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

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.

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!