I have rattled off to so many customers our plans for The Buggy Barn at Lehman’s I was somewhat surprised this question didn’t come up sooner. I was asked last week while painting the murals in The Buggy Barn, ‘What is a buggy barn?’ Its understandable that English people may not be familar with buggy barns. English, by the way, is the term the Amish use for anyone who is not Amish. Since I came here to post updated photos of the Buggy Barn murals I thought I would answer this question. A buggy barn is the Amish version of our garage. Not only does it keep the buggy dry but it may house some chickens or other small livestock. The horses would be close by, as well as their harnesses, lead ropes and halters so when you needed to hitch the horses to the buggy they would be near. Buggy horses need to be shod or have horse shoes put on by a farrier to protect their feet on the roads so it would be likely some farrier tools and horse shoes would be handy. 
If your horse threw a shoe you’d want to be able to reshod them so the horse could be driven on the road again. Horses and livestock need to eat of course, so a grain scoop and feed sacks would be found in a buggy barn.
I could list all the possibilities of what you might see in a buggy barn but that would probably get long and boring. Why don’t I just show you instead?
That is just what we’d like to do the next time you shop at the Lehman’s! Here’s some updated photos to pique your interest.
If you haven’t heard yet, this mural is being painted during store hours with customer participation! I am the artist and I am enjoying talking to whoever wanders in to see what all the scaffolding, drop clothes and mess is all about! I have heard some great ideas as far as what to add as we progress through the room. As you can see we are in the beginning stages so come on in, take a look and offer some suggestions! Our intention is to fill this room with either actual items you would find in a buggy barn, paint them on as a mural, or a combination of both to create the atmosphere of being in an actual buggy barn. The feedback I am getting from customers is great and I am not afraid to say I may just use your ideas!
I am sharing this space right now with Karen Geiser, a local organic gardener who gives mini seminars and demonstrations on a variety of gardening themes. Karen’s expertise comes from growing a variety of vegetables in her market garden. Many people enjoy reading and gleaning some wisdom while hearing of the joys and trials of farm life in the gardening journal on her web site and here on the blog.
The buggy barn will also be used for hands on activities for kids, seasonal and educational mini seminars, demonstrations by artisans and musicians. A DVD about Amish culture plays when the buggy barn is not otherwise in use.
So come, sit back and enjoy the atmosphere – and while you’re at it, would you throw the hens some chicken scratch while you’re there?
To see more of my work or to read an artist’s perspective of rural life go to http://www.amulti-coloredlife.blogspot.com/
In the area I live in Canada we call them driving sheds or drive sheds. When I was growing up on the farm we kept hens in it as well as the tractor and a lot of old horse tack from my late uncles team. Most farmers up here still use them in a similar way.
i know this is sort of off topic, but i cringe everytime i hear someone mentioning shoeing a horse. Shoeing your horses is very bad for them, it causes laminitis, which leads to putting down your horse. Trust me , look into it; my dad is a professor at MSU and is one of the worlds leading researchers on horse feet, and it is a fact. Granted you cant just remove your horses shoes and expect them to instantly acclimate to the way mother nature intended it, but it is better for them. Hopefully this helps anyone with horses (especially if they have Laminitis!). Great forum!
I did some research into this and all the known causes of Laminitis are dietary. There are two approaches that people take to this. The traditional approach is corrective shoeing and proper diet, along with some kind of medication. The holistic approach involves taking the shoes off, proper hoof care and trimming, and proper diet. It seems the key to treatment is what the horse eats more than anything. So, really the individual can take whatever action they feel most comfortable with. For prevention, the best thing to do is make sure that your horse is eating right.
My own horses are barefoot and they do very well like that. I have a very good farrier trim their feet regularly and they are very sound, happy and healthy. I am also very familar with laminitis. I agree with the comments that most causes are dietary although there is a condition called ‘road founder’ a type of laminitis, which can be brought on by high impact on hard surfaces. In the article about the buggy barn and horses being shod I was referring to the Amish practise of shoeing their horse because the horses are used on the roads. This is for the prevention of ‘road founder’ as well as traction on the roads. If horses are not shod and ridden on the road they are much more prone to slip and fall. I suppose ideally it would be best if horses all could go barefoot, or for the Amish horses sake all roads be dirt and not pavement, but that is not feasible. If I were taking one of my horse on the roads I would rather they be shoed for their own protection as well as mine.
Back to the buggy barn. We called ours the carriage shed (the poor man’s carriage “house”). It was attached at one end of the horse barn and morphed in usage over the hundred-plus years my family lived on the land. By the time I was growing up, the horses had been vacated and the barn became my dad’s animal hospital. The carriage shed found new life as a receiving area for strays that the dogcatcher would drop off at all hours. My mother thought it sounded more professional to change the name of this structure to “the [hospital] annex”. Resisting cultural deterioration, Dad bought me a pony cart and parked it there in his carriage shed, right in front of the dog cages.
Shopper,
Thank you for sharing! Did you get the cart AND the pony or just a cart? :)