Taffy the horse trots through Calgary hotel in decades-old Grey Cup tradition

CALGARY — Taffy the horse trotted calmly through a tight Calgary hotel lobby alongside the sound of screeching bagpipes and the occasional “Yahoo!”

Taffy was recreating a decades-old CFL championship tradition ahead of Sunday’s 113th Grey Cup game between the Edmonton Elks and Montreal Alouettes.

“‘Cause who sees a horse in a hotel, right?” said Lisa McKay when asked why she came to the hotel.

“I’ve done a couple Grey Cup festivals before, but never saw the horse, so super excited to check that one off on the bucket list.”

Since 1948, a horse with the nickname Tuffy Nuff strides through a hotel in the host city of the championship. That year a Stampeders fan rode a horse into the lobby of the Royal York hotel, one of the fanciest hotels in downtown Toronto, ahead of a Grey Cup game there.

Taffy, a brown-freckled and white horse, took on that moniker Thursday as he sauntered up to the check-in counter at the Homewood Suites in Calgary.

The receptionist cheekily gave him a rundown of the hotel’s amenities, such as its pool and fitness centre, and bestowed a bowl of carrots and apples to go with Tuffy’s premium room.

“Wi-Fi instructions (are) going to be your last name and your room number,” the receptionist said to a lobby of laughter.

Tuffy then clip-clopped across mats to the edge of a bar where he was served Guinness, in a bowl much bigger than your average pint. He pulled it in with his snout and slopped up the brown brew.

He had no comment on its taste.

“We’re in Calgary; that western hospitality, that Calgary spirit, you can see it here with everybody in the room,” said Steve Sommerfeld, chair of the Calgary Grey Cup Committee.

“The excitement as Tuffy comes in to check in and then obviously as we sashayed over and had a Guinness.”

Taffy is a 12-year-old cast horse that has braved simulated danger in movies and TV — a quality that kept him calm around loud sounds, music and picture-hungry fans.

“I’ve seen it on TV before, but I’ve never been here live, so I didn’t realize he actually checks in,” said Roy Dorwart, who travelled to Calgary from Regina and wore a Saskatchewan Roughriders jersey. “That was kind of neat.

“And also the Guinness drink, that was a kind of a different experience.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2026.