—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 24,1977
112
Budweiser Clydesdales
(Continued from Page 100)
equipment is the main factor
that makes them so spec
tacular
Six men are responsible
for the Clydesdales when
they travel-the driver, the
assistant driver, and four
chauffeur grooms who take
care of the horses and
harness. These six men and
the 10 horses are on the road
for 10 months out of the year,
traveling approximately
40,000 miles in that span of
time.
According to information
furnished by Anheuser-
Busch, Inc., these animals
are the most widely traveled
horses in the United States.
Their transportation is three
40 by eight foot vans which
were specially built for
them. Two of the vans house
the Clydesdales and a third
van carries the huge brass
trimmed wagon, portable
stalls, the harness, and other
important equipment
required for their personal
appearances.
According to the men who
care for the horses, their
schedule never lets up. After
one fair, horse show, or
parade, the animals are
loaded up and transported to
their next location, often
states away.
In a recent interview with
Lancaster Farming, one
attendant revealed that
since the first of January
there have only been 10 days
when the men and animals
have not either been on the
road or showing. They left
home last December and
they will return on October
23.
“I’ve got a permanent
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home. It’s right there in the
cab,” he said, pointing to the
one of the three trucks.
According to Earl
Woolcott, the head of the
East Coast hitch (Budweiser
has two hitches-one in the
East and one in the West),
the animals are cared for 24
hours a day, seven days a
week, 365 days of the year.
“You’ve always got to be
uround,” he said. “There
could be a fire, or one of the
horses could get sick, or
when they’re in portable
housing, the winds could
collapse the tent.”
The attendants have no
fear of people stealing the
equipment or the horses,
insured at $lO,OOO a piece,
because, as they put it,
“where would you hide a
Clydesdale?” and “after
one day they’d get t'red of
the feed bill.”
The animals eat 25 quarts
of feed and 40 to 50 pounds of
hay a day, all of which is
purchased where the en
tourage goes.
While the majority of the
attendants stay in motels on
the tour, there is always one
individual who stays with the
horses.
“They are never left
alone,” states Woolcott.
It’s not just the horses that
require attention, however.
The gleaming brass and
leather harnesses and
shining Budweiser wagon
has to be kept up, as well.
Upon first observation, the
harness, valued at $30,000,
appears brand new, but
according to attendants, it is
four years old, a fact that
attests to the care given it.
The history of the Bud
weiser Clydesdales goes
back to post prohibition
days. Before the federal
crack-down, on liquor, the
Anheuser-Busch brewery
used horses and brewery
wagons to deliver their beer.
But, with the advent of
prolubition, that tradition
was ended as the brewery
went into the making of
other products such as soft
drinks, commercial yeast,
and other products.
Then, in 1933 when
prohibition was repealed,
August Busch, Jr., pur
chased a team of
Clydesdales horses and had
them trained to pull a huge
brewery wagon as a special
way to commemorate the
repeal. In that way, the
tradition began.
Today, these animals are
seen from coast to coast at
state fairs, horse shows, and
parades.
According to Woolcott,
while the animals are so well
trained that they look as
though they follow one lead
animal, this is not the case.
“The driver has four reins
laced through the fmgers of
each hand,” says Woolcott,
“And, each horse is driven
all the time.”
While they harness only
eight horses, 10 animals are
taken on the tour to ensure
that eight will always be
suited for the hitch.
“What we try to do,” says
one attendant, “is plan on
bringing some younger
horses along to fit them into
their spots.”
When a Clydesdale joins
the hitch, he is usually three
they go together.
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Five of the six attendants who groom and take care of the Budweiser
Clydesdales begin “dressing” them in their finery for a show.
to four years old. A Bud
weiser Clydesdale must be
bay in color and have all four
leg stockings white and
must have a white face.
The corporation has its
own breeding farm in,St.
Louis, Mo., and all tolled,
has about 120 head of these
magnificent animals, ac
cording to the Budweiser
attendants.
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Located at the St. Louis
plant, the Clydesdale stables
have been designated a
National Historic Landmark
by the National Park Ser
vice.
The New England home of
the Clydesdales is in
Merrimack, N.H., at the
brewery and stables. Along
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with the horses, Budweiser
also has eight of the biggest
oxen in the world, according
to the Clydesdale attendants.
Tickets for the Penn
National Horse Show can be
obtained by writing “Penn
sylvania National Horse
Show, 31 N. Second Street,
Harrisburg, PA 17101.
MILLS