Kentucky Woman Kept Seeing Horses Tied To Bushes In Parking Lots. Now Amish Buggies Have Their Own Spot At Lowe’s
Here’s a little feel-good story that I’ve had on the back burner to share for a little while. A horse owner in Murray, Kentucky kept seeing Amish horses tied to bushes, or left standing where cars drive, in local store parking lots. Now the town’s Lowe’s has set aside a place for them.
The Murray Ledger & Times reports that a woman named Rebecca Bagwell approached several businesses earlier this year about designated spaces for Amish customers who come to town by horse and buggy.
Bagwell contacted Lowe’s, Walmart and Kroger about putting in horse-appropriate parking. Murray’s Lowe’s outlet agreed, and has since installed posts, signs and hitching points for buggies.
She told the paper she was concerned for the horses’ safety and comfort:
“I have a heart for horses because I’ve always been a horse owner,” Bagwell said.
“Seeing these horses trudging up and down those hot roads and not having anywhere to get out of the weather started making me think, ‘We should do something for the Amish people.’”
Safety was a concern as well. She also said she had heard of a vehicle backing into an Amish buggy at a Murray business.
The proposal reached Lowe’s through a man named Eric Arteberry, an employee at the store with connections to the Amish. Store manager Derek Vallandingham had also spent seven years as a store manager in another area of the state with a sizable Amish population (Mayfield), and had previously seen how horse parking accommodation made life easier.
Word still has to spread as some buggy owners have continued tying their horses near lot lights. But Bagwell’s longer-term goal is covered areas protecting the horses from sun and rain. Hopefully others will follow her example.
The Murray Amish community is located in Calloway County, and despite being founded in 2018, is still under 100 people in size. So it is understandable that most if not all businesses in town have not been equipped with suitable horse parking, given the small size of the Amish population.
This is another nice example of non-Amish residents wanting to make things better for their Amish neighbors. In reality it’s a win for everyone, including whoever those bushes belong to, and potentially drivers as well.
