Beer For My Horses
Did you know we had celebrities in town last week? Neigh? The Budweiser Clydesdales were staying at a private farm in Southern Pines, resting up before a big event at the Airborne & Special Ops Museum in Fayetteville. Because we’re always willing to stirrup trouble, we tracked them down for an exclusive interview.
So, what did we learn?
We chatted with two team members, Megan Arnold and Marissa Kaminski who helped us rustle up some info: like how one gets into this profession. Marissa: “The joke in the industry is that you’re in the wrong place at the right time.” The horses themselves require many more qualifications before they reach stardom.
Horse qualifications:
- Must be at least 18 hands tall
- Must be the right brown color with 4 white stockings and a white blaze
- Must be a gelded male because they travel better
- Must have a black mane
Even though the horses all must have a certain look, Megan tells us that each horse has unique features that make it easy for them to tell who is who.
The 10 horses travel with an entourage of seven-person teams at all times. There are three teams total that rotate days off. The Clydesdales travel 300 days out of the year, but the team says Southern Pines will leave an impression. “It’s gorgeous here,” says Megan.
These bell bottomed horsies weigh at least 1,800 pounds and they don’t travel lightly, either — each horse alone eats 50-60 pounds of hay a day and carry a suite of branded luggage, including trash cans.
All team members learn to drive the big rigs the team travels in, which they called hitches. Show day chores consist of leg washing, grooming, and polishing up the horses’ many harnesses. And, yes, these guys have a hair care routine — the team uses Lucky Braids whitening shampoo instead of purple shampoo to make the white of the clydesdales to pop.
While the Clydesdales made their debut in 1933, to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition, the Budweiser Dalmatians first entered the scene in the 1950s.
The Dalmatian was dubbed the Budweiser Clydesdales’ mascot. Now, a Dalmatian travels with each of the Clydesdale hitches. Other than looking cute, they serve to guard the beer wagon and protect the horses. We got to meet two. Fun fact: They’re both girls and they get sunscreen rubbed on their noses at least once a day because they’re sun loving pooches.
After leaving the private New Haven Farm, the Clydesdales headed to Fayetteville and then to D.C. Farm owner Janet Walker said, “It’s wonderful having them here, it’s really quite lovely.” She also confirmed this is the most famous sleepover she’s had in her time boarding.
After this experience we’re expecting The Sway to be featured in an official commercial. We should be getting an offer any day now. Until then, crack one open for us.
