The Budweiser Clydesdales will make old-school beer deliveries Friday in Fort Worth in advance of next week’s All-Star Game.
The iconic horses are making numerous stops in the city’s historic Stockyards, including Cowtown Coliseum and Billy Bob’s Texas. The hitching process begins at 10:30 a.m. near Billy Bob’s Texas, 2520 Rodeo Plaza, and the horses will begin walking down Exchange Avenue at 11:45 a.m.
Budweiser is Major League Baseball’s longest-tenured sponsor, according to a release from a brand spokesperson.
The Clydesdales have long been a symbol of the beer brand, both touring the country and in nostalgic Super Bowl commercials .
It began in 1933, when his children surprised August Busch, Sr., with a six-horse Clydesdale hitch to celebrate the end of Prohibition.
Realizing the marketing potential of a horse-drawn beer wagon, the company arranged to have a second six-horse Clydesdale hitch sent to New York to mark the event, according to the Anheuser-Busch website. The Clydesdales drew a crowd of thousands on their way to the Empire State Building. After a small ceremony, a case of Budweiser was presented to former Gov. Al Smith to thank him for fighting against Prohibition.
The hitch traveled across New England and the Mid-Atlantic states, before stopping in Washington, D.C., in April 1933 to reenact the delivery of one of the first cases of Budweiser to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The six-horse Clydesdale team later increased to eight. In 1950, a Dalmatian was introduced as the Budweiser Clydesdales’ mascot. Now, a Dalmatian travels with each of the Clydesdale hitches.
On Friday, the Clydesdales will stop at Cowtown Coliseum, Riscky’s BBQ, Love Shack, White Elephant, H3 and Billy Bob’s.