Budweiser Clydesdales visit Jackson for Central Distributors grand opening

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — The Budweiser Clydesdales stopped in Jackson on Thursday.

“They’re actually very gentle animals,” Budweiser Clydesdale handler Brady Janssen said.

The Clydesdales stand at least 18 hands high and average around 2,000 pounds apiece. “They all each have their own personalities and they all, you need to care for each one differently,” Janssen said.

The horses paused for pictures Thursday at a grand opening ceremony for Central Distributors Inc. in Jackson. The company recently moved from the 45 Bypass to a larger facility on Lager Lane near the airport.

“It makes us a lot more efficient,” Central Distributors CEO Mike McWherter said. “That’s the key to it, and it accommodates our equipment a lot better.”

McWherter said they delayed the grand opening so the Clydesdales could attend.

“To have the Clydesdales here is a really big deal for us,” he said.

Janssen said each Clydesdale eats about 45 pounds of hay per day.

“It’s all shipped to us,” he said. “They get the same hay everywhere that they go.”

The Clydesdales travel across the country. “We’re on the road about 300 days a year,” he said.

The Clydesdales are based out of St. Louis, Missouri.

The Budweiser Clydesdales will also be at the Paris Fish Fry for the parade on Friday. They will be at Discovery Park of America from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.