These are brand new, hot off the handmade workshop floor.  Families use these for everyday travel.  They are seen on the back roads as well as parked at the local Walmart.  Young folks use open sulky type vehicles for their Saturday night dates.

Harnesses, saddles and other tack were auctioned at this location near the horse tent.

The reason I went to the Firehouse Auction was to keep my friend David company and take some photographs of his Morgan stud, Banner.  Banner came to the auction with Danny Stoltzfoos, the Amish man who keeps him and manages his breedings.  Danny donated one breeding to Banner to the auction to benefit the firehouse.  Donating a stud service to be auctioned for a favorite cause is frequently done.  Sometimes the proceeds go to a favorite charity or even a sick member of the community.  This auction also included antiques, quilts, nursery stock, bales of hay, lawn furniture, farm equipment and probably some things I didn't notice.  Quilts were auctioned in the firehouse, antiques in a tent out front.

Food was homemade - grilled chicken and hamburgers, barbecue sandwiches, funnel cakes, moon pies, incredible fresh filled donuts, pretzels, shoefly pie, and apple, blueberry and cherry pies.  Jams and jellies and home canned goods were for sale.

However, I spent most of the day at the horse auction.  I walked a LONG way over very tough terrain with mud a foot deep (way over a person's foot and about a 12" foot deep).  When I finally approached the tent, I thought I couldn't get the last 30 feet because of the mud, but I did find a way.  Upon arrival, I realized there wasn't anywhere to sit, but my friend Danny found a chair for me somewhere.  Danny had a number of horses in the auction and worked as an announcer for awhile.  Meanwhile, David groomed Banner.  I'm picking up a few grooming tips for dogs!  Banner looked fabulous!  I also watched the auction action and all that was going on around me.

Having attended a couple of Amish events, it is nice to go and see people I actually know!

Scarved girls watched from a pile of hay bales.

Amish families throw their kids in little red wagons along with things needed for the day - just like the dollies at the dog shows!  Old order Amish ladies  wear these black bonnets that even have a flap that goes partly down the back in order to cover ALL the hair, hair that is never cut.  Little girls from babyhood into the teens wear scarves to cover their hair, bonnets when older.  Long black skirts, aprons, sometimes brightly colored dresses and black aprons and work boots.  Men wear straw hats (in the summer), black pants and jackets and brightly colored shirts.  Single men are clean shaven.  Married men wear beards that are never cut.  An excellent short explanation of the Amish way of life is at http://www.padutch.com/amish.shtml .

Girls and women wear white bonnets, colorful dresses and aprons.

The summer bonnets are sometimes transparent.

All little boys wear straw hats as well as the men.

Hats are EVERYWHERE!

Banner and the sales horses with pink halters.

Danny's neighbor Johnny, sans hat, readies Banner to go in the ring for his stud service auction.  The young men that show the horses run back and forth with them and find that hats don't stay on for this activity.  There is never any extra room to hang on the fence and watch.

Johnny and David pose Banner and then Johnny shows off his trot.
 

After the presentation, I took this photo of Banner in the adjoining field, handled by Danny.  I took Danny out of the picture, since it is against his religion to be photographed.  Back at Danny's place, the six little Stoltzfoos children play around Banner, brushing his tummy and climbing up his tail.  He loves the children and is amazingly gentle with them.  Danny is a blacksmith and usually has several horses tied to a rail outside his workshop, waiting to be shod.  Next door, the neighbor plows the field with a team of six horses, carefully making the turn to keep the rows exact.  The children run around and watch everything.  One or two get a ride on the plow.  A visitor prepares to leave in her buggy.  Danny starts to clean stalls in the barn.  Johnny drives by in a buggy to pick up his little sister from school.  Rarely does a car go by on the road.  It is so quiet, so peaceful, so beautiful.

For several weeks, Danny forwarded his calls to my phone. Danny's telephone is in a little 4' x 4' office WAY out in a pasture far from the house.  His Bishop allows him to use his phone from 8:00 to 9:00 PM on Tuesday nights.  This makes it a little hard to sell your yearlings through a newspaper ad.  Answering machines are not allowed either, but you can get someone else to answer for you,  That was quite an experience for me!  The Amish telephone protocol is very different from ours.  For one thing, it is not rude to call at 5 AM!