Meridian welcomes a new Clydesdale

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - “I’m out here at the home of the Meridian Clydesdales. Unfortunately, Maverick passed away. Blayze was kind of lonely. So, his owners, they went and they got him a friend. His name is Charlie, and he is the newest Meridian Clydesdale.” said Cara Shirley with News 11.

“This is Charles in Charge. We’re going to call him Charlie. He is now going to be a part of the Meridian Clydesdales. When he’s ready, we’ll start doing the parades, start doing some of the other events like we were doing with Blayze and Maverick before we lost Maverick.” said Mike Smith, the owner of Meridian Clydesdales.

Maverick was the original member of this team. He and Blayze were inseparable. That was until Maverick started getting sick towards the end of 2022. The Smiths and local veterinarians worked tirelessly to find what was wrong with Maverick. Sadly, in january of 2023 he passed away. The Smiths were devastated. As was Blayze. So, they brought in one year old Charlie to help fill the gap.

“We found a breeder in Wentzville, MO. Big Creek Clydesdales. So, road trip last weekend. My wife Jessica and the kids, so we went to Wentzville MO and picked him up.” said Smith.

We asked the Smiths how Blayze is responding to Charlie in the short time they’ve gotten to know each other.

Smith responded “I guess it’s like the annoying little brother. He just kind of watches him as Charlie’s running and playing Blayze watches him when he passes and in a minute and you’ll see them together.”

And when can Meridian expect to see the meridian Clydesdales out together again?

Smith says “I’m going to say we’re going to try to do the first Christmas parade, this this coming Christmas parade. We will try to have him there. If he’s ready, we will be there.”

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