Broncos' mascot Thunder traveled through snow, ice for Super Bowl

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- The Clydesdales won't be the only horses in the Super Bowl 50 limelight, so will the Denver Broncos' mascot, Thunder.

This will be Thunder's second Super Bowl appearance. He was shipped by Fed Ex in a plane for Super Bowl 48. This time, it was a little touch-and-go getting to Santa Cara by horse trailer.

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Thunder is the Broncos' mascot who leads the team onto the field at home games and charges across the field on touchdowns and field goals. Thunder will appear at Super Bowl 50.

His trip from Colorado wasn't easy. What should have been a 44-hour trailer trip took four days because of snow and ice. Interstate 80 was closed for 24 hours, then icy roads kept speed down.

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"And then it's like we went over the last pass and the sky was blue and it was like a straight ribbon of highway that was saying, come west," said Thunder's trainer Ann Judge-Wegener.

Thunder's boarding at the Stanford Equestrian Center until show time on Sunday. He's 16, an average sized Arabian at 950 pounds, and the third Thunder to be the Broncos mascot.

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The Carolina Panthers have a drum that will be at Sunday's game. But it's Thunder that is expected to charge up the Denver fans.

"I'm hoping that he understands that he is a part of something really big. He will come through," Judge-Wegener said.

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