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It was selfies all around as Westwood and Hillsdale police and the Bergen County Sheriff's mounted unit escorted the modified Studebaker wagon and hitch from the K-Mart shopping center down the Broadway loop.
First stops included Lou's Tavern and the Cornerstone in Hillsdale -- as well as the Hillsdale Fire Station -- before the delivery team reached The Iron Horse in Westwood (see video by William J. Martin, above).
The Clydesdales made their debut on April 7, 1933 as a gift to August A. Busch Sr. They delivered their first significant case of brew later that month to President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition.
The team that came to Pascack Valley will be at the Meadowlands Racetrack Saturday night for the first time in more than a decade.
The Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company has several hitches -- or teams -- made up of 250 or so horses that travel throughout the U.S., 10 months of every year, as well at others remain in their official homes at the company headquarters St. Louis, Missouri, or at Merrimack, New Hampshire or Fort Collins, Colorado.
An obedience-trained Dalmatian dog travels with each hitch. The pooch's original role -- a tradition begun in the 1950s -- was to guard the wagon and protect the team while the driver made deliveries.
Eight horses are driven at any one time, but each team has 10 to provide alternates when needed.
Assorted Clydesdales are also used in Budweiser TV commercials, particularly during the Super Bowl.
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