Clydesdales rest up for Super Bowl at South Point Equestrian Center — PHOTOS
A bunch of years ago, the unlimited hydroplane media had formed a queue at a ferry dock in Honolulu. There was a boat race there that weekend; we were told we would be the first civilians allowed onto Ford Island since the bombing at Pearl Harbor.
There were women and children among the boat racing writers.
The Budweiser Clydesdales still got to go first.
Now, this might have been because Clydesdales need a little extra attention, in the manner of mothers boarding airplanes with small children; or it could have been because Miss Budweiser was the fastest boat on the water, and the big shots back in St. Louis were providing free beer in the pits; or it could have been because we were just normal folks, waiting to hop a ferry, and the Budweiser Clydesdales were equine aristocracy.
They've been staying at the horse barn under the South Point Equestrian Center, you know.
With so many West Coast events to attend — Tournament of Roses Parade; NCAA national championship football game in Glendale, Ariz.; Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, Calif. — the world famous Clydesdales have become among Michael Gaughan's most pampered guests.
Not only has the South Point been leaving the light on for the stately draft horses, it has been placing peppermints on fluffy pillows of hay. They'll bring an iron straight to the stall, if Fez — he was the one I petted — requests one.
"We're at South Point a lot. It's a fantastic facility. The staff is wonderful; the owner, Mr. Gaughan, treats us great. We love coming here," said Doug Bousselot, who has been working with the Budweiser Clydesdales for 28 years.
Normally, the Western U.S. Clydesdales are based in Fort Collins, Colo. — other teams can be viewed at Budweiser headquarters in St. Louis and in Merrimack, N.H. But there are few facilities like the South Point, Bousselot said, so the horses (10) and Dalmatians (2) and the team of handlers (7) take advantage of the South Point's hospitality whenever they can.
"They understand any concern we may have. In fact, they usually have our concerns addressed before we can even think of 'em," Bousselot said of the South Point staff. "They are horse people. They get it."
Quick facts about the Clydesdales: Originally bred in Scotland, a six-horse hitch and beer wagon were a surprise gift to August Busch Sr., from sons August A. Busch Jr., and Adolphus Busch III on April 7, 1933 to commemorate the repeal of Prohibition; later that year, the horses were used to reenact delivery of a case of beer to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington.
The hitch grew from six to eight horses in 1950 when Dalmatians were added as mascots; to qualify for the team, a gelding must be at least four years old, stand 72 inches at the shoulder when fully mature and weigh between 1,800 and 2,300 pounds. Each Clydesdale will consume as much as 25 to 30 quarts of whole grains, mineral and vitamins on a typical day, and 50 to 60 pounds of hay, and up to 30 gallons of water on a warm day.
In Super Bowl terms, that's an appetite matched only by Refrigerator Perry of the 1985 Bears.
The Clydesdales are on the road 10 months of every year, as are the groomers. Sometimes the groomers talk to the horses. Sometimes the horses listen.
"You feed 'em very day, they get to know you real quick," Doug Bousselot said from the bowels — the immaculate bowels — of the South Point Equestrian Center before the team departed for the Super Bowl in brand new tractor-trailers with spiffy Budweiser paint jobs and graphics.
Bousselot grew up on a Midwest hog farm near the Quad Cities. He's on the road with the horses 320 days of the year. He said he has met so many interesting people, been to so many interesting places with the Clydesdales.
He said he never tires of seeing smiles on faces, which is what you always get when the Clydesdales are in the house or pasture.
"Whether it's a kid, a middle-aged person, an elderly person — the horses have been around for 80 years, so everybody kind of understands the tradition. Everybody smiles," he said.
"You're doing a job that's like the guy who is selling ice cream."
If Bousselot looks familiar, it might be because you have a keen eye. He played himself, the wagon driver, in the 2012 Super Bowl spot. (Fez was in that one, too.)
Ah, the Super Bowl commercials. Everybody has his favorite. For most, it's one featuring the Clydesdales and those adorable puppies.
Mine is from the 1990s, the one in which the colossal horses choose up sides in mountain shadows, and one is shown kicking a football -- laces out -- over a goalpost consisting of telephone posts and wires. The game ends, and the camera switches to two grizzled ranch hands who have just witnessed the amazing sight.
"They always do that?" one asks, clutching a cold bottle of Bud.
"Nah," says the second one, also clutching a cold bottle of Bud. "They usually go for two."
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski
