When a neighbor mentioned to Linda Jones that one of the famous Budweiser Clydesdale horses would be visiting Winn-Dixie in Ponte Vedra Beach Saturday, Jones was thrilled.
"When my neighbor alerted me, I alerted her," Jones said of her daughter, Tiffany Reno, as they eagerly waited in a long line to see the gentle giant. "The line just formed itself all of a sudden," Jones, a Ponte Vedra Beach resident, said. "We are moving, moving, moving-and it's all good."
Like everyone else in line, when it came their turn to pet the Clydesdale, named Bandit, they posed for pictures with him. People of all ages posed with grins on their faces, as if they were posing with a famous celebrity. Which they were.
The Clydesdale horses reminded Jones of Christmas, she said, "They are cool. Seeing them in commercials, with snow and stuff."
"It's a great crowd," said Winn-Dixie store manager, Thomas Knotts, whose store was one of eight stores in the Jacksonville area to have one of the Clydesdales visit this week. "It's a great turnout for an American classic."
There are eight Clydesdales in a "hitch," and three hitches in the country, one of Bandit's Budweiser handlers, Larry Manypenny, explained. He and Tori Yates, the other handler, accompanied the horses from their base in Merrimack, New Hampshire. The other two hitches are located in St. Louis, Mo. and Ft. Collins, Colorado.
Manypenny said the horses spend over 300 days a year traveling the country, to parades, shows, festivals, fairs and other events.
Bandit stood perfectly still as he had his photo taken again and again, and seemed to love the attention. Clydesdales are usually docile and calm, Manypenny said, and Bandit "is really relaxed. That's what makes him good for this position."
Every week they move to a different location, which is good for the horses, Manypenny said. "It gives them variety. They don't get bored."
They also go to a lot of sporting events, and Bandit got to go to this year's World Series, won by the Washington Nationals.
"Because we travel the east coast," Manypenny said, "we got to do the victory parade."
