Horse Tales
Island Taxi Driver Theresa Brown Enjoys Working With Horses
by Candice C. Dunnigan

In keeping with America's salute to labor this holiday weekend, meet Theresa Brown. Theresa is one of the seasonal taxi drivers employed by Mackinac Island Carriage Tours. She is married to Al Brown, who makes his living by driving one of the threehorse hitch tour wagons owned by Carriage Tours.

This couple will not be having a day on the beach, nor an afternoon picnic this Labor Day. Instead, they will both be in the "driver's seat," working with and behind another set of co-workers, their horses. It takes a lot of fortitude to put in a 10-hour-a-day shift behind the horses. But both Al and Theresa actually enjoy the work that they do, and where they do it. For them, the job means meeting all kinds of people, as well as doing what they like, working with horses.

Theresa originally hails from Pennsylvania, but now she and her husband have lived the last few years in Sault Ste. Marie. She began working for the company on the tour wagons, but switched over to taxi. The current horses I've seen her with, in the second half of this summer, are called Blackberry and Dan. They were driven by another female employee before Theresa found they were to be one of her teams. She told me she has gotten to like them, as to her, no two horses are the same.

Theresa Brown of Sault Ste. Marie enjoys being a taxi driver on Mackinac Island.

Our family always offers a bucket or two of fresh water for the taxis or drays that come to Easterly (our cottage), because we live a long way from town. Theresa was driving the last time a taxi came here. While holding a water bucket for one of the horses, I noticed that it was wearing a round rubber disc on the inside of where the bit joins the cheek piece. Theresa called it a "slobber stopper," and I understood her reference. Sometimes a horse will slide its tongue under a bit, or far to one side. This action can cause a pull on the lines, or the reins, and that can have potential to set his buddy to counter pull. This has helped with her team. It is these little things that can make a difference, attention to a detail.

A person has to have more than a degree of confidence to drive a horse on the streets of Mackinac, or in the wooded roads of the State Park, with a carriage load of people. They really need to know what they're doing. It's not glamorous work; it's hard work, but good work. A driver is always exposed to the elements; on the other hand, he gets plenty of fresh air and constantly has a changing view.

Both Theresa and Al enjoy taking care of the horses assigned to them, and spend a good deal of time washing and brushing them, well before their shifts begin. The taxi stint can be erratic, because while some runs are back and forth in town, others can be to the airport, Woodbluff, or out to British Landing. These can be any time of day or night, for taxi service here is 24 hours a day. Granted, there are fewer cabs on in the late night-early morning shift, but someone is on call. Theresa usually works from 10 a.m. to often 10 p.m.

When they leave the Island in the fall, the Browns will go back to their farm. It has been a dream, as well as a goal, to invest in some select draft horses and start a small business. They would like to develop the animals into working teams to do select logging. This may sound unusual in this day and age, but to the couple, it makes perfect sense. Besides, working with horses is what they do and enjoy. It might not even seem like labor to them.

So, to all the drivers out there on Mackinac Island, who will be busy this weekend, happy Labor Day.

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