The keen breeder of hundreds of Clydesdales, palominos and Appaloosas has called time on a 60-year passion and is selling his last four remaining quarter-horses.
Mr Cowie was given his first palomino quarterhorse, Silver Sky, by his father when he was about 8 or 9 or 10.
He has stuck by horses ever since, even though he felt many of them were "mad".
Mr Cowie celebrated his 70th birthday in July, a milestone for this man of the land who has weathered more than his fair share of mishaps.
He is keeping very good health now, following a recent operation, but feels he is now getting too old to do his horses justice. He cannot possibly remember how many he has owned, although he has never been without a stallion.
"It would be in the hundreds. I used to buy them by the truckload," Mr Cowie recalled last week.
He also used to be paid by the horse load by some farmers. Mr Cowie fondly recalled the time many years ago when he went to help a Middlemarch farmer round up 60 or 70 horses and ponies for an auction.
"I got paid in horses and I bought a few more as well. I got all my kids ponies from there . . . There were at least six mobs of horses. One stallion would own a mob. There were some . . . good horses there, but they were full of worms.
"Their coats were dead and their s . . . was full of worms. He [the farmer] should have been shot for the way they were. They were free range, but they were bad. But we had a good time rounding them up.
"I was riding Bones. He was skinny and weak. A stallion grabbed Bones by the back of the neck and tipped us up and I broke a few ribs," Mr Cowie said.
When Mr Cowie worked for the local rabbit board in the 1950s, he rode a cranky quarterhorse called Heather, who he believed didn't have a brain in her head.
She was acquired from a neighbour who had trucked a whole load of horses up from the south, including about six or eight unbroken ponies.
"They were mad. She [Heather] was the only one that wasn't shot, but she should have been the first to be shot," Mr Cowie recalled.
However, he broke her in and over a decade bred many horses from her.
Among the favourites featured in his battered photograph album were Utah Fort Knox ("he only had one eye"), Sugar Daddy Oh ("he went to the Glenorchy races"), Bonanza Bill and Thunder Isle.
There was Jimmy, who was invited along with Mr Cowie and a team of six Clydesdales to appear at the Arrowtown Gold Centennial, and there was Nevada Sundancer, who Mr Cowie bought in the 1960s.
Nevada Sundancer was Mr Cowie's first Appaloosa and one of his claims to fame was to be photographed with country music singer Glen Campbell in a street parade in Auckland.
The large framed photograph hangs above Mr Cowie's door and shows the singer sitting in a big American-style car with Nevada Sundancer and a cowboy in the lead.
"Glen Campbell was meant to ride him but he wasn't capable. Now there's John Wayne," Mr Cowie said, pointing to another large framed photograph, "riding Old Duke. He would have ridden Nevada Sundancer for sure."
Mr Cowie used to ride some of his horses at rodeos, races, shows and gymkhanas around the Upper Clutha district, but is not sure now how many prizes he might have won.
"I would have though, because I had the fastest horses. But I can't remember now. Quarterhorses get away to a good start and I used to watch the starter's mouth and when he opened it, I would get a jump out . . .
"If you could get a jump out, you'd be home and hosed. It used to upset the others, too," Mr Cowie recalled.
Finally, there's Rocky, by Blue Ice Shinnock, Mr Cowie's last stallion, who is grazing out in the paddock behind Mr Cowie's house. Rocky is very similar to his first stallion, Silver Sky, and the father of a week-old filly and a year old colt.
"The fourth horse is a mare. A desire to improve Rocky's quality of life is behind Mr Cowie's decision to sell. It's not fair when they've only got one mare. They need at least half a dozen, plenty of scope."
Mr Cowie thinks Rocky is about 10 years old and has been broken in, although he has never ridden Rocky himself. Rocky was loaned to a Middlemarch family for a while and is sociable and quiet.
Mr Cowie acknowledged the mare and the colt are not broken but described their temperaments as "terrific".
Mr Cowie would be sad when the horses left his property as his family had been associated with horses for more than 100 years and horses had always been part of their lifestyle.
"I've been thinking about it for a wee while.
It is more for their sake than my sake," he said.
Footnote: the Ardgour Valley character is not about to give up on his other love of breeding Jack Russells and huntaway dogs, of which he has plenty.
