Nicole Hayden

Times Herald

When the Budweiser Clydesdales are in town they don’t tread lightly — they march through parades and demand attention in Port Huron.

The brown horses can weigh between 1,800 and 2,000 pounds, walk two-by-two and pull a large Budweiser Beer wagon.

The last time they were in Port Huron was in 2013, but now that visit has been immortalized with a photo on the cover the 2017 Budweiser Clydesdale calendar that is distributed nationwide.

“They are much larger than average horses,” said Rick Dionne, Earl Smith Distributing vice president. “They are impressive and large and you can’t miss it. When they visit we stable them in an area around town so people can see them resting and get photos of them.”

Earl Smith has been distributing Budweiser beer for 83 years in the Port Huron area. They have hosted the Clydesdale horses for a visit about five times.

Dionne said they have to request them each time, but are not always granted rights for a visit — the horses are in high demand.

Dionne expects the soonest the horses will visit again is in 2018, but he can’t make any promises. The Earl Smith company tries to arrange for the horses to visit every five to 10 years.

The last time they were in town in 2013 during Boat Week, the horses had a photo shoot under the Blue Water Bridge. The photographer captured a “spectacular photo under the bridge,” Dionne said.

The photograph was taken on a sunny day before the convention center was built.

“The tradition of the horses started when prohibition ended and the son of the president of Anheuser Busch gave them to his father as a gift to celebrate the end of prohibition,” Dionne said. “They have become iconic to the Bud brand since that date.”

Port Huron Mayor Pauline Repp stopped by Earl Smith Distributing on Thursday to see the calendar.

She said it’s an exciting opportunity for Port Huron to receive national attention.

“Everyone always enjoy the horses when they come to town,” Repp said. “Now other people get to enjoy what we look at all the time – the Blue Water Bridge. It’s a wonderful backdrop.”

While sold out, the calendar can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/2hpPpf0, and a behind the scenes video of how the calendar was made can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/2gfOwEJ.

Contact Nicole Hayden at (810) 989-6279 or nhayden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @nicoleandpig.