News: Neillsville - No Remorse, Just a Horse (28 Feb 1974)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Marg, Reineck, Hemp

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 2/28/1974

No Remorse, Just a Horse of Course (28 February 1974)

In times of long lines at gas pumps, closed filling stations on weekends, and urban and rural folks wondering just where it will all end; maybe a look back might clear our senses and cause us to pause and remember how things were.

As the fuel prices go higher as the fuel gets scarcer, the hope and prayer that all will be well when the Arabs release the oil and open the spigots to millions of barrels of crude seems to miss the point.

There is a way to solve the problem, at least idealistically, by remembering Grandpa and Grandma…. and old “Ned and Billie,” the farm steeds.

Beat the energy crisis? Use horsepower!

That’s what Don Marg, Rt. 2 Neillsville, did a couple weeks ago when he cut logs and hauled them to a portable sawmill a mile or so from his home.

Don and his logging crew dragged the individual logs from the woods to the road edge with his two Belgian horses. Then he, his son Jeff, his uncle, Fred Marg, and Randy Reineck worked together to roll the logs onto the sleigh. The horses, Duke and Victor, then hauled the sleigh full of logs to the saw mill.

The horses have come in handy many times since they were purchased from Leo Hemp this spring. They are used for work and pleasure.

Both Leo Hemp and Don have used Duke and Victor harvesting crops, plowing, cutting and raking hay, and shredding corn. They have also used them to pull a sleigh and wagons giving rides.

Don has commented many times that they are his snowmobile, and the best one at that, because they will never run out of gas or break down.

So, as gas supplies dwindle, why not do what Don and many others have done….. Get a Horse!

Some will find all sorts of reasons why a horse is not the answer but none of them will really suffice for those who can remember as the Marg’s have done.

The horse doesn’t use gas, lacks planned obsolescence, and offers a friendly nip on the cheek when happy or angry.

There are no Interstate High traffic tie-ups to fight, no worrying about broken gears on modern engineered farm machines, and no tires to wear out that cause an unexpected budge allocation for a new set of radials.

There is only one drawback, anti-horse lovers argue. It’s simply based on the horses own unique pollution problem.

But we can quickly argue that even the horse’s one drawback is bio-degradable… and that ain’t hay!