An album of Amish country sagas

Oddities of my Amish country odyssey, during the past 25 years of my retirement.

I have regularly ventured into nearby Amish Country Pennsylvania to photograph my Amish country farmer friends and their teams of huge work horses. Hundreds of trips and many thousands of miles later, I have many thousands of unique agriculture photos. Some I believe to be one of a kind.

That saga started when I was first told that I had glaucoma. Fearing that I might lose my eyesight at age 65, I decided to shoot my Amish country photo project. Today at age 92, I still have my eyesight, but no longer drive or take photographs. Age has taken its toll.

My photos are mainly of the Amish farmer’s Belgian Draft horses. One of my farmer friends has a few mules teamed with a Belgian Draft work horse, because he said the mules eat less and listen more. The horses are one tonners.

The teams generally have a dog accompanying them. My friend Andy has two huge dogs “Rover” and “Old Navy” that I believe know me.

One day while aiming my camera out of the car door window and resting it on the window ledge, the pastoral scene went black. Rover had rested his paws on the window ledge and his face in my telephoto lens. I said “Down Rover,” and he obeyed my command.

My greatest Amish photograph to date is eight beautiful matched Belgian Draft work horses and with another favorite dog of mine called “Nellie.” Those horses are her companions. Dogs love to run along with the teams of horses, and they never get trampled.

One of my photos with three Belgian Draft work horses has a dog posing along with them. That photo made the cover of an international magazine called The Draft Horse Journal. The dog contributed greatly to the photo being selected for the cover, per the publisher. It is serendipity at its best. It can’t be posed.

Michael J. Lacivita is a Youngstown retiree and member of the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame and the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.