our alternative transportation is a.... HORSE AND BUGGY!

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"Forget electric vehicles, and methane-powered cars," says Shaun Ann Eddy. "I've found an even more basic and environmentally sound way to get around."

Our family homestead is located in western New York's Cattaraugus County . . . and, intentionally, near an Amish settlement. My husband and I made that choice because we admire our neighbors' gentle lifestyle and value the products and services they offer. We're especially grateful that skills and crafts forgotten or abandoned by the "English" still flourish here and are eagerly taught by our Amish acquaintances.

One particular aspect of Amish life has long fascinated me more than any other: the driving horses and the big, black-top buggies. Meeting such a rig on the road was always a delight. I loved to see a flashy, long-legged team, manes whipping and hoofs pounding in tempo, streak into the village with an Amish family bound for supplies.

The beauty and thrilling sound of a driving horse were enough to convince me that this was my way to travel. My husband, always more practical, hesitated to buy anything so unlikely . . . until later, when circumstances gave my notion some solid backing.

At that time we were driving two automobiles. One was maintained by the company that employed my husband and didn't cost us a cent, but our own 1966 station wagon was running on luck. Finally, when a major repair was necessary, we decided to sell the old machine and buy a horse and buggy for me.

I'm sure our decision came easier because we live in an area where horse-powered travel is common. Everything the buggy owner needs is available here . . . even the right traffic conditions. Local motorists expect to meet old-time turnouts on the highways and backroads, and the State Highway Department has put up signs alerting non-area drivers to their presence. All that helps, of course . . . but even in a non-Amish community, anyone who wants to should be able to put together and use a rig like mine.

"GET A HORSE!"

I owned several riding horses during my farm childhood and, so, had a general idea of their care and training. A driving animal, though, serves a different purpose which has to be kept in mind when you buy one.

Any breed of horse can be trained to work in harness. If it's fast, efficient transportation you're after, however, you need a good trotter, lightweight and muscular, of fine or medium build. As an Amishman explained to me, the standardbred—generally trained as a pacer or trotter and raced at harness tracks—is the ideal choice.

The standardbred is a light, long-legged, good-tempered beast that trots faster than most horses can gallop. His knee action is designed to minimize the shock to his legs and he'll maintain the same steady gait for miles (how far depends on his general condition).

Such an animal sounds expensive, and can be just that if you're looking for breeding stock. A gelding discharged from a track or stable, however, will sell for a low price (and will also probably be the best-mannered driving horse, since he's not mare- or stallion-oriented). I've seen trotters that earned several thousand dollars in their racing careers sold, with their registration papers, for between $12S and $200. The reason is that a harness horse makes a gawky riding animal and there's little demand for him as such. As an Amish neighbor put it, "When a standardbred is finished on the track, he's of little use to anyone but us."