By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor

Bundled up in handmade Afghans, 10-year-old Scott Cottrell braved chilly temperatures in his wheelchair Sunday afternoon for his first chance to touch a Clydesdale horse.

Jared Hamilton, 2, a patient at Children's Hospital Medical Center, gets a lift from his dad, Steve Hamilton of Felicity, to get a better look at Jack, a visiting Clydesdale. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

Two of the heavy draft horses were in town this weekend to visit patients at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and to march in today's Findlay Market Opening Day Parade.

It was the first time in two weeks Scott left his hospital room, following an emergency appendectomy. It was also the first time the Fort Thomas boy had ever seen a Clydesdale, a breed known for its size and the white, feathered hair on their fetlocks.

"They're big," Scott said. "And they have big feet."

Big Jack - the larger of the two Clydesdales at Cincinnati Children's - is 19 hands (about 6 feet 4 inches, measured from bottom of the front hoof to top of shoulder) and weighs more than 2,000 pounds. His shoes are the size of dinner plates.

Several other horse breeds stand as tall, but few are as stout, with most weighing 1,500 pounds or less, said Sarah Oelerich, owner of Honey Tree Stables in Oxford.

The Clydesdales were at the hospital Sunday for the second straight year as part of a fund-raising project sponsored by Express Personnel Services, an Oklahoma-based company with five Greater Cincinnati offices. Express Personnel has raised more than $8,000 by auctioning seats in the parade wagon pulled by the horses this year and last, said Chuck Harris, owner of Cincinnati's downtown and Blue Ash Express Personnel franchises.

"When the Clydesdales visited the hospital last year, there wasn't one of my staff who didn't have tears in their eyes at some point," Harris said. The national company has raised more than $2.2 million for children's hospitals through the Clydesdale appearances and other charity events.

"Having them here is fantastic," said Sonia Payne, spokeswoman for Cincinnati Children's auxiliaries and special events. "We had so many parents who were so happy because their children responded to these wonderful horses."

E-mail annag1129@cs.com