Barn on Wheels

        The other day, I was finishing my chores when I noticed our local electric company, Farmers Co-op, was pulling in our drive.  They told me they were shutting our power down for a few hours, I didn't ask why. My elderly neighbor, Leo, stopped in on his daily walk by our place and told me that our Amish neighbor, a mile and half down the road east of us, was having a corn crib moved from a few miles west of our place.

A little bit later buggies started coming past our place, I snapped a few pictures out our front window.

I headed outside with my cell phone and got some pictures of the corn crib going past our place.

 It looked like everyone was having a great time when the buggies all came back past.  There was a buggy with a whole group of young boys and another with a lot of little girls, pictured above.  One had a three teenage girls in it, also pictured above.

About an hour later, my wife and I were on our way to town and passed by the place the corn crib was moved to.  Here are pictures below of its final resting place!

Our Old Homeplace

     There used to be a huge barn about were my horses are standing. When I first met my wife the barn was still there but it came down in the 80's

     This smaller barn is actually a corn crib my wife's grandpa built. It makes a great horse barn.


     My wife's grandparents moved onto this farm when they got married in 1918. Her grandmother was the 4th daughter in a family of 5. My mother-in-law was born in this very house in 1928, she was the 4th daughter in a family of 5. My wife grew up in this home and, you guessed it, she was the 4th daughter in a family of 5. It so happens we have 5 children and we like to tell our 4th daughter she is destined to take over when we move off the place, but she better have 5 children!                                    

     Our old windmill isn't in use anymore but if the wind catches it just right, it starts spinning again. I hired an elderly Amish man to climb up to the top and wire it so it couldn't spin. I was surprised when he got up there and I could see that the face of this windmill was taller than a man. After all the effort my Amish neighbor put into fixing my windmill, the very next wind storm it broke loose and went right back to work, spinning.  

My Neighbor's Barn

            I saw my neighbor pushing his bike down the road about ten miles from our place.  He had a flat tire, so we threw his bicycle in the bed of my faithful little S-10 pickup and hauled it home.  When I pulled in his drive and saw his barn up close, all I could say was, "Wow, can I take some pictures?"
          I am a big fan of old barns!  I love to look inside and imagine what life was like back in the old days.
          That is what I like about having Amish around... the old days are still alive and well on their farms!

           A lot of time was put into building these old structures.  Look at that foundation!  Most old barns in Iowa were built with native oak lumber; such hard wood you can't drive a nail in the beams.
(At least I can't)
           If you click on these pictures you will get a closer view.

           I love barns with a ramp access to the mow. Just imagine how many loads of hay were pulled up that ramp by teams of horses over the years.

           Back in the good old days this barn would have been hopping with activity around chore time. People and livestock probably hurried inside during cold winter snowstorms, or walked out of its doors at the perfect time of evening to see a beautiful sunset.  I bet this old barn could tell some great stories and a few romantic tales too.

    Check out my Facebook page,    https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses   Look at my photo album named "Barns."

Fun on the Farm

 My Grandchildren love Karm and Coke!  Whenever they come out to the farm they always ask, "Can we feed the horses?"  Of course there is nothing that makes this old Grandpa happier than his grandchildren wanting to see the horses.  They aren't afraid of Karm and Coke which is great, but I want them to have a healthy respect of how big these horses are.  Both are gentle, friendly horses, but their shear size makes them dangerous if a person isn't cautious.  For example, don't let them accidentally step on your foot!  My oldest grandson Alex and I took a ride in the wagon last Sunday evening.
           Lyla was born a horse girl, she is pictured below riding our out-door rocking pony, blowing on dandelion seeds and taking a ride on Coke.

           Karm and Coke out in the pasture, you can see my manure spreader in the background.

Buggy Horses

Some standard-bred horses are born on Amish farms

          Almost all buggy horses come off the race track. In most major cities in the U.S., there is a horse-racing track. Thoroughbred horse racing, puts the rider on the horse's back, such as the Kentucky Derby style of racing. However, there are more tracks that specialize in Sulky racing. Standard-bred horses are used in harness to pull a little cart called a sulky, in this type of racing.

          These Standard-bred horses are bred up and trained to have a very quick trot. A trot is the best gate for pulling a sulky or a buggy for a long way as fast as possible. Race track horses usually have a very short racing life, after that has run-its-course, they are sold at auction and most end up on Amish farms. These horses often end up pulling buggies for years.

                                                                                

          My dad bought one of these horses at an auction, with intentions to use him as a riding horse.  Dad worked with him for a while but after Danny threw him one day, the horse was handed down to me. I worked hard to finish breaking him to ride, until I took a job on a local dairy farm and gave up all free time completely!  I put him in the paper, advertised as:  Standard-bred horse, for sale. I will trade for a riding horse.

                                                                                

                                 These horses are grazing on the playground of a one-room school                              

          I received a number of calls from local Amish. Twice, I visited Amish farms with prospective riding 

horses, as a possible trade. One of the families had a nice sized, riding pony. I enjoyed my visit to their farm; they were very friendly and showed me around a little. When it came to, wheeling and dealing, both Amish families let their sons do the talking.  These were boys about 12-14, and I was quite impressed with their knowledge, and that their dads gave them this kind of respect. The family with the riding pony encouraged me to take a ride, to see how I liked their pony.  I'm not that proud of my riding skills, so I suggested that one of the boys ride the horse, while I watched. The man of the house told one of the boys to get on. His face instantly looked pale, and he said, "No Dad, he bucks!" Needless to say that was a deal breaker, I went on my merry way. I sold Danny at the Kalona Sale Barn later, and he fetched a handsome price.

Under the Heavens, Amish Novel

Amish Singing

 

The word "singing" is usually a verb but to the Amish it's a noun!

         Amish young people meet on Sunday evenings, usually on the family farm where Church service was held that morning.  As soon as chores are finished, they hitch up their fastest horse and hurry to meet up with all their friends and sing hymns. These gatherings are called Singings.  The best part of the evening is giving  the girl of your choice a buggy ride home, if she accepts your invitation.

          My wife and I were out for a Sunday drive a few weeks ago and came across the location of one of these Singings.  We could hear the beautiful sound of Amish young folk's singing, coming from a large machine shed on a scenic Amish farm.  We didn't take a picture of that side of the road because there were a few people out in the yard, that didn't seem polite.  So we took a picture opposite the farm, of these buggies.

Just a half-mile away we took this picture. So you can see what a spectacular evening it was!

One Room School

          My step-mother used to teach in a one-room Amish school.  She did a fantastic job and stays in touch with many of her students and teacher aids. (who were also Amish)  Her teacher aids were a great help, especially because her kindergarten students often didn't know English.

          This turned out to be a great experience for me too!  I really enjoyed going to spring music programs and other events.  My mom constantly tried to come up with fun learning experiences for the children.  On one occasion, she told the oldest boys that if they put out good effort, at the end of a quarter, her son Tom would take them on a field trip.  The boys seemed excited about it, even though it was a unique twist.
        They succeeded in their endeavors

and so I came and picked them up in my car... to take them to see my horse.  I had a half Arabian, half Quarter Horse, riding mare at the time.  She was a great horse but probably not anything too special for those 7th and 8th grade Amish boys to look at.  They seemed to be having fun.  They politely showed interest in my horse, and were really happy when we stopped for ice cream.

          I had to think that it would be like taking an average, modern kid in a buggy to go see an ordinary car!

Happy Fourth of July {Horses make the Parade}

As a girl growing up in a home with a dad (Tom) who loves horses you learn what to watch for in the parade. Today I took my own family to a fourth parade and captured the two horse teams in our parade. Pretty to look at, strong and bold. There is something so great about seeing horses in harness. Have a blessed and safe holiday!

 

A little girl after her Grandpa's own heart. . .

There is a special connection between a girl or a grandpa and their horses. I don't know whether or not it is a born-in-trait or something that's learned but at any rate it's unavoidable to recognize. I captured this special little horse-lovin'-granddaughter playing, playing, reading horses all day yesterday at Grandpa and Grandma's house (that has no lack of horses for that matter).

 

 

I really can't see how it could be any sweeter than this.
 

  all photos on this post are ©RubyEllenPhotography 2013