Lucky Trail Guide Crew Enjoys Summer in the Saddle
“Stable girls, love horses.” Anonymous

As Labor Day weekend once again comes around the bend, it seems only fitting to write about a group of Mackinac's hard-working horse force.

These individuals are trail guides, and their horses are from Cindy’s and Jack's Livery (our two Island riding stables). This season, the girls outnumber the boys. All of them are very familiar with horses.

I walked into Cindy's last week to find out a bit more. At first, answers to questions were curt, then gradually warming. I think no one was certain about why I wanted to do a story on them, and after all, it was just a little past 8 a.m., last chance to grab a piece of toast, hose off a horse, and get ready for the day. There is an honest camaraderie between the workers. Soon the barn filled with people and chatter started.

From left: Cory Beacom, Christina Mclean, Devan Brooks, and Emily St. Onge.

Both Cindy's and Jack's Livery are owned by the Gough family, and that’s a large one. Dale and Jody Gough's eldest daughter, teenage Victoria, had already left the Island for high school sports in Pickford. She (like her parents) was seemingly "raised in the saddle." Victoria spends her summers working at these stables, riding horseback.

In the summer, Jack's Livery has 20 horses for hourly rental, plus drive-it-yourself carriage horses. Cindy's is strictly saddle horses, with 31 for hire. The cost at both is $30 for the first hour. The hours of operation are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The trail guides use horses also owned by the Goughs. Occasionally, they can use their own steed. They work for one stable and may rotate to another. The route takes them up and down Cadotte Avenue, past Grand Hotel and then to Annex Road, where riders often pass through the Annex or take Allouez Trail into the woods. More adventuresome enthusiasts get further into the heart of the Island, but often it can take a long time for horse and rider just to make it to Four Corners (the crossroads before the silver Carriage Tour Barns). The girls who work for these stables are a familiar sight, effortlessly riding up and down Cadotte, long whips in hand. Those whips, incidentally, are used to move a poky mount up with the rest of the gang.

Emily St. Onge and Christina McLean will start their senior year at the Mackinac Island Public School in a few days, but they plan to work on weekends, as long as the volleyball schedule doesn't interfere.

They’ve been working since late May, up early, ready to ride early in the morning, and often bringing back the last group by dusk. Emily rides a horse named Lenny, for whom she has a great affection. He’s a nicely built Quarter-Appaloosa crossed gelding. Christina rides Kiowa, a very attractive and tall Tobiano (chestnut and white) gelding.

Joining me that day were guide Devan Brooks, who rides Tex, a dark chestnut Morgan cross, and Cory Beacom, who rides a nice mare called Annie. Devan, originally from the Detroit area, now lives year-around on Mackinac. Cory is no stranger to horses, as her grandfather is Jim Cryderman, who has been the blacksmith at Jack's for a long time. Cory lives in Cedarville in the winter and lends more than a helping hand there with that family's off-season horse operation.

Another guide who looked familiar to me turned out to be Sarah Dehring. In her "off-season," Sarah is a teacher at the Mackinac Island Public School, and a graduate of it (K-12). She is the daughter of Dorothy and Jack Dehring and spent her childhood here, and always loved to ride. Sarah has been working on and off at the stables as a guide for eight years.

Shelly McLean (yes, related to Christina) is another Island graduate and horse lover. She has been with the Goughs for more than 20 years, doing everything from guiding, riding, grooming, to managing the daily livery.

Over in the corner listening was young Burton Gough, who proudly pointed out that he and Tom Causley are the two male guides. They attend school in the Upper Peninsula.

When I asked what they liked best about the type of work they do all summer, Emily was quick to reply, "You get to ride all day."

The negative side of the job is the kids who whine and cry, and the people who talk incessantly. All assembled smiled and seemed to agree.

This gang has worked through the long days of June, the humidity of July, and during the heavy rain downpours this August. Having a job like theirs requires not only skill, but responsibility, as well as the savvy of negotiating heavy clogs of traffic (equine, bicycle, and human). Now it seems as if the summer cannot be coming to a close. All of them can see themselves doing it again next year.

As Winston Churchill once remarked, "No hour of life is lost, that is spent in the saddle."

Happy Labor Day.

Candice Dunnigan is an active member of the American Equestrian Association, the Waterloo Hunt, and the Mackinac Island Horsemen’s Association. Seasonally she resides at Donnybrook and Easterly Cottage.