This Bud's for you!

When you say Clydesdale often times what comes to mind are the famous Budweiser Clydesdales. What started as a gift from two Busch brothers to their father has turned into a time honored American icon. In 1940 they started breeding  Clydesdales and today there are over 100 horses in the breeding program.

The requirements to become a  Budweiser horse is pretty specific:

1. Age: four years of age or older
2. Height: at least 6 feet tall from ground to shoulder
3. Weight: between 1,800 and 2,300 lbs.
4. Appearance: Bay coat, four white legs, white blaze, black mane and tail

These are some pretty massive gentle giants but they sure can put away the feed. Their food is usually delivered to the event location via UPS prior to the horses arrive. Each Budweiser Clydesdale hitch horse will eat as much as 20 to 25 quarts of whole grains, 50 to 60 pounds of hay, and drink 30 gallons of water per day.

The Fairfield County Fair is pretty proud to have the Clydesdales at our fair this week. A lot of work was done by local business owners, distributors and the fair management to make this possible to bring them to our fair.  Ten horses are transported in three 50-foot tractor-trailers. The first rig that pulled in was driven by a female which was pretty impressive, then she jumps out of the cab and she is the tiniest cute little thing maneuvering this big tractor-trailer, like it was nothing.  What a fun job! The team stops each night at local stables so the horses can rest. Each trailer is equipped with air-cushioned suspension and thick rubber flooring to ensure a smooth and comfortable ride.



Clydesdale horseshoes measure more than 20 inches from end to end and weighs about 5 pounds - a regular horse's shoe is about 10 inches and weighs about a pound.

Meet Clyde the Dalmatian mascot. He was such a friendly dog, loved the crowd, the people and even took a little self guided tour around the fairgrounds.