Amish Buggy Skiing (Video)

Here’s a short video of an Amish person skiing while being pulled by a buggy along the roadside.

This comes from the Lowville community in upstate New York, home to two Amish churches.

Looks like some young guys out enjoying the snow. A Lowville resident shot the video last week (mute your sound if you don’t want the background music).

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Amish having some horse-drawn winter fun.

Here’s another clip of Amish buggy skiing from Knox County, Ohio.

And here’s a series of photos showing an Amish youth snowboarding while being pulled by a horse and rider.

You’ve also got shots of winter sports in Lancaster County (including outdoor ice hockey, sledding, and what looks like snow soccer).

What do you think, would you give buggy skiing a try?



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    16 Comments

    1. Watch this give some of the Englishers the idea to try with a car..
      But it looks fun..I was never one to learn to ski, this looks a bit
      safer than going down a mountain..

      1. Lisa

        skiing

        skiing while drawn by horse has been known as skijouring. It has been done for over 100 years.

        1. Skijouring

          Interesting name, I saw it refers to dogs pulling skiers as well.

      2. Kiki

        Skiing behind a buggy

        Oh, don’t worry Alberta, idiots have been doing this with skateboards behind cars for years. I’m a police officer and it doesn’t matter what the weather or the vehicle, idiots will be idiots. It seems safe, but it only takes one wrong move going 15 mph to land you in tragedy. Public roads aren’t meant for play, especially now with more traffic, drunk drivers, and kids who are mean and would LOVE to cause a horse to bolt.

    2. M.H.G.

      Amish Buggy Sking

      Looks like fun! Real cool!
      However, IT is a at your own risk situation…

      1. Yes, as Kiki suggested above, risk involved. Seems like a pretty busy road, if you’re going to do it probably smarter on backroads like the guys in the Ohio video look to be.

    3. Alice Mary

      It’s not something I’d try today (age 64 with 3 spinal surgeries, one knee replacement and a rotator cuff surgery in the past 17 years), but I might have tried it at one point—as long as the horse & I were on good terms—even moreso than the driver & I!

      Hoping the fun lasts and there are no injuries…fingers crossed!

      Thanks for the smile (I needed it badly, today!)

      Alice Mary

    4. RC

      I thought that the Lowville settlement was founded by Amish from Lancaster County and its daughter settlement Path Valley, but the buggy in the video looks black, rather than grey.

    5. Jess

      I've seen this before!

      We witnessed some kids doing this last winter, while driving home in central MN, going by the Wadena Count settlement. I was so amazed, I’d never seen anything like it. It actually looks pretty fun!

      I’m a semi related note, our Amish neighbors recently brought us some Christmas goodies, but we were not home so they wrote a big message in the snow that they’d left us something in the garage. I thought it was pretty creative! 🙂

    6. Urs

      Buggy Skiing

      This should be an Olympic event, or what do you guys think?

      1. Kiki

        Buggy skiing

        Lol! You should see the reindeer races in Finland among the Sami people; people on skis being pulled by reindeer running around a track. Unbelievable!

        1. Mark -- Holmes Co.

          Kiki, I would really like to see that. I have read a lot about the Lapps/ Sami and that interest was sparked by my fourth-grade teacher who read us a few story book and something clicked that started a life-long fascination.

          1. Kiki

            Buggy Skiing

            Hi Mark,

            Lots of videos on their reindeer and how difficult it is to continue the tradition in a world where jobs are concentrated in the cities. Young Sami are finding it more and more difficult to stay and herd the reindeer and most need to get additional work outside the family’s farm. The desire to hold on to cultural traditions is being pushed out of the way by a need to make a living in mainstream Finnish society. I imagine that the Amish have these kinds of concerns among the younger generation as well. There’s a YouTube channel called Barry Hook Horse Drawn Promotions. He trains horses of all kinds to carriage drive. He only uses rubber bits/snaffles too. During Christmastime, he also drives in a sleigh (with wheels though) using a couple of reindeer! This is in England somewhere. That’s why I looked for reindeer training videos and came upon the National Geographic and other videos about the Sami. I’m guessing the reindeer races are a relatively recent practice (not sure) but it sure looks wild! Check it out.

            1. Mark -- Holmes Co.

              I definitely will check those suggestions out, Kiki. I had read a few articles on the pressures of maintaining their traditions and values while trying to survive in today’s world. I think there are many groups/ families struggling with those issues in the world today.

    7. buddy mccurdy

      IDIOTS

      i’m a truck driver, seem some stupid things.amish sking just add’s to my list of IDIOTS. if being an idiot was a disability all of them would be on full pension

    8. Kiki

      IDIOTS

      Yep, Buddy, no matter where you go or what culture you’re looking at, there are some people who just push the limit of stupidity and give their group a bad name. Skateboarding while holding onto the back of a pickup truck is common among the non-Amish too. And don’t forget the drinking and driving of most non-Amish (as a police officer I really hate that one). Anyone who’s ever driven after drinking can also be included in the group you call “idiots” and most are adults! Stupid is EVERYWHERE!