You drive by a place every day, and then one day you notice some beautiful horses in the snow and feel like you’re in a dream. After church today, Mom and I were heading south on Peninsula Drive, just past Kroupa Road. We spotted these magnificent horses on the left side of the road, so I had to stop and take a photo.
This is across from some Johnson family property that we call “The 40” (40 acres). It’s where my grandma and grandpa built a house (on the corner, across from Peninsula Fruit Exchange) and moved to when Dad married Mom and they moved into the home place across the road from the barn up on Center Road (north of Mapleton).
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Back when I was a kid in the 1960s, just down the road from my grandma’s house lived Louie Kauer (not sure I’m spelling his name right – someone correct me in the comments below; UPDATE: Lee Gore relayed that it’s Kauer, not Cower, as I’d originally spelled it). So, basically, his farm was just a little past where these horses are, on the right side of the road. Sort of across from the new-ish cemetery there on Peninsula Drive.
Anyway, Louie had these massive work horses, and sometimes they’d get loose and come over and eat the apples off the trees on “The 40.” When there were horse shows down at Bowers Harbor Park, he’d bring the horses down. I recall Deni Hooper, who was the announcer for the shows, telling everyone to be quiet so we didn’t spook Louie’s work horses as they got closer to the park. They were truly magnificent animals.
I’ll have to see if there’s any photos in mom’s slides of the horse shows. Or if anyone reading this has any, email me at [email protected] and we’ll put together a little photo story here on the Gazette.
My sister, Carol, used to ride in the shows. I was a little too young at the time, but they sure were fun. There was a nice arena there, with stands where people could sit. I believe there were some buildings, and a tall announcer’s box where Deni and whoever else was announcing could see everything. Those were the days.
