.  He wanted to know what equipment I owned.  I mentioned my manure spreader and he asked, "Do you have any other livestock?"  I told him, "No."  He teased me, "You only need your horses for pulling the manure spreader. If you didn't have horses, you wouldn't need a manure spreader. That's like the lady that said she needed a car to get to town and they asked her why she needed to get to town and she said, 'To get gas for my car!'"

Obviously, I don't need horses; but if I'm gonna have these big horses, I sure do need a manure spreader!
Karm and Coke provide me with an escape from the pressures of the modern world and plenty of material for my Amish horse blog too.

Not to mention, some beautiful scenery in my back yard and they are awful fun to have in the barn and brush.  You haven't lived until you've stood between a team of draft horses.

Lost Canyon (horse-drawn attraction in Wisconsin Dells)

This is an AWESOME experience!

Anyone who loves horses will really enjoy Lost Canyon in Wisconsin Dells area

 There are so many attractions in the Wisconsin Dells area but this one is a MUST DO family friendly experience. At just over $10 a person it has to be one of the cheapest too. The canyon that the horses pull your wagon through is beautiful and so are the horses. My visit to Lost Canyon last week was at least my 3rd time and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time I was there. The guides are always funny and friendly, Kevin who you see pictured in these photos was a great young man and his love for his team of dapple-gray Percheron draft horses was obvious!

There are usually several teams of horses waiting to give rides through a cool wooded canyon. It doesn't seem to matter how hot it is everywhere else, this canyon stays nice and cool.  The horses trod through shallow pools alongside a creek on a nice sandy path, and almost seem to be having fun too!

It's fun to meet up with the other teams of horses and wagon loads of tourists. Everyone seems to have a smile on their faces and the guides usually stop for a moment to tease each other.  Be sure to ask lots of questions while on the ride.  I always do; and I learn a lot about the place, horses and even the guides.

There are many places along the trail where you wonder if the horses can even fit through the narrow canyon walls, they do!  This narrow confined area actually makes for a very safe horse drawn wagon ride. I have given wagon rides commercially in the past and I know that there is a risk when you take a large group of people for a ride with horses. Most horse drawn rides are either in town or out in wide open spaces where plenty can go wrong.  I am jealous of this spot because distractions are very limited as well as places for scared horses to go! I could see that whoever set things up here, took many precautions to keep everything safe.

   


 It is really fun to watch the other teams pulling through the canyon as you meet them along the way! I love watching horses in harness, so this place is easily one of my favorite tourist attraction of all time!

Down below is my favorite picture of Kevin with his horses!  He is a really nice young man and got excited when I told him he (and his horses) would be making an appearance on my blog.  He seemed happy to promote Lost Canyon even though he was working his last week, after being there for several years!  We wish you all the best where ever you end up Kevin!  By the way, I think you have draft horses in your blood. Once you have that bug, it doesn't seem to ever leave you.

Draft Horse Sale

       Kalona Sale Barn has a draft-horse sale twice a year. On my way up to see what horse-drawn equipment was available, I saw this nice team of Percheron draft-horses. Notice the steel wheels on this Amish hay rack. This draft-horse sale is a huge event for our local Amish community and for all draft-horse enthusiasts in the area. If you have an interest in rubbing shoulders with Amish folks, check out a sale barn during this type of event.

         If you are looking for Amish Horses to buy, click on this link below.

http://amishhorses.blogspot.com/2014/04/amish-horses-for-sale.html?spref=fb

       At our sale in Kalona, Amish women set out long tables full of baked goods offered at a reasonable price. I had a big plate of snicker-doodles, but I noticed a variety of freshly baked pies on the table too. Mmmm, mmm!

       One chapter in Under the Heavens, gives a detailed account of a visit to this sale barn. I believe that if I write about things I've experienced in my own life, it will ring true. This is the place where I bought a number of wonderful draft-horses, and met some Amish horsemen that I think qualify as horse-whisperers. Just seeing 2000 pound horses, all decked out in beautiful harness, is a great experience!

Are you interested in reading a novel all about farming with horses on an Amish farm?

click on the orange words here: Under the Heavens, Amish Horses Book Series

             
                                   If you enjoy this, check out Amish horses Facebook page                  
                                               https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses

On the Amish Wagon

       Riding in a horse drawn wagon is not like riding a car! Over the last six-thousand years people walked, rode animals, or rode on wagons behind horses. In the last one-hundred years everything changed and we lost touch with our own past. I am 52, my own grandpa was the first member of his family to own a car. When my grandpa was a boy, he farmed with horses, chances are your grandpa did too.
       Every time I hitch up my horses, it takes me back to the good ol' days! I often think, while riding in my wagon, of what it must have been like to cross the U.S. behind a team.

       I usually only hitch up my draft horses when the weather is accommodating. Amish don't have that luxury! True, it is by choice, but that choice brings with it some real advantages too.

       In a horse drawn wagon you see the world better! You are going so slow, you are forced to reflect, to look at flowers in the ditch, to watch birds flying overhead, and many other things we overlook at 60+ miles per hour. Riding behind horses there is a beautiful, primal sound of hoof-beats. Horse snorts and horse smells, some good, some bad. Even more entertaining, each horse has a personality all its own. Interacting with living, breathing creatures is good for the soul!