Bob (left) kicks up snow as he and Mac turn onto Main Street pulling a delicate load, a new plate glass window for a downtown Mackinac Island shop. The Mackinac Island Service Company dray horses spend each day with driver Jim Pettit delivering goods around the Island, from mail to food and construction materials. Bringing the new window to the Island onboard the Huron Wednesday morning December 30, and then accompanying it as it travels by dray are Steve Coatta (left) and Barry Walter of Straits Area Glass of Cheboygan. The 12 horses working on Mackinac Island this winter are strong, calm, and good-natured. This combination of traits is necessary for the animals that help maintain daily routines on the Island, including delivering supplies and transporting residents. These horses have the ability to pull heavy loads uphill in ice and snow. They hardly seem to notice the whine from passing snowmobiles or the rumble of the snowplow, noises that would startle the average horse, say Mackinac Island Service Company employees.

A special steel shoe with pieces of metal to grip the road makes travel around the Island easier for horses working this winter. Taking a break to check Bob's shoe during early morning deliveries Wednesday, December 30, is Jim Pettit, a dray driver with Mackinac Island Service Company. "You think any old horse you see on TV can come and work on Mackinac Island; that's not the case," said Jim Pettit, a dray driver who has been with the company for more than 20 years. "It takes a special horse."

During the peak summer season when more than 500 horses are on Mackinac Island, they pull carriages, drays, and tour wagons. They provide taxi service and saddle rides. Some Island residents stable private riding horses. Most of those horses spend winter months on farms in the Eastern Upper Peninsula, while others head to private barns.

Jim Roe of Mackinac Island Service Company sits at his office desk on the Arnold Dock, planning and directing all Island freight delivery operations early Wednesday morning, December 30. Winter work conditions are far different then in the summer. Most of the animals are Belgians and Percheron crossbred working horses. Horses on duty for the winter transport people and deliver mail, groceries, building materials, and supplies to the more than 300 year-around Island residents and the handful of businesses that remain open. The only time the horses are taken off their delivery routes is during severe weather, especially during hail.

Jim Roe plans and directs all freight delivery operations for Mackinac Island Service Company. In the winter, he also organizes taxi service.

On a recent winter morning, Mr. Roe steps outside his woodframed office at the end of the Arnold Dock and faces the cold wind off the Straits of Mackinac. He calls this unprotected landscape the coldest spot on the Island, and nearby are two draft horses hitched to a dray and waiting for the arrival from St. Ignace of Arnold's winter boat, Huron.

Driver Erik Schuberg (from left) with horses Dan and Mike and driver Brett Horn with horses Clarence and Gertrude wait for arriving passengers from the ferryboat Huron. These four horses are among the 12 that remain on the Island this winter. Mr. Roe sweeps his arm across the bay to the shore, gesturing to the historic buildings and homes.

"Everything you look at, it's all been pulled by a team of horses over here," he announces. "On the mainland, you look at stuff and it's all with trucks, but you look at that house over there and it was all done by teams of horses. It's everything. It's pretty amazing."

The horses standing on the dock with Mr. Roe watch as ropes are thrown and the Huron is moored at the dock. They seem to know their work is about to begin. Two more horses pulling an empty dray come around the corner and stop near the waiting team.

Crew members pull a thick rope with a large hook onto the boat. The winch motor starts and the first cart of freight appears from the belly of the boat, slowly climbing the gangway. Mr. Roe watches the arriving supplies, calculating how he will distribute the items between the two drays.

"I like making things click," he said. "It gives me a good feeling at the end of the day."

When ice builds in the Straits, forcing boat operations to end until spring, freight deliveries shift to the airport with goods arriving by plane. At that time, Mr. Roe moves his office to Harrisonville and a dray is stationed at the airport to receive freight.

In the winter, roads are covered in snow and ice, and the predominate sounds come from snowmobiles as they traverse the Island. This is a sharp contrast to summer conditions, when the number of visitors and residents swells to the thousands and bicycle traffic fills the streets. The horses are trained to be comfortable with pedestrians, heavy bicycle traffic, noise, and the sound of the cannon from Fort Mackinac.

"To find a special horse to work on Mackinac Island is hard," said Mr. Pettit. "Not only do they have to be real quiet, they also have to be strong, because there 's a lot of big hills around here. Also, it takes an even quieter, special horse to pull a dray. They are the best of the best. It is a hard combination to find."

"The dray horses are special," he added.

When new horses arrive on the Island, they are tested by an experienced dray driver, he said. Each horse must to able to stand in one spot while a dray is unloaded. By winter, the horses have their winter coat, are familiar with the Island, used to pulling a dray, and are used to standing during unloading, but the season brings new challenges. The horses have to ignore snowmobiles as they zoom by and not be frightened by the snowplow.

"The sturdier horses work better in the wintertime," he said. "The horses have to learn how to pull in snow and ice. You can tell a horse that's been around here for awhile and pulled in a lot of snow. Usually when they go up a hill, they go for it, but horses that have been on the ice before, when they go up a hill, they spread their legs and take real tiny steps."

For better traction and to protect the horses' hooves, summer shoes are removed in October and replaced with a steel shoe that has metal spikes to grip the road. A space between the hoof and the bottom of the shoe lifts the foot above the snow a bit. During the winter, the spikes get dull and shoes are changed about every five weeks.

"The only time we really have trouble is when you have ice on the ground and then you have a wet snow. Then it will snowball under their feet sometimes. So if you try to go up a hill, it's like trying to walk up a snowball."

In this case, the drivers will clear the snow from the shoe to allow the horse to get traction again.

"They do best when there is a little bit of snow to dig into," said Mr. Pettit. "They do worse when it is just plain glare ice and the really bad time is when you get wet snow on top of ice. We gauge our loads depending on the weather, too."

The Mackinac Island Service Company tests a lot of horses to see which will handle winter conditions best. Occasionally, a horse does not work out and plans are made to ship the animal off the Island and replace it before the boat stops running as ice builds in the Straits.

"Usually we keep the same horses year after year," he said. "That way we don't have any surprises. In the winter time, if something happens and the horse doesn't work out, you can't just ship the horse off the Island or transfer him, he's here. You try to make your best guess, but once you find a good team, you keep them. You don't mess with something that works, that's the main thing."

Last year, Mac spent his first winter pulling a dray. Mac used to be paired with Naw, making the team Mac and Naw [Mackinac], said Mr. Pettit. Naw, unfortunately, is not good at standing and now is used in the summer pulling the garbage dray, which keeps a more continuous pace. Mac now is teamed with Bob.

Mac is a good winter horse, said Mr. Pettit, although by the end of the day he is not the best at standing still and often wants to go back to the barn on Seventh Street.

"Normally, he is pretty good," he said. "He's a young horse and probably will be around here for the next 15 years or so."

The horses' day begins around 5:30 a.m. when taxi driver George Wellington arrives at the barn. Fresh hay, grain, and water are given to the animals. The dray drivers head to the barn about 7 a.m. to groom their team. In the winter they are brushed, cleaned, and then harnessed. The first stop after leaving the barn is at Grand Hotel to pick up any outgoing freight. The hotel is closed to guests for the winter, although maintenance work is ongoing. The driver and his team arrive at the Arnold Dock in time to meet the first boat coming from St. Ignace.

Picking up the mail and delivering it to the post office on Market Street is the top priority, said Mr. Pettit. The first boat each morning usually contains food. A large insulated chest is kept on the dray to protect produce from the extreme cold temperatures.

"In the summer, you want to keep everything from getting too hot, and in the wintertime, you want to keep everything from freezing," he said.

The second boat brings packages and freight to businesses and residents.

Some packages are for residents far from town, yet they still are delivered by dray.

"It would be easy just to take all the long-haul stuff and throw it on a snowmobile. We try to be true to ourselves," he said. "Snowmobiles are supposed to be for personal use."

Twice a week the horses pull the garbage dray, collecting trash and delivering it to the solid waste handling facility near the heart of the Island just off British Landing Road.

In past winters, the dock has been filled with construction materials as contractors plan ahead to have supplies available when the boat stops running. This year, however, construction projects are smaller, requiring few supplies, said Mr. Pettit.

Around noon on the freight dock, the horses are given oats, grain, and water for lunch.

After freight has been unloaded from the last boat from the mainland and then delivered, the horses head up Cadotte Avenue and back to the barn in Harrisonville. Their harnesses are removed and they are brought to their stalls, where they are fed grain, oats, and water.

Mr. Pettit said he loves his job, both in the summer and in the winter. The secret to being a dray driver, he said, is to dress in layers and carry a supply of additional clothing.

"I like playing with horses and I get paid to do it," he said. "That's the best thing in the world."