here they come the famous world-renowned buttweiser [Applause] Clydesdales you’re watching eight tons of Champions the beautifully matched eight horse hitch from anheiser Bush Brewery driven by Chris wager and assisted by Will [Music] Curts the dalmatian sitting on the wagon is the official mascot of the hitch he goes everywhere the team goes and that takes in about 30,000 mil a year his name is [Music] [Applause] [Music] barley notice how effortlessly the driver handles the hitch he holds the four pair of RS lace through fingers of
each hand giv individual control of each horse each pair of horses in the hitch has a specific job to perform as part of the team the front pair are called the lead team are smaller and more active than the others because they have to cover the most territory in a turn and and do it in the fastest time the second pair are the swing horses they’re slightly larger than the lead horses but are just as agile and active because of the area they have to cover in making turns the third pair are called the body
horses they again are slightly larger than the swing pair because they have to hold more of the low pair closest to the wagon are called The Wheel horses they are the largest of the four pairs because they have to hold the wagon back while the other horses make the turn these horses enabl to Hitch to make a 90° turn the drivers now guiding the hitch into a figure eight performing this maneuver the driver controls each PA of horses individually starting them into the turn at different times he starts his lead
horses turning in the direction of the first Loop of the figure eight at the same time he turns the next pair the swing horse is slightly in the opposite direction and that brings them around behind the lead pair body horses the third pair in the hitch are gradually brought in the turn and finally whe horses will make their Bo turning the wagon with them the the figure the driver then reverses the procedure turning in the opposite direction complete the maneuver light Dales are extremely intelligent beautifully mannered and
trained to perfection they’re also exceptionally gentle despite the fact that they dwarf ordinary horses in s the average age of these F sales is 4 to 9 years their average height is 18 hands or 6 ft and shoulder height the average weight of the cdale is 2,000 lb [Applause] youve said it all here comes the king of you [Music] have Now ladies and gentlemen the driver is going to simulate days of old when hitches were used to make deliveries had to back up the loading docks you listen very closely you’ll hear the driver
giving instructions to each individual horse he pull the wagon up to the position you’ll have to have on the dock swing the horses around to get perpendicular to where he would dock it that and once the wagon is in position for loading or unloading at the dock the driver swings the complete 8 horse hitch 90° a maneuver he would have to do to clear the street of traffic L up know what to do Chris giving instructions to each individual horse one at a time those to bring them back around and un couble from the docking
position the maneuver he would have to make to clear the dock space beautiful [Applause] [Music] you not doing today l [Applause] [Music] [Music] we’re holding them down there and wi we do any guesses as to what that wagon weighs fully loaded 3 and 1/2 tons carrying my favorite Dragon each kaale shoe is made from a piece of Steel 22 in Long 1 1/2 in wide weighs almost 4 lb and in case you’ve been thinking about getting your own cdale hitch might be interesting to know that the harness alone cost well over
$80,000 is all handmade and decorated extensively with brass ornamentation h
