Amish don't go to the State Fair

 I asked this gal how she got the job of policing the State Fair on horseback.

She said a rodeo friend got her the job.

 This is a, sign your name on the "State Fair Horse!"

I spent the whole day at the State Fair and didn't see one Amish person.  Check that, I talked to one guy that grew up Amish and now drives a six-horse show-hitch. (that is common) Sometimes I see Amish people at Fairs and other public attractions but not often.  The Amish friends I know, wont be a part of any type of competition, including 4-H shows.


These sheep are all cleaned up and ready for the show ring.




I grew up in the 1960s, when there were still "Old McDonald" farms around.  I miss the glory days of the old-fashioned farm, when everyone had diversified farming practices.  That is what sparked my interest in the Amish... they are still farming that way and I love it!

 Every child should get a chance to try milking a cow by hand!  The Iowa State Fair offers that opportunity... the only charge is that you have to wait in line.

Here are a few more random pictures from the Iowa State Fair.  I bet these manure carts have been in use at this Fair since before I was born in 1961 what do you think?

If you click on these smaller pictures, you can see them full size.

Of course, I motate to the horse barn!

No visit to the Iowa State Fair is complete without seeing the Biggest Boar and Biggest Bull.

Percheron Horse Show

During my recent visit to Des Moines Iowa and the State Fair, I got an eye-full of beautiful Percheron horses.

This year our state fair hosted the National Percheron Show.  I am a Percheron horse owner and a big fan of the breed, so it was right up my alley.  I took so many pictures, it may take several blogs to share them all.

Most of the preparations for this event are done way before show week.  All year long horses are on special diets, they are trained, and carefully shod to give them the best chance at success in the show ring.





In fair week, everything goes into beautifying mode.  Manes and tails are braided, coats are sometimes dyed, hooves are perfectly shod and then painted, and everyone gets a good bath.

There are black and dapple-gray Percheron horses. I can't decide which are my favorite but since Coke and Karma are blacks, I'll go with that.

Someone may say, "These aren't Amish horses are they?"  Actually, quite a few of these horses have been raised by Amish families.  You may also be surprised if you knew how many of the big horse hitches are driven by someone who grew up Amish.

Many of these horses have been trained by Amish and ex-Amish handlers.

When I first got interested in draft horses, there were a lot of old-timers around, who grew up farming with horses.  There are a few of those folks still around but most of the people with experience farming with horses, nowadays, grew up Amish.

The gal in the picture above is a horse chiropractor; I watched her work on this horse for a while.  I'm sure the goal was to get all four legs moving freely and ready for the big show ring.

I hope you enjoyed my pictures.  I highly recommend making a trip out to your own state fair, to take in some of these sights for yourself.  These horses are even more impressive in real life.