We’re now in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, this weekend. Why, you ask? Our next stop after Door County was to be The Dells in Wisconsin, but the campsite was full for the weekend, so we needed an in-between place to stay for a couple of nights. A long-time ago a friend from the Careers group for singles at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, came from Fond du Lac, and I was always interested in knowing what the area was like. Thanks, Jeff, for getting us here!
We found some real jems in the Fond du Lac area. On Saturday we visited the Larsons Famous Clydesdales just south of town. Aren’t the trees beautiful?
Cal and Judy started showing these beautiful, huge horses about 50 years ago while Cal was still working full-time as a crane operator in Madison. They already had a farm with cows, and in a series of twists and turns, they ended up owning 4 large horses and participating in parades. These events got to be dangerous for the horses as some people tried to hurt them.
They’ve given up most parades and now compete in show with horses pulling carts. The Larsons compete against big groups of owners (like Anheuser-Busch) and keep winning. Their children are all national champions too.
During the summer the Larsons have a 90-minute tour at their farm showcasing their horses. We made it to the last tour of the season (just in time, right?). Judy showed us how they put on the harnesses to get the horses ready for show. Just cleaning up the horses takes 4 hours!
horse’s head is by the size of this bridle
Then Cal took one of their new horses through his paces behind a cart. We’ve never seen a large horse prance like this horse did. He loved showing off!
