THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

June 10, 1993

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            Growing up on the family farm in Blaine, and even later as I was farming for myself for a time, I would often daydream as I walked behind a team of horses on a plow of riding spirited horses with all the fancy trappings in parades, show rings, or just a leisurely ride down a country lane, until the plow struck one of those hidden rocks and the plow handles hit me in the ribs.  This would suddenly get my attention, and my mind came back to reality.  This could go on several times, plowing furrow after furrow until the field was completed.

            Miles S. Loberg explained it quite well in the Waupaca County Post, July 2, 1942:  “The old plow horse was not the only one to put in a day’s hard labor.”  He went on to say that saddle horses were a serious business with him.  “As one watches those sleek high-stepping show horses prancing around the tanbark ring at a horse show, you get a thrill as all Americans have at the sight of good horseflesh, but life is not all beer and kippers for those sleek animals.”

            The spectator at a horse show does not realize the generations of careful breeding, the dreary months of training and the agonizing hours and days of preparation that precedes that flashing appearance in the show ring.

            Before leaving for a weekend show, each horse had to be blanketed and their legs bandaged for the weeklong trip on a stock truck, which included two shows and miles of tiresome travel.  Mr. Loberg said, “No plow horse on any Waupaca County farm ever felt more weary than these after the arduous week of travel and shows.”

            On July 6, 1939, Miles S. and June Loberg purchased the old John Gordon property, just west of the Waupaca city limits, from Mabel J. Gordon. Here they built the Mi-Lo-Way Stables enclosed with a white Kentucky-style board fence, with a sign, Mi-Lo-Way Farms, over an archway leading up to the stables.

            In the Mi-Lo-Way Stables besides the office, tack room and box stalls, there was an indoor exercise runway that compensated for the short outdoor training season in central Wisconsin, as compared to the big stables in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky.

            Miles S. and June Loberg loved horses, so this was not a fad, but an interesting business.  Mr. Loberg said that he “had a real affection for all of his horses in his stable, but every one was for sale if the price was right.”

            Jessie Rex A. was the first horse that the Loberg’s purchased.  She came from Lexington, Ky., in 1939.  Jessie Rex A. took a second-place at the Wisconsin State Fair in August 1940.  Jessie Rex A., a chestnut mare, was the first of his fine horses to take first place and the winner’s trophy in the fine harness division at the fourth annual Mid-West Horse Show Classic in Chicago in September 1941, and Martha’s Maid, her stablemate, a 2-year-old filly, took a fourth place in the same class in a field of 15 horses.

            The following were the names of some of Loberg’s show horses:  Jessie Rex A., Martha’s Maid, Kalarama Raider, Royal Miracle, Dinah Moe, Mi-Lo-Way Maid, Mi-Lo-Way Denmark, Mi-Lo-Way Mac, Spot O’ Gold, Arbor Gold Rush and, last but not least, Last Minute.

            Clem Lovell was the principal trainer and rider while the Lobergs trained in Waupaca.  There were, occasionally, years when the horses were trained elsewhere. Louis B. Robinson was a trainer at Peoria, Ill., and Marion Brown at Hartland.  I believe, other than Jessie Rex A., that Arbor Gold Rush and Last Minute were perhaps their most loved animals.

            The Lobergs purchased Last Minute, a 5-year-old mare, in Kentucky in 1950.  Mrs. Loberg described her as a liver-colored chestnut with blond mane and tail.  She was in the money every time she showed.

            In November 1950, the Mi-Lo-Way Stables entered their prize mares in the International Live Stock Show in Chicago.  This show was referred to as “The Court of Last Appeal” by the horse world.  The show was the best in the nation.  Dinah Moe and Last Minute, who were full sisters, rubbed noses with other prize horses from throughout the world.

            In 1950, the Palomino horse world knew the Lobergs well.  Arbor Gold Rush, a golden colt with a white mane and tail was born and raised on the Mi-Lo-Way farm two years earlier.  Gold Rush’s father was the world’s champion five-gaited show horse.  Golden Arbor, owned by Paul Siepman, Milwaukee, was the son of Loberg’s first show horse, Jessie Rex A.

            At the Wisconsin State Palomino Show, held in Madison in August 1950, Arbor Gold Rush won the blue ribbon trophy in the 2-year-old class, at halter, and moved into the grand championship class that night to win another blue ribbon, which gave him the distinction of being the grand champion Palomino of Wisconsin.  This gave him eligibility to enter into the National Palomino show at Springfield, Mo., on October 7 and 9, where horses were being shown from almost every state in the nation.

            In a large class, Arbor Gold Rush nipped third in the 2-year-old, at halter, elevating him as the third-best 2-year-old Palomino in the United States.

            The Lobergs were very proud of him, as he had been in training only since August 1950.  Arbor Gold Rush had never trained for fine harness, according to the Lobergs.  “He just used his natural trot.”

            Last Minute, a five-gaited chestnut mare, also won third in the mare’s stakes and fourth in the grand championship five-gaited stake, behind the three world champion geldings.

            In 1951, as a 3-year-old Palomino stud, Arbors Gold Rush won the Grand Championship Cut in the fifth annual National Stallion show in Waterloo, Iowa.

            The Waupaca County Post, July 3, 1952, reported “Loberg’s palomino wins five ribbons at the seventh annual All American Palomino Show at Eaton, Ohio. The Loberg’s returned home with three first and two seconds in a field of 350 to 400 entries.

            Arbors Gold Rush topped his own class with one first, then went back to win the 4-year-old-and-over class for the Senior Championship.  The parading palomino then competed with all blue ribbon winners and won the reserve grand championship.  Loberg’s stallion took a second in the open fine harness class, second to the world’s fine harness palomino champ, Hill View Challenger.

            Edmund “Beans” Atkinson, another lover of fine horseflesh, spent many hours caring for the horses at the Mi-Lo-Way Stables. One day as we were talking over a cup of coffee, I asked Mr. Atkinson what he knew about the two horse graves.  I do not recall the reason, or the year, but Mr. Atkinson had advised the Lobergs that Last Minute should be put to sleep.

            Edwin Huntoon, with his heavy earth equipment, dug her grave just to the southeast of the stable, and her daughter’s grave just to the west of the stable.

            I am sure that, if the Lobergs had any idea of the business development that is taking place on West Fulton Street today, they would not have buried last Minute where they did.  It is very possible that the grave of Last Minute has already been destroyed.

            Miles S. and June Loberg had only one daughter, Marijane, who was married to Edward Adam, and they in turn had two sons:  Miles and Kurt.  Kurt Adam became the trustee of the June Loberg Estate, and in 1989, Thomas and Steven Shambeau became owners of the Loberg property.  The Mi-Lo-Way Stable was then doomed to the wreckers’ hammer.

            However, Susan Shambeau, who is a sister to Thomas and Steven Shambeau, had visions of what could be done by preserving the stable.  Her brothers were very skeptical at first.  Ms. Shambeau, who was a personal friend of June Loberg and is an avid horse breeder in her own right, acquired the Mi-Lo-Way Stable.

            Ms. Shambeau had a contractor give her an estimate as to the cost of taking the stable down, piece by piece, and reassembling it on her “Sweet Medicine Farm.”  The Mi-Lo-Way Stable was taken down and reassembled a few years ago on the sloping shoreline of Selmer Lake, north of Iola, here over 500 years ago was held the annual midsummer meeting place for the various Indian tribes. Here they gathered to do their medicine dances.  The green pastures along the west side of Selmer lake is now the home of the ancient breed of horses, the Spanish Andalusian.

            When Mi-Lo-Way Stable was reassembled on the Sweet Medicine Farm, some alterations were made due to the loss of some unusable lumber.  The hayloft is now two feet lower, and there were some window changes.

            In one corner of the hayloft is a large, metal-lined, oat storage bin with a grain chute leading down to an oat bin on the stable level. The hay and oats are transferred from the ground to the loft by means of elevators and augers. The large cupola posed some problems due to its size and weight.  Ms. Shambeau told me that she “employed a large crane to pick it up and place it on the roof.” She also said, “when all is said and done, the total cost to her was more than double the original estimate, but it is well worth it.”

            The stable is now complete with tack room and box stalls, and an office where she can conduct business with prospective buyers.

            A part of the old fireplace that was in the office at Loberg’s Mi-Lo-Way Stable can still be seen from the highway, just a few rods west of the stoplights at Western Avenue.  The bricks that came from the old Waupaca Brick Yards were removed and are in the inner-lining of the fireplace on Ms. Shambeau’s farm.  The front of the fireplace is faced with beautiful stone, and in front of the fireplace, a stone floor. The unique thing about this floor and the semicircle of stone in front of the main outside door is the millstone from the old Ogdensburg Mill, according to Mrs. June Loberg.

            Other items that Ms. Shambeau brought from the original Loberg stable include the large, tall, granite hitching post with the iron ring on the top to tie horses to in the olden days.  It has the name “Roberts” on one side.  Another item is the granite marker that marked Last Minute’s grave, and the other item of historical interest is the large granite watering trough that at one time stood in the northwest corner of the old Courthouse Square, where horses could be watered.  This is not a wooden trough like you see in Western movies, but it is made of solid granite hollowed out to look like a very large bathtub.  It is believed that both the hitching post and this watering trough were made from granite from one of the Waupaca granite quarries.