The Dixie Draft Horse, Mule, and Carriage Auction, Troutman NC

I spent a few hours yesterday at the Iredell County Fairgrounds watching a staggering number of people buying and selling rusty farm implements, lead ropes by the gross, things I could not possibly identify, and expensive horse-drawn carriages.


There were many Mennonite (or Amish?) vendors present, from Ohio and Pennsylvania and perhaps further afield; they are royalty in this kingdom.

Here you see a couple of the ladies who took down our information; we attendees stood in line to show drivers' licenses and get our special Buyer Numbers written large in Magic Marker (so the auctioneers can identify winners) -- and lots of space for writing down our purchases.



There were scores of auctioneers. They spelled each other in the barns, on stages, and on golf carts which inched down the rows of stuff. They could all do that fast-pitched warbling and yodeling that urges the onlookers to spend just a little bit more than they thought they could. Still, many items went for just a couple of bucks.

Carriages, though, went for thousands - harnesses and saddles went for multiple hundreds. You certainly needed to know what you were doing to make out well here.



There were only three donkeys that I saw. Here is one of them.

If you want to see all this stuff in more detail, click on the pictures for larger versions.