That was only the beginning. Realizing the advertising and promotional potential of a horse-drawn beer wagon, Mr. Busch had the team sent by rail to New York City, where it picked up two cases of Budweiser beer at New Jersey’s Newark Airport. The beer was later presented to Al Smith, former governor of New York and an instrumental force in the repeal of Prohibition. From there, the Clydesdales continued on a tour of New England and the Middle Atlantic States. The hitch even delivered a case of beer to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at The White House.

During the initial years on the road, the Clydesdales were transported by train. Before truck transport was introduced in 1940, the horses, wagons and harness equipment had to be unloaded from the trains, put on local trucks and then unloaded again wherever the horses were stabled.

Now, the horses travel in style aboard custom-designed tractor-trailers. And their travels take them throughout North America and occasionally overseas. The Clydesdales travel to hundreds of appearances each year to meet cheering crowds and happy faces. Whether they’re seen at a parade in Iowa or a rodeo in Texas, the Clydesdales are always a crowd pleaser. The Clydesdale hitches travel some 100,000 miles a year, and with each mile they cover, so continues the Anheuser-Busch tradition.