Rock-n-Hill Clydesdales celebrates 30 years

KEWAUNEE – Clydesdales, a breed of draught horse tracing back to the seventeenth century, are famous for their size, strength and appearance.

Budweiser famously uses the breed in parades due to their steady nature. The horses are wildly popular across the world for both farm work and showing thanks to their intelligence. Rock-N-Hill Clydesdales, a breeder and consignor of Clydesdales horses located here in Kewaunee, began as a dream for co-owner Nancy LaCrosse, who had never owned a draft horse.

“When I was a little girl, my family visited Grant’s Farm in Missouri. And back then, Budweiser kept [Clydesdale] mares and babies at Grant’s Farm, and I remember walking through the barn thinking, ‘Someday… someday,’” she said.

In 1995, Nancy and husband Mike LaCrosse fulfilled her wish with a pair of geldings, Bobby and Jeff. Nancy said the pair taught her and her children to drive a wagon, and helped her husband learn how to drive a team of four and then six horses. In 1997, the LaCrosse family decided to expand their Clydesdale stock and acquired a pair of full sisters to be bred. The first horse born to the LaCrosses was Mary Ann in 1998.

In 2000, the family decided to begin an alphabetical naming convention for their foals, beginning with the letter “A.” All babies born in 2000 received “A” names, like Abigail and Abraham. Last year — 2025 — was the year of “Z,” meaning they will now start over again with “A” in 2026.

The horses are sent to an Amish farm to be broken and trained before returning to the LaCrosse pasture, where the family trains them for pulling, riding and showing. While many of the Rock-N-Hill Clydesdales are broke for both riding and driving, Nancy said they prefer to pick one or the other for each horse.

“When a horse is broke to drive, it has two gaits. It has a walk and it trots. You do not want a driving horse to lope or canter, so a lot of times if you’re going riding and then back to driving, you’re setting yourself and the horse up to fail,” she said.

Rock-N-Hill’s Clydesdales are a regular sight at the annual World Clydesdale Show, for both riders outside of the family and LaCrosses themselves. Nancy, Mike, and their three sons all exhibited for the first time in 2007, 2011 and 2018. She said now that her sons have grown up and married, her grandchildren have begun to compete on the family horses.

Nancy said learning to show the family’s Clydesdales meant teaching her sons how to handle the horses, but also to have fun regardless of the outcome.

“We told them, ‘You win graciously and you also lose graciously,’” Nancy said.

The 2025 World Clydesdale Show took place Oct. 1-5 in Illinois, with more than 800 horses participating. Rider Amy Halverson brought World Champion honors home with Rock-N-Hill’s Miss Topaz in the Adult Western Pleasure class, Reserve World Champion honors also with Topaz and Reserve World Champion honors with Rock-N-Hill’s Miss Trudy.

“Amy rocked it like we knew she was going to,” Nancy said. “She had said, ‘I’m going to the ‘25 show and I’m coming home with a world title,’ and she did.”

Nancy and Mike’s granddaughter Allison LaCrosse also exhibited Miss Topaz and placed third in Youth English Pleasure and sixth in Youth Western Pleasure as well as Pole Bending, a class with over 40 entries. She also exhibited Rock-N-Hill’s Miss Sophie in youth decorating, youth showmanship, youth cart and youth team. Grandchildren Jack and Emma LaCrosse also exhibited in the youth showmanship class of 36 entries as well as the youth cart class, another huge class of youth drivers.

Rock-N-Hill Clydesdales continue to participate in county events like parades and the Fairest of the Fair, but they no longer travel to as many out-of-state fairs. Nancy said though she and Mike have stepped their hectic schedule down, the farm is still supported by her adult children, who live nearby and are always ready to lend a hand.