hand slapping bucket
If I have to go in there, I'm gonna shoot you.. Yes.
shouting
Bud, come! You don't make me come in and get you! Judy Larson stands just a shade over five feet tall. Her prize Clydesdale, Big Bud, is eight feet tall. Come. But there's no mistaking who's in charge. Uggh! The thing that you have to have with a Clydesdale is a big mouth. And I have a big mouth. They're more scared of my mouth than they are of me because I am so short and so little. By the time he's done, that's why-- you can see-- I need a bath. How's Big Bud doing, huh? Let's soak those feet first.
water spraying
Judy and her family have been working with Clydesdales for nearly four decades. Over. Get over.
whistles
Over! And for the last three decades they've been putting on daily shows for the public at their farm outside Ripon.
applause
Now this was a very, very difficult... It takes us four hours to set up. Two hours to break down each and every day.
telephone buzzing loudly
That telephone usually rings about 30 calls an hour. Judy says it's the knowledge that a crowd is coming that gets her out of bed each day. I can't have the place a mess and I've got to get that horse washed. And I have to get the popcorn made. And I have to do all the rest of this stuff in order to have the show go on. She knows it sounds like a lot of work. Yes it is, but we enjoy what we're doing. Fully retired, working 13 hours a day. Yay! But she can't imagine doing anything else. Right now, we are the only people in the United States doing this. But if we sold out, I know what we'd do. We'd sit around, go eat at restaurants every night and get fat. Welcome to Larson's Clydesdale Ranch. I'm Judy Larson. Judy was not born into this lifestyle. She was born in suburban luxury. Being in Park Ridge, Illinois, I had heated swimming pool, air conditioning since I was born, Cadillac car. But her husband Cal said he wanted a dairy farm, even though by trade he was a crane operator and Judy was a professional organist. So, it was almost like "Ma and Pa Kettle." It was really wild when we first started out. Now I'd like to give you just a little bit of history of what goes into hitching six Clydesdales. After we sold out of the dairy farm, he said he'd like a couple Clydesdales. And I've never been up to a horse in my life. And I thought "Okay. Clydesdales-- versus milking cows-- has got to be better." Six ton of horses. We started out with practically nothing. Four kids, three Clydesdales and had to start over with nothing in our pocket but $5,000. All four of our children started driving Clydesdales at age seven. But we'd buy two horses. Win with them. Sell them. We buy an older wagon. My husband would rebuild it, and we'd sell it for more money. We are the only family in the United States that all four of our children retired as national champion cart drivers. When my children went to college, and they left home-- the empty nest syndrome-- I went to the governor's conference on tourism. And they talked me into opening up my place to motor coaches. Now this is Big Bud. And Bud is
horse neighs
an eight-year old gelding. Judy and Cal run through the tour with a precision that comes with years of repetition. You're going to pretend you're watching the National Champion Men's Cart Class. Bud the mighty Clydesdale! Let's give him a big hand!
applause
Now doesn't that look beautiful? This tour business makes me look like I'm the boss and I'm the owner. That's a bunch of baloney. My husband gets the horse ready. If it doesn't behave, he gets it back. Gets it ready and gives it back to me. He's the brains behind the whole works. She may call Cal "the brains," but Judy is the face of the operation with a personality as big as her Clydesdales. Just happen to have a blue ribbon here for Big Bud. Now Bud, don't step on my toes. Hang on. They can see on my face that I have a good time. So when they leave me, instead of saying goodbye, they thank me for coming to my place.
That's what I can't believe
is that when they thank me when they leave.
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