Shopping, Draft Horse Style

I did a little shopping for John last weekend. He had a previous commitment, so he sent me to South Dakota with some draft horse people, to check out an auction sale.

Before my adrenaline had settled back to normal, I was dragging a plow, a chain for a horse-drawn manure spreader, and a new floor for the same spreader into Kevin's trailer. Not your usual Saturday-afternoon-at-the-mall shopping trip like I used to have growing up in Dallas, but probably more interesting.

Here's our friend Kevin, securing the "new" plow.

There was lots of harness for sale, hanging on long racks that had been cobbled together for the occasion.

The same racks held several sets of fly nets. You throw these over the backs of your horses. As the horses move, so do the strands of netting, scaring the flies.

If you know me, you know I'm not a real big shopper---more the sight-it-shoot-it-bag-it type. There's none of that at an auction sale; instead you sit around and stand around and wait around until the auctioneers get to the item you're interested in. This gives you plenty of time to argue with yourself about how high you're willing to bid, and how much the item is worth.

Sometimes it's a little hard to tell exactly what's being auctioned, especially if the crowd is thick. These ringmen, at a sale I attended a few weeks ago, carry a sign to make things perfectly clear.

Likely as not, when they finally do get to your item, the bidding shoots right past you before you ever get your hand in the air. That's what happened to me when these mowers were sold.

If you get tired of second-guessing yourself about whether you bid too much or too little, you can shift into people watching mode.

And if you're not interested in buying harness or equipment, maybe you can talk your daddy into buying something else.