Nylon Harness Shop

This past February, I brought my draft horses into the barn to harness them up. I was planning to hitch them to this little sled that my harness is hanging on.
Coke (one of my horses) reached to the ground to get a mouthful of hay that she had dropped and broke a snap off her harness.
When you weigh almost a ton, it's easy to break things without meaning to.
The next thing I knew her harness was draped over her head. Being the good horse she is, she stood still and waited for me to unsnap everything.
I knew that I was going to be making a trip to my friendly harness man.

While he looked at what needed repaired, we had a chance to visit about other things. He told me about a new team of Percheron horses they had recently purchased. This is a picture (above) of one of those mares and her new colt. You can see her teammate in the background with some other horses. He told me that they seem to be good horses... if you can catch them. They were purchased at the Sale-barn in Kalona and he didn't know anything about their history. He said, "We normally catch our horses when they come into the barn for grain, but they don't come in with the others." That is unusual, most horses love to come in for grain. I'm sure they will get used to their new routine soon enough.

While I was getting my harness repaired, I remembered that my steel bits were getting rusty. So, I bought this new set of stainless steal bits. Not that I wanted to spend the money, but these are like the brakes on a car, if they go out your done! You can see a copy of my repair bill below. The Amish church-bench wagon was parked at the harness man's house, and he told me that they would be having Church in their home in a few weeks. I got a call about a week later, asking me to please pick up my harness as soon as possible. I knew what that was about. When an Amish family hosts Church in their home they want everything on the farm immaculate, even in the harness shop.

Yes, he did misspell my name, but I was honored that he remembered my name without asking.

Another footnote: When I arrived to pick up my harness, the shop had an open sign in the window, but nobody was anywhere in sight. I could hear what sounded like a large group of children. Just then, Monroe came out of the big barn. He told me, "Our goats are kidding!" I asked him,"How many kids?" He told me around 40. I don't know if that was a total or if more were on the way.

In my novel Catbird Singing, Lenny visits a harness shop multiple times. His good friend, an aging Amishman, gives him good advice about more than horses and harness.

King and Kong

  This couple (pictured on left) live between my place and my hay-supply.  I noticed a team of Belgians while driving past and stopped in to chat.  He told me that he bought this pair, King and Kong, but had never hitched a team before.  I gave him my cell-phone number and told him to call me if he wanted my help when he got ready to hitch them.  I got that call a few days back and this is a blog about our adventure.
Barney is a horseman, but he is usually riding cutting horses, not driving a team of Belgians.

We spent a considerable amount of time adjusting the harness Barney had bought at an auction.  It's a nice harness but we had to adjust almost every snap and buckle.  King and Kong were obviously experienced because they waited patiently for us to figure it all out.  I told my friend, Barney, "These horses know what it means to get hitched up, but they're probably doubting that we know what we're doing."

When we finally decided the harness was fitting pretty good, we led them over to my stone-boat, a wooden sled that has enough drag they wouldn't run far, if they did take off.  We didn't know what to expect, except that his horses seemed really comfortable.  Everything went great and we concluded that the Amish guy that broke this team did a great job.

I drove them through this cattle pasture for a bit, enjoying myself thoroughly.  The herd of cows and calves watched us curiously. We came out into a clearing, beyond the timber and I handed the lines over to Barney.  He took over with a grin and I could tell that he's caught the draft-horse-bug!  I told him that he probably won't want to ride anymore, now that he sees how much fun it is to drive a team.

Yes, it does look like we may need to tweak our harness fit just a little more.

It was a really warm fall day, perfect for hitching up a team that hasn't had harness on in a while.  We stopped the horses in some shade and let them cool down a bit before heading back.  We wanted this outing to be fun for the horses, so they wouldn't dread getting hitched.

Barney has a lot of horse sense and I think he will make out just fine with King and Kong.  They are geldings about 7 years old, with great dispositions and apparently a fine handler got them started.

Barney, King, Kong and I enjoyed some great views! Of course, every view is better with a team of horses in it.

In this picture you can see my old, rickety, stone-boat. I made it about 20 years ago and hitched a lot of horses to it over those two decades.
It's a perfect tool for teaching horses and drivers, easy to get on and off. (that can be really important if there would happen to be trouble)

That's me, King and Kong

I was pretty relaxed after everything was over and it all turned out fine.

Harness Shop

 There is nothing like walking into an Amish harness shop.  As soon as you walk in, a rich smell of leather mixed with harness oils and a scent of horses greets you.

If you are a horse person I promise you will be in paradise.  Most shops, like the one pictured above, sell items from saddles to horse wormer, brushes, hoof picks, blankets, bits and a million other such things. Even if your not a horse person, I believe you will enjoy the experience.  Go in and ask if they would be willing to make a custom leather belt, most will.

There are at least three harness shops in the Kalona, Iowa area alone.  I make a point of going to all three even though I have my favorite. (I won't say which one) The shop east of Kalona a few miles and then south on a gravel road has mostly bio-harness.  A nylon covered with a very durable synthetic coating. They also specialize in show harness.

 The shop pictured above is in town, straight north of the Casey's General Store. That is a mostly leather harness shop and happens to be the first place I did business with, when I first bought a team of horses.

A third harness shop specializes in nylon harness, and is located north of the leather harness shop, several miles on a gravel road (the road jogs west a little at one point.)

My two favorite harness makers are now deceased. One of them had a shop a few miles from my home and was one of the kindest men I have ever met.  He was full of horse wisdom and told great stories, many of which appear in my novel, Under the Heavens.  
I am saving his best story for my sequel, about an amazing pony.

My other favorite harness maker told me that he went to grade school with my wife's grandfather.  He was a nylon harness man and also was a very kind, wise horseman, with great stories.  Both of these men I used as examples for my Grandpa character in my novel, so if you read my book, know that there really are men like him out there in Amish communities.

I took a single harness in to this last man mentioned one time, to be repaired.  He told me that it may take a while to fix it and wondered if I had any other errands to run while he worked on it.  I did, so after spending an hour and a half in Kalona, I came back to check on his progress.  He was just finishing up when I got there and then spent what seemed like 5 minutes figuring before he gave me my total bill.  I was getting nervous about the price!  He finally looked up at me and asked, "Does $1.75 sound alright?"  I told him that it sounded awful cheep.  He replied, "Well, I didn't use much material, it was mostly labor."  Don't let me lead you astray, I doubt it will be that cheep when you go in to get a leather belt these days.

Check out Amish Horses Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses
Under the Heavens, on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Heavens-Thomas-Nye/dp/1936746794/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390142726&sr=1-1&keywords=under+the+heavens+thomas+nye

Work Harness

        This is a drawing that was made for, Under the Heavens, but didn't get used so I thought I would share it on Amish Horses Blog.  It is a diagram about work harness and shows the names of harness parts. If you notice, the driving lines are crossed between horses. In this way the driver has a line to the right side of each horse in his right hand, and a line to the left side of the horse's bits in his left hand.

These horses have a strap under their tails called "butt breeching" by draft horsemen in Iowa. This strap is used when the horses are backing a load, or going downhill. The weight of the wagon pushes on this strap.

My own horses, here on the right, have on what we call "hip breeching." That strap is just above the tail and works just the same as the butt breeching.

Most Amish, in the Kalona area, use the hip breeching style on their work horses. The Amishmen that sold me horses and showed me how to work with a team all used this style. One of them said, "Horses like hip breeching better, they can get under a load and really push on it."  I am impressed at how much these guys notice with their horses. On many occasions I've heard comments about what horses "like" and I believe they know what their talking about. The man I bought Karma from told me that she loved her collar.

       Above, you can see the wagon tongue up between my horses. The piece crossing the tongue is a "double-tree" or "evener" (single tree for one horse.) You can see straps coming from the collar area, down toward the double-tree, these are called "tugs" or "traces." At the end of the tugs are heel chains, these are hooked to the double-tree. This is the mechanism for pulling a load with horses so they can share the work.

See the red pole between my horses? That is called a "neck yoke" and ties the front end of two horses together at the collar. My wagon tongue can be seen below the neck yoke, it slips into a ring on the neck yoke and is the connection between the breeching and the load, to hold it back, or to back it up.

In this picture you can see the front end of the tugs coming from the thickest part of the collar. The tug is attached to metal bars, called "hames" these hames lay in a grove in the collar. The collar is a comfortable leather oval that horses push against.

       Horses actually push loads by leaning into their collars.  We call it "pulling a wagon" because they are in front of the wagon, but they really are pushing.
       Harness in other regions of America are constructed slight differently, and in Europe work harness looks very different. This is typical Iowa work harness.

       I hope you enjoyed learning a little about harness and hitching horses. If you did, check out Amish Horses Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AmishHorses

Shiloh Farm

     My sister has a wonderful antique shop near Kalamazoo Michigan.  It so happens her shop is in a carriage house.  I really enjoyed looking in the horse stalls, posts still protruding from the walls for hanging harness and horse collars.
     Her main shop is in there area where the buggies and wagons used to be stored. When I walk in here I can imagine what it was like "back in the day."
     My sister, Twila also sells artwork, craft items and unique random artifacts her brother (me) Tom purchases at the semi-annual Draft Horse Sale at the Kalona Sale Barn.

     My sister's home and shop both are like a museum, taking you way back to the old days.  If you are ever in the Kalamazoo area you don't want to miss a chance to stop in.

     My sister had a very interesting visitor while I was there, a young woman who recently joined the Amish.  It is very rare for anyone not raised Amish to be able to make that transition.  This young woman was taken in by an Amish family and she seems to be adjusting very well.

     As soon as my book Under the Heavens comes out, my sister Twila plans to have copies for sale in her shop at Shiloh Farm.

     This house was built during the Civil War.  Twila has done an amazing job keeping everything original, yet comfortably updated!  I had a great visit at your place Sis, your a great hostess!

 Here is a link to my sisters Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/ShilohFarmVintageARTiques

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.

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!