For 9-year-old Sara Rodgers Smith, having 10 Clydesdales come to see her was a dream five years in the making.

Thanks to dad Josh Smith’s lucky win in an Anheuser-Busch Facebook contest, the Budweiser Clydesdales served as the star attractions at a Smith family party in Brookhaven Sunday. While the horses and their world-famous red wagon were supposed to roll up at the family’s home on Super Bowl Sunday, the party had to be moved to the Lincoln Civic Center arena stall barn because of the afternoon thunderstorms.

With the persistent downpour, visitors had to get their feet a bit muddy coming in from the parking lot to the stall barn at the Lincoln Civic Center, but once inside, the atmosphere was as warm and cozy as a Clydesdale Super Bowl commercial.

The horses were making themselves right at home in the stalls surrounding the open area of the barn. While a refreshment table was being set up off to the side, most of the Smith family and their friends were busy visiting with each other or checking on the horses in their stalls.

“Our fascination with horses started when the Clydesdales came for the Christmas parade, and we came out to the stalls every day,” said Sloane, who was carrying Sara Rodgers’ sleepy baby sister, Emmie, 2. “Sara Rodgers was 4 then.”

Listening intently while her mom talked, Sara Rodgers interjected that she now has two horses of her own – a pony, Rosie, and a horse, Poco. “Neither one is as big as these though,” she said.

Besides a younger sister, Sara Rodgers also now has a brother, Hamp, 4, who also was on hand for the meet-the-Clydesdales party.

Sloane introduced me to Dave Thomas, Budweiser East Coast Hitch supervisor, – an expert on anything Clydesdale. “We travel with 10 horses and hitch eight to the wagon at one time,” he told me. It takes three semis to carry them and all their gear.

“We do a lot of parades, fairs, festivals,” he added. “We’ve done a contest like this one before, but it was more of a local competition.” The group is on the road nine to 10 months a year, but home is Merrimack, N.H.

While the rain kept the Smith family from having a front-door visit from the team, relocating to the stall barn did allow for an up-close view of all the work that goes into getting eight horses bridled and into harnesses and finally hitched to the wagon.

The horses were led out one at a time to the staging area. At that point, the team members promptly surrounded the horse, putting a huge collar over its head, cinching straps and then placing the bridle on and inserting the bit. The giants accepted it all with good grace, barely blinking from the camera and cell phone flashes.

Once ready, each horse was led to the arena and hitched to the wagon by Thomas and his crew.

When the entire team of horses was in place, Brewer the Dalmation was hoisted onto the wagon seat. Thomas, newly changed from his red polo and khakis into green-and-white livery, climbed aboard, joined by fellow team member Eric Soto, riding in the shotgun seat as co-driver.

The trio loosened up the team with a pass around the arena, pausing afterward in the center to make a special presentation of commemorative items to the Smith family. Pictures were snapped, and then the drivers welcomed Josh aboard for a ride.

Back around they went, circling the arena for several more passes with lightning cracks from outside providing a proper fanfare, accompanied by applause from the family and friends in the bleachers.

After his ride on the 7,000-lb. wagon, Josh’s friends rushed up to ask him what he thought. “That’s a lot of horsepower,” he said, referring to the eight 2,000-lb. horses. “Dave was pulling on those reins pretty good.”

Speaking of Dave, I could swear I saw him (or his twin) later that evening riding shotgun on the Clydesdale hitch in the “A Hero’s Welcome” Budweiser Super Bowl commercial – the one about the special visit the horses and wagon paid to a soldier just back from overseas.

Thanks to the Smiths’ bringing the Clydesdales to town, the team stayed over on Monday and gave 1,000 more local residents an up-close moment with the famous horses.

Rachel Eide is editor/general manager of The Daily Leader. Contact her at rachel.eide@dailyleader.com.