It is a gift to have horses in my life; so many people love to see photos of them, and that’s a blessing because I love to take photos of them.
There is a spirit and a presence about horses, I felt it when I wrote about the New York Carriage Horses, and I feel it again when I see them trotting by or standing patiently tied to a post or a tree while waiting to work.
Horses are iconic, they have worked with people for thousands of years, and they have a presence about them that I rarely see.
This one – I didn’t get his name – is one of Jacob’s and Maddie, they love on the other side of town.
There are no issues or restrictions or sensitivity about my photographing Amish horses, I’m asked almost all the time to print one out and give it to the families.
It’s great to see these wondrous working animals in my daily life, this is how our world was built.
It saddens me to see the condition of this horse’s hooves.
It saddens me to see you sad about a healthy horse. What a waste of sadness, given all the truly needy people in the world. This horse is not interested in your sadness. It feels patronizing, something you feel but he doesn’t feel. I spent two years writing about the NY carriage horses and I talked to a score of vets who came to the stables and showed me how to determine a healthy horse..These Amish horses are especially healthy and fortunate. They have a lot of work and could not possibly do it if they were in pain or sick. I have a checklist of 15 to 20 ways you can tell a happy and healthy horse, and the Amish horses pass by a mile. The Amish don’t hire farriers as a general rule, they want to trim the hooves themselves. Their work is not as polished or crisp as a professional farrier, but that does not mean you need to shed tears for them. They are among the luckiest horses on the planet, seeing them brings me great joy, not sadness. If you prefer to suffer, go to it, but I wouldn’t waste that on this horse. He is as healthy a horse can get..
My father grew up working with his grandfather who had big work horses like this and also mules. He did not like tractors when they came along:)
Wonderful story.