Hard times for the Big Easy

I've thought of Carl Peck a lot this past couple of days. I wonder if he and his horse Cochise have survived the hurricane and subsequent flooding now devastating the beautiful city of New Orleans. Carl and Cochise were subjects of a story I wrote for the Appaloosa Journal a few years ago. It was fun having the assignment because I could visualize the scenes Carl described as he told me about his moonlight rides on the levees.

My first experience in New Orleans came in June, 1984, when our family took a road trip there for the World's Fair. We planned to spend a day and then head on our way, but Bill could see I loved the place. So, for my birthday the next day, Bill said we could stay an extra day. That day we were walking around Jackson Square listening to a group of steel drummers when I spotted a familiar face.

It was my classmate Rod Johnson and his wife Mary. Those meetings in faraway places are always fun and memorable. Rod made sure I'd never forget my 37th birthday by paying the drummers to play "Happy Birthday" for me. I've always appreciated his thoughtful gesture, just as I've always appreciated New Orleans. Have been back there three times since.

On another occasion, my teaching friends, Rick and Ann Gehring and Tom and Sharon Walton, met us in New Orleans during spring vacation. That was about seven years ago. With our anonymity in this fun place fairly secure, we acted like a bunch of giddy teenagers on skip day. Some of us enjoyed our Hurricanes and had our picture taken at Pat O'Brien's while others saved us places in line for the Preservation Hall Jazz concert next door. We sat for two sets cramped in the front row almost on the laps of the musicians.

Of course, we dined at the Camilia Grill, a hamburger joint near St. Charles Avenue and one of Bill's favorite stomping grounds from his many trips to the Big Easy. He'd marched with his Oakdale High School band in the Mardi Gras parades a time or two and had gone there during his college years at McNeese State University. His twin sister even chose the French Quarter of New Orleans for her wedding venue. Later, on the millennium New Year, our son Willie sat with his buddies Seth and Matt on a rooftop overlooking 500,000 revelers along the Mississippi.

To say New Orleans means a lot to this family is a gross understatement. We all share a Love affair with the place. That's why we, like so many who've been there and would go back in a flash, feel so helpless while watching the ruination of one of America's most wonderful fun towns. Rich in history. Rich in tradition. Rich in cosmopolitan flavor. Rich in calories. New Orleans has had it all.

Now, times are hard for the Big Easy. We pray for its residents and for those of the surrounding areas whose lives have been so devastated by Katrina. And, I personally pray that Carl Peck and his beloved Cochise have survived and that some day they can resume their moonlight rides along the levees. In their honor and to honor the beauty of one of my favorite cities, I'm inserting Carl's story below.

Carl Peck

January Pillar of the Breed

By Marianne Love

It’s long past midnight near New Orleans. A huge full moon is casting a golden ribbon along rippling waters of the majestic Mississippi.

Suddenly, a lone figure on a spotted horse appears out of the darkness, plodding along the levee which parallels the great American river. The silhouette of man and animal seems almost ghostlike at the early morning hour.

But this image is for real.

As the pair disappears slowly back into the darkness, there’s a sense of calm, for they seem so much at peace.

Far from being a figment of the imagination, this rider and his horse can appear just about anywhere at any time around the Crescent City. Tourists might see them at the famed Audubon Park surrounded by adoring kids or at a McDonalds drive-thru window surrounded by cars full of surprised onlookers.

Outdoors lover Carl Peck and his beloved 15-year-old gelding W.F Cochise cover many a mile each week as they set off for all-night rides from the Mitchell Barn in St. Rose, Louisiana. Sometimes they go alone. Sometimes they’re joined by members of the self-proclaimed “App Gang” who also keep their spotted horses at Marilyn Mitchell’s 17-stall barn on the outskirts of New Orleans.

App Gang member Jenny Richards and friends submitted Carl and Cochise to be honored as Pillar of the Breed. Richards is one of many whose confidence around horses and belief in Appaloosas has been enhanced by both Carl and Cochise.

“[His] love of this horse has proven to be the main factor of success for a complete partnership,” she wrote. “When riding, they become one. The rider is a man that knows horses. . . definitely a true horse whisperer.”

That partnership helped Jenny Richards regain her confidence after a bad accident with another horse.

“I rode Cochise,” she said. “He helped me build my confidence. I rode him in a horse show and we won several ribbons.” Richards now has her own Appaloosa, a 2-year-old bay blanketed gelding named Sir Galloway.

Carl and Cochise have also continued to make believers out of skeptical owners of other breeds since the two paired up 12 years ago when Carl was introduced to Appaloosas. Upon purchasing his first horse at a stockyard, he’d never heard of the spotted breed.

“He was 3 when I bought him,” Carl says. “I paid a whopping $400 for him. I was teased because he was an Appaloosa. In this area everybody’s got a Quarter Horse. One friend even told me he looked like a mule. So, I said he would work like a mule.” Therefore, the nickname “Cajun Mule” appears on Carl’s horse trailer.

WF Cochise is the gelding’s official name with “WF” standing for “World Famous.” When someone asked Carl what made the horse world famous, he said he didn’t know but he’d find out. A dozen years and thousands of miles later, he knows.

“We’re world famous for tracking up the levees around here,” the soft-spoken Louisiana native says. A typical ride might extend 20 miles or more. With temperatures during evening hours more conducive for riding, it’s common for Carl and friends to take off around 9 p.m. and return early the next morning.

“If there’s a full moon, it’s really pretty along the river,” he says. “ It gives me a chance to look around and enjoy God’s creations. The biggest problem is turning around and coming back home.”

Carl and Cochise seem ubiquitous in the New Orleans area. Sometimes they’re seen near the airport just outside of Carl’s hometown of Kenner, approximately 15 miles from downtown New Orleans. Sometimes folks see them at Lake Pontchartrain or sightseers may even stop to snap their picture along the Bonnie Carrie Spillway.

“You never know where you’re going to see me,” Carl says. “I might be riding down a busy intersection.” Although the two spend a lot of time on solitary rides, Cochise’s willing and easy-going nature has earned him a cadre of fans.

“I’ve helped a lot of people who have different ideas about horses. Some think they’re going to run away with you,” Carl says. “He’ll walk all day for you. Anyone can get on him. He’s like a big ol’ puppy dog who will always be by your side.

“People who’ve said they’d never get on a horse---after being around him—they go out and buy one,” he adds. “People from all over have ridden him. That’s the biggest joy I get.”

Old friend Kathy Dardar introduced Carl to the Mitchell Barn. She occasionally saddles up her Quarter Horse and accompanies Carl and Cochise on moonlight rides.

“There are many sights, including large ships, dirt bikes, joggers, ‘wild’ dogs, and even an alligator or a coyote,” Dardar says. “Some neighbors sit up on their porches waving as Carl and Cochise go by.” Her favorite memory, however, involved a pit stop while riding from the barn to Audubon Park.

“We stopped at McDonalds. Yes, we went through the drive-thru on horseback just like the other cars, ordered and had to pull over to the side to wait for our order,” she recalled. “The crew was fascinated . . . we got our happy meals, watered the horses and headed two blocks back to the levee and ate lunch.”

In addition to going anywhere his rider directs him, Cochise honors just about any request. He bows on command, wins ribbons in gymkhana events, and remains a willing partner in the sport of team penning, a popular pastime in the New Orleans area. Team penning involves separating three numbered calves from a herd at one end of an arena and driving them to a pen at the opposite end.

Carl has such confidence in his black-and-white frosted gelding that he’s even ridden Cochise from Kenner to Audubon Park with no reins.

“I can even barrel race him with no reins,” he says. “I see stuff like that, and I’m gonna try it. I go to the barn and I want him to see how it’s done. I even told Miss Mitchell to bring a TV in there so he can see what’s going on.”

Actually, Carl credits TV as the inspiration for his love of horses. Watching “Fury” and “My Friend Flicka” as a child made him yearn for his own horse. He had to settle for a plastic palomino which his mother bought for him at a Sears and Roebuck in Memphis.

“I kept that for many years,” he said. “I also had relatives in St. Francisville about 90 miles from New Orleans and would beg my cousin, Leo Roger Peck, to ride the Shetland named Silver.”

When he reached adulthood, a divorce eventually led to his decision to make a dramatic lifestyle change. He bought Cochise, quit his job as a Winn Dixie stock clerk and started a lawn service.

“I always wanted to be outside because I loved the outdoors,” he explained. These days, the 45-year-old proprietor of Carl’s Lawn Service lives that dream by working eight hours, sleeping eight hours and playing eight hours. Except for some leisure time spent angling for redfish or speckled trout, Carl’s recreational life revolves around his steady and loyal best friend.

The two are always raring to go.

"You can tell how far Carl's gonna go by how much gear he packs up," he says. "If it's the saddlebags, he's gonna be gone all day"---or all night.