Calgary Stampeders horse rides into Regina bar, bank and hotel for Grey Cup

REGINA – A downtown Regina bar had no problem serving the Calgary Stampeders’ horse — as long as the beer was in a bowl.

The Stampeders rode their horse Justin into the Beer Bros. bar, a Bank of Montreal and the Ramada hotel on Thursday as part of Grey Cup week festivities.

Fletcher Armstrong, with the Calgary Grey Cup committee, says fans always love to see the horse.

The horse frequently stopped to pose for pictures with people in downtown Regina and one city police officer even got a turn in the saddle.

Chef Erica Nimmo held out a platter with carrots and apples for Justin at the Ramada and laughed afterwards that she’s never served a horse before.

The tradition of riding a horse into a hotel was started in 1948, but almost didn’t happen last year in Toronto when the Fairmont Royal York Hotel initially didn’t let the horse through the door.