The Birth Of The CHORE TIME Clydesdale Experience

"CAN WE COME AND SEE YOUR CLYDESDALES AND SPEND TIME WITH THEM?"

We've gotten these questions for years at JFP Equine.

We loved it. And we wanted to create a format to make it happen, not just for close family and friends who knew us, but for Clydesdale enthusiasts everywhere.

But it took us a while.

We wanted to do it in the right way.

Something different. Something unique. And something that would allow for a very special hands-on experience, typically not available or even thought possible.

That's when we came up with the CHORE TIME Clydesdale Experience.

Sure, there are opportunities out there to 'see' Clydesdales, whether up close or from afar.

But how many have the opportunity to truly 'experience' Clydesdales? Spend a couple of hours with them. Get to know them. Watch them. Listen to them. Take pictures with them. And even get hands on with the daily duties that care for them.

That's what the CHORE TIME Clydesdale Experience was meant to offer ... two hours of Clydesdale awesomeness in a unique, intimate setting of no more than four in a group.

Just don't let the words "CHORE TIME" fool you.

We're not putting you to work for two hours cleaning horse manure (if that's what you are thinking).

No, CHORE TIME is as much about pettin', snugglin', picture takin' and just simply spending time with Clydesdales, and experiencing BARN LIFE with this iconic breed, as it is about real 'work' of any kind.

We basically have three goals for CHORE TIME Clydesdale Experience participants:

1) Learn some Clydesdale fun facts.

2) Take part in hands on Clydesdale activities that give you some bragging rights amongst family and friends (I mean, how many can say they have vacuumed a Clydesdale??)

3) Leave with some epic pictures. (Yes, we will make you check and recheck your pictures to make sure ... and we'll retake if needed to meet this important goal!).

Oh and one other thing.

Every barn has its story.

The CHORE TIME Clydesdale Experience weaves two hours through a story of our own.

One that started with a young boy born into the draft horse industry in a small, chilly town in the middle of Manitoba, Canada (ya, wayyyyy up north).

And one that saw that same boy grow up and eventually take the reins of the world's most iconic horse operation, the Budweiser Clydesdales, complete with over 325 head nationwide.

(It was kind of like a small town baseball fanatic growing up to run the Cardinals or Yankees or Dodgers.)

So if you have always wanted to truly 'experience' Clydesdales, consider the CHORE TIME Clydesdale Experience.

Are we the biggest Clydesdale operation? The fanciest?

Nah.

That's not our goal at this point. (Been there, done that.)

Our goal is to bring the experience of Clydesdales to life for enthusiasts just like you.

And we look forward to your visit.

Check us out online for details.

Photo Credit: Daniel Zoernig Photography

CLYDESDALE MYTHS DEBUNKED

Part of our business at JFP Equine is taking one or multiple Clydesdales to regional events for photo ops. It might be a winery or a corporate event or maybe even a wedding.

We love it. Watching individuals young and old interact with this amazing breed of horse is pretty cool (sometimes it even gets emotional … we’ve seen tears multiple times … seriously!).

We hear stories about the first time they saw a Clydesdale or how they have never seen a horse this big.

But we also hear some assumptions about the breed that may be widely believed, yet aren’t necessarily true.

Want to know the three biggest myths we encounter?

Here’s a quick look:

MYTH #1: ALL CLYDESDALES ARE BUDWEISER CLYDESDALES

You would be surprised at how many people think ALL Clydesdales are Budweiser Clydesdales.

Or, maybe you wouldn’t. Maybe it’s something you yourself thought as well.

We actually get to see it firsthand at every event we take a Clydesdale to, whether it’s a winery, festival, corporate event or wedding.

It usually goes something like this …

An individual will walk up to our Clydesdale. Pet him. Take a picture with him. And then ask us if he is stabled down at the brewery, or if he has been in one of the Budweiser commercials.

When we tell them no, he is from a private farm in Waterloo, IL, many are shocked. 

They had no idea that all Clydesdales are not necessarily Budweiser Clydesdales. 

And they have no idea that Budweiser didn't create and trademark the entire breed.

I don't blame them. 

Anheuser-Busch, for years, did a tremendous job of marketing and advertising, perfectly and permanently affixing "Budweiser" and "Clydesdale" together in the minds of consumers. 

Heck, my dad Jim was a part of it when he was with Budweiser Clydesdale Operations for 25 years. 

With constant television ads and multiple Budweiser Clydesdale 8-horse hitches criss-crossing the country to hit every key event possible in a year, what do you expect. 

It's kind of like any and all facial tissue being called "kleenex." (I know I am guilty of that every once in a while.)

The truth is Clydesdales are a breed, Budweiser is a brand, and the two have had an amazing partnership for nearly 100 years.

But there are hundreds and hundreds of individual Clydesdales breeders across the U.S., and an estimated 3,000-3,500 Clydesdales in the USA (at least that’s what Google said the last time I asked) that don’t live at a brewery or haul a beer wagon.

MYTH #2: YOU CAN’T RIDE A CLYDESDALE

Au contraire.

Clydesdale riding is a thing, and it’s actually kind of on fire.

At an event with the general public though, it’s tough for many to fathom …

“What? No way. Someone actually gets up that high and rides that giant horse?”

The truth is that most individuals who purchase a Clydesdale from us these days prefer or REQUIRE them to be broke to ride.

Some actually find it more comfortable. Some like the power. And some like the special personality that comes with a Clydesdale.

And let’s not forget a main reason why the Clydesdale breed developed in the first place back in Scotland during the Middle Ages - to carry heavily-armored knights into battle.

I’ll be honest though. I don’t ride Clydesdales myself. Never have, and probably never will.

I’m more of a traditional ‘throw some harness on and let’s drive’ kinda guy.

And honestly, a decade or two ago, I would never have imagined that riding Clydesdales would become as popular as it has.

But it’s great to see. It’s spread a newfound popularity to the breed. And it’s quickly putting a dent in the common belief that Clydesdales are around simply to pull, haul or work.

MYTH #3: ALL CLYDESDALES ARE BOY HORSES

Yes, we actually get this a lot.

“Are all Clydesdales boys?”

I’m not really sure why this is an assumption by some.

Maybe it’s because Clydesdales are so big and powerful and the natural assumption is that this is a ‘male’ thing?

I dunno.

But it does come up at nearly every event we go to.

It would certainly make for an interesting story if all Clydesdales were born males. I’m not quite sure how that would go … if they would just hatch from magic Clydesdale eggs or if they would somehow just grow that way on trees (with heavy duty branches of course).

But the truth is there is no magic here and baby Clydesdales need to come from somewhere … and yes, that does involve males AND females.

So there you have it, the three most common Clydesdale myths we encounter at various events we take part in.

Honestly, it’s kinda fun to hear and address some of these assumptions.

We just appreciate the interest in this wonderful breed and anything we can do to help generate awareness and keep the conversation going, we’re in!

My Night With Two Budweiser Clydesdale Hitches On A Bridge

It wasn't just two Clydesdale hitches coming together. 

That night, it felt like an entire country.

In my travels and duties as Manager of Budweiser Clydesdale Operations, I had been fortunate enough to attend some pretty special events. 

But it was the emotion ... the creativity ... the purpose ... that made Sunday, July 3rd, 2005, like no other. 

Nightfall had set in downtown St. Louis, but the activity of the massive Fair St. Louis July 4th celebration in and around the St. Louis Arch grounds was abuzz. 

The Mississippi River was in plain sight and here I stood at one end of the EADS Bridge, which connected Missouri and Illinois. 

For the past two months, two of our 8-horse hitches had been criss-crossing the country, stopping at dozens of U.S. cities as part of the "Clydesdales Across America: Here's to the Heroes Tour." 

The purpose? 

To pay tribute to our troops. 

At each stop a "Here's to the Heroes" mobile unit was set up to allow thousands of people the opportunity to send video messages to U.S. military personnel around the world.

Talk about powerful. 

And the Clydesdales, just like they seem to do wherever they go, amplified everything along the way. The event. The platform. The message. The emotion. What an incredible response they received. 

July 3rd was set up to be the finale. The two hitches that had been traveling separately across the country for the past two months would meet, right here in St. Louis, atop the EADS Bridge. 

One hitch would start on the Missouri side of the bridge. The other hitch would start on the Illinois side of the bridge. And at roughly 9:15pm they would meet in the middle, high atop the Mississippi River, as roughly a quarter of a million people watched from the St. Louis Arch grounds below. 

Go ahead. Picture it. 

An enormous bridge connecting two states. 

The massive outline of downtown St. Louis, including the world-famous Arch, lit in the background. 

And the activity, noise and anticipation of 250,000 people below as two, 8-horse Budweiser Clydesdale hitches slowly strutted their way to meet at the bridge's halfway point. 

Shivers. Down. The. Spine. There's really no other way to describe it.

When those two hitches finally met in the middle, it was like the entire country was there. Watching. Cheering. Smiling. Crying. 

The roar felt below the bridge was massive. If past and present U.S. military members across the world didn't hear or feel it, I'd be surprised. 

I really have to hand it to our Budweiser marketing team. Sure, we at Clydesdale operations prepped and handled the logistics, but this was their creation. They had planned it for months. They knew the emotional outcome they were looking for. And on that night, I saw it delivered ... tenfold. 

Following the meeting of the two hitches on the bridge, it was time for a massive fireworks celebration. A Fair St. Louis tradition and pure icing on the cake for the evening. 

It literally couldn't have been scripted any better. And it couldn't have done a better job of pulling Americans together. 

Maybe more nights like that are needed today ... just a thought. 

Here's to the Clydesdales and people that made that night special.

And, most importantly, Here's to our Heroes. It was an honor to be a part of it. 

The Kick: My Most Memorable Clydesdale Commercial

"You want to do what???"

That was my reaction the day the Budweiser Marketing team came to me with an idea. 

"Jim, we need one of the Clydesdales to kick a field goal for a Super Bowl commercial." 

Right, and let's have one of them sing the national anthem while we're at it. 

That may not have been my exact reaction that day at the Budweiser corporate office, but it was close. 

I'd seen draft horses do some amazing things throughout my career, but kicking a football?

I thought about it though. And within mere minutes I was excited.

Because one of the things I liked best about working at Anheuser-Busch was that it taught me to think outside the box.

And thinking outside the box can lead to some pretty epic things – like being involved in one of the most memorable commercials of our time.

I was 100% in.

Now we just needed the athletes. In this case, very large, four-legged ones. We needed defensive and offensive lines, a snapper, a holder, and a kicker who could come through in the clutch.

At the time, we had roughly 300 Clydesdales in our herd. All were prototypical Budweiser Clydesdales when it came to color, and all had the size and strength that would make even Belichick or Madden salivate.

But it was a small group of roughly 10 who we thought had that little extra ‘star quality’ that we sent to the western U.S. to work with a world-famous animal trainer. Here they would be molded into football/tv stars.

But who would emerge as the infamous kicker?

”Marty.”

Yep. Marty. The famous Clydesdale with the not-so-famous name.

He was one of our hitch horses, trained to work in various positions on any one of our 8-horse teams. Little did Marty know, he was about to go down in history. 

I’ll never forget watching the commercial that day as it aired. I’m not much of a smiler, but, on that day, I couldn’t resist. What a win for our company, for our marketing team, for Budweiser Clydesdale Operations, and for the Clydesdale breed as a whole.

And for Marty!  He was an instant star. Everyone wanted to know who this Clydesdale was that kicked a field goal.

“How did he do that?”

“Did he really kick that?”

“Can I meet him?”

It would be a while before many got to meet the new star though. He was given several weeks off (with pay in the form of good food and treats of course!) in a nice open pasture for his accomplishment.

For several years to come our Budweiser Marketing & Clydesdale Operations teams continued to think outside the box. We went on a wild run of EPIC commercials that included Clydesdales in a snowball fight, a zebra refereeing a Clydesdale football game, Clydesdales taking a knee to New York City following 9/11, and many more.

Looking back, I’m so glad I was asked that day about a Clydesdale kicking a football.

I’m just glad they didn’t need us to go deep for six.

Draft Horses … and Elephants!

It wasn't always just draft horses for me.

Sometimes it was drafts - and elephants!

Yep, managing Belgian horses and overseeing elephants, all in the same day. Quite the combo, right?

It was back in my days managing the Alberta Game Farm, a major exotic animal park located just outside of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Sure, managing/driving/showing the farm's own championship hitch of Belgians was my pride and joy. They were a HUGE group of horses, highlighted by Cub (pictured below) who stood 19 hands high and weighed 2,300 lbs.

But on days when Cub and his hitch mates weren't quite ‘big’ enough, I always had an elephant like Tally (pictured above) nearby to make my day just a little ‘bigger.’

Although still young at the time, Tally was enormous, as you can see. Weighing approximately 5,000 lbs, she was one of the farm's main attractions (amongst others like guerrillas, tigers and polar bears too).

She loved her daily romps in the snow, even when it was minus 20 - which if you know much about Edmonton, is quite frequent.

And in the summer months, she thrilled thousands of adults and children, offering daily rides, doing media and making appearances.

I look pretty comfortable up there don't I? Well, I was - or at least as comfortable as I could possibly be on a 5,000 lb elephant. To be honest, Tally and I actually shared a pretty special friendship and bond.

There's nothing to me quite like having control of a 6 or 8-horse hitch of draft horses in my hands, entering a show ring or driving in a parade. But let me tell you ... being atop Tally on a regular basis came pretty darn close!

The Big Horse with the Little Name

There are some horses that I've had an instant connection with over the years.

Cub (pictured) was certainly one of them.

It was his size. It was his personality. And I guess it was also the fact that we did a lot of winning together.

Cub, to the best of my knowledge, was bred and raised by Harkness Farms in Ohio. But he eventually found his way to the famed Alberta Game Farm Belgian six horse hitch, which I managed, drove and showed.

The Alberta Game Farm Belgian six competed extensively across Canada in the late 1970's and 80's, promoting Al Oeming's famed Alberta Game Farm. Oeming was an ex-professional wrestler, wrestling promoter and zoologist. (Yes, quite the combo - and YES, quite the guy!)

In addition to managing the show hitch, I was also the assistant director of the Alberta Game Farm. That's right. My duties focused on the Belgians, but extended to polar bears, tigers, muskox, guerrillas, ostrich, etc. There were over 3,000 exotic wild animals across 1,500 acres, and it was open to the public year round.

As much as I loved dealing with bears and guerrillas (which was done very cautiously, I can assure you), taking the lines of that hitch was my passion. And Cub was my pride and joy. He was the foundation of that famed hitch. A massive wheel horse who stood 19 hands tall and weighed roughly 2400 lbs.

Winning was simply what he did. For three years straight our Alberta Game Farm six went undefeated across Canada, including annual trips to the 'biggie' - the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto.

Outside of the six, Cub and his partner Charlie were also frequent winners in heavy draft team classes. Even individually, he claimed grand champion gelding status at many of the same shows.

Cub's winning also translated to a bit of celebrity in the hitch's home base of Edmonton, Alberta. The community became very familiar with Cub, appearing at several special events and doing appearances on local tv stations.

Cub was indeed quite the guy. A true gentle GIANT - and a true champion.

I look at this picture and a flood of memories come back about that undefeated Alberta Game Farm hitch. Many horses over the years have made their mark on me, and I wish I was lucky enough to have a picture like this one to remember each of them by. But none greater than the BIG guy with a little name that we called Cub.

Good Enough to Win the Royal - and Then Some

If I had to guess how many draft horses I have bought from Keith Hobden in my life, I'd say over 100. 

Yep, that many. Mostly Belgians. And according to Keith, just about every one of them was "good enough to win the Royal" (as in Toronto's Royal Winter Fair).

I was deeply saddened by Keith's recent passing. And though it's been a while since I purchased a horse off of him, I still spoke with him frequently by phone. 

He was one of the greatest draft horsemen of all time. If you wanted to beat Keith in the show ring, you had better get up very early in the morning and eat your Wheaties. Matter of fact, you better stay up all night. 

Keith was a great friend, great person and master at building championship draft horse hitches. And a great example of that takes me back to my days at the Alberta Game Farm.

The Alberta Game Farm was a 1,500 acre wildlife attraction in Edmonton, Alberta with over 3,000 wild animals on display - and I was the director of farm operations. Owner Al Oeming was a zoologist (and a professional wrestler ... which is a whole other story). One morning Al approached me and asked if I knew of anyone that could build us a championship caliber hitch of Belgian draft horses to promote and show under the Alberta Game Farm brand. 

Well, sure I did. Me! 

Al quickly brought me back to earth. "And by the way Jim, we're gearing up for the busy tour season here at the farm, so it can't be you. You'll be busy." 

The first person I thought of to assist? Keith Hobden. He was based about two thousand miles away in Lindsay, Ontario, but he was the guy for the job. 

I phoned him with the request. Two days later, he told me exactly what he had - or could get. A deal was struck and a week later the truck showed up at the Alberta Game Farm with eight massive Belgian geldings, a show wagon, harness and even Keith himself.

There was one thing we didn't like. The breeching on the harness. It wasn't attractive. No problem. A new breeching arrived a couple days later.

That's what it was like to do business with Keith. His business sense and execution were second to none. 

"Jimmie." (Keith always called me Jimmie.) "This hitch will be very difficult to beat in the show ring." 

What an understatement. I was lucky enough to show the hitch across Canada over the next three years. We went undefeated, including the Toronto Royal. 

(Sidenote: The first year at the Royal, I was unable to attend because of my duties back at the farm. The late Eddie Freitag, another great friend and draft horse legend, showed the hitch to first place in every class.)

I still remember Keith saying "and by the way, go ahead and keep the old breeching. I will know where it is in case I need it for someone else one day."

Keith, you were one of the very best of the very best. A wonderful friend and a great mentor. I’m thankful for all of our experiences and, of course, the transactions. You will be missed dearly.

My 6,000 lb Retirement Gift

Some people may get a watch or ring when they retire. Others may get flowers or a nice bottle of wine.

Me? Well, I (happily) got something that certainly wasn’t going to fit in my pocket or atop my bookcase. Heck, it was barely going to fit in my barn.

What I was lucky enough to receive upon my retirement in 2010 was a Budweiser Clydesdale show wagon.

I was a pretty lucky guy. Certainly not your every day parting gift. But very little could have summed up my 25-yr career with AB Clydesdale Operations any better.

This particular wagon though, and it’s sentimental value to me, went well beyond my career at AB. It was once purchased and owned by my late father, Frederick G. Poole of Wawanesa, Manitoba, Canada.

Yep. He owned it for several years starting in the late 1960’s through the 1970’s, long before it came into the hands of Anheuser-Busch.

My father loved this wagon. He used it to show his hitch of ‘Fred Poole & Sons Belgians’ across western Canada and under the ‘Alberta Game Farm’ name from coast to coast.

And yes, as a young lad, it was quite a favorite of mine as well.

Aside from the post-1960’s history of the wagon I have come to know, the rest is kinda spotty. I know it is a 1900’s Studebaker freight wagon that was later converted to a draft horse show wagon. And to the best of my knowledge it was originally used to haul freight on the streets of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. When my father purchased it, he did so from longtime Clydesdale breeder Charlie Halliday of Paisley, Ontario.

Once at AB, it got a complete overhaul/rebuild at Nauman Woodworks in Columbia, IL prior to it being sent to the Busch Gardens Tampa Hamlet for display.

Apart from that, not a ton is known. So if some of you draft horse enthusiasts/historians who happen to be reading this and know more, I’d love to hear from you.

It’s a true beauty. Today it’s kept in a climate-controlled environment, polished at least three times a week and kept in immaculate condition. I can feel the history in it whenever I see it. And I’m lucky enough to call it my own thanks to Anheuser-Busch - the greatest company I could have ever been involved with. Sure, a watch would have been nice. But a little piece of my history was so much better!