July 7, 1999
No horsing around
Budweiser Clydesdales big challenge for groomers
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
The sun is just over the horizon. The Open Space is empty and the midway silent, ready to swing into action in a few hours. The downtown streets are deserted but for a few cars carrying their drivers to work.
Even at this early hour, though, a quiet hub of activity can be found at the Budweiser Clydesdale horse tent across from J&S Hamburg. There, the horses' handlers start their day just after dawn, six men who care for the team of ten horses and keep these 6 foot tall, 1,800 to 2,300 pound creatures happy in their home away from home.
The horses are hungry and raring to start the day. They are a bit frisky, good-naturedly kicking up their heels and leaning on their portable stalls while waiting for their breakfast. None of this fazes these experienced horsemen, who are on the road with their charges eleven months out of the year.
"They are great horses, they are like your kids," said Dave Hennen, the handler supervisor for this hitch, or team, which is based out of St. Louis, Missouri. "It is a dream job. When you go down the streets, it's like a glow people get in their eyes when they see the horses."
Getting this dream job was a natural step for Hennen, who grew up on a horse farm south of Minneapolis. For generations his family has bred and shown Belgian horses - another large draft horse- and he has been driving teams of these animals since a little kid.
When he applied at Anheuser-Busch, he already knew how to handle and drive large horses, how to handle and drive a wagon and a tractor-trailer and the travel requirements did not bother him. Hiring him was a no-brainer for the company.
"In the draft horse industry, you know about each other and the jobs available," said Hennen, who has been with Anheuser-Busch for six and one-half years. "I just applied and got on. We travel up to 30,000 miles a year, spending usually a week per place."
The six handlers rotate among all jobs, from cleaning and polishing the harnesses to feeding, washing and grooming the horses and cleaning out the stalls. Only two of them drive the horses and wagon at events.
Handlers must also know how to drive a tractor-trailer, a skill Manny Raber picked up since hiring on as a handler four years ago.
"Knowing horses is the most important thing," said Raber, who helps drive one of three tractor- trailers that carry the horses, wagon and all the equipment. "My family raised Belgians and I know Dave from before, so I knew about this job from word of mouth. It is the best job I've found."
The handlers' day starts at 6:30 a.m. and on days when there is not a show, they are done by 4 p.m. although one of them stays until 7 p.m. until a security guard takes over for the night. On days when there is a show or parade, they spend three or more hours getting eight of the horses ready plus the two not hitched up that day need exercising.
The handlers get one day off each week and use it to catch up on laundry and maybe do a little sightseeing.
The Budweiser Clydesdales are a popular attraction and when they are on-duty and the handlers are always on display as people flock to the tent at their stops to watch them care for these 'gentle giants.'
"You have to have an outgoing personality," said Hennen, who spent five years based with the team at Sea World in Orlando, Florida. "People always want to know their weight, their height."