Do these big horses look familiar? Clydesdales have been used to advertise Budweiser beer since April 7, 1933, when a hitch of the draft horses delivered a case of beer to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s White House to celebrate the end of Prohibition.
This week, the brewer’s horses, the Dalmatian, the red wagon and the guys in the green suits are based in Clark County, where they will make appearances through Sunday in conjunction with the Portland Rose Festival. Here’s their public schedule:
o 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, Beaches Summertime Cruisin’ at Portland International Raceway, 1940 N. Victory Blvd., Portland.
o 4-6 p.m. Thursday, downtown Vancouver and Uptown Village.
o 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, 17402 N.E. Delfel Road, Ridgefield.
o 10 a.m. Saturday, Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade.
o 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday, Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds.
This group of Clydesdales includes 10 horses, each of which weighs anywhere from 1,850 to 2,200 pounds — about the same as the smallest cars. In all, Budweiser keeps about 200 Clydesdales, most of which are based at corporate headquarters in St. Louis. This team is based in Fort Collins, Colo., but spends about 320 days of the year on the road. The other two touring teams are based in Merrimack, N.H., and St. Louis.
According to Oklahoma State University, Clydesdales were first bred in the Lanarkshire district of Scotland, where they were prized for the ability to work on farms, in the coal industry, and for making heavy deliveries. The Clyde River flows through Lanarkshire, formerly known as Clydesdale, and that’s how the breed got its name.
