Located on the outskirts of Boonville, Missouri is Warm Springs Ranch, the breeding facility for the Budweiser Clydesdales. I was invited to participate in their media day, which just so happened to fall over Spring Break. The kids, especially Katie- the horse lover, were very excited to attend- so excited, in fact, that when we woke up to a blustery 30 degree forecast, we packed up and headed out to Warm Springs Ranch anyways!
We went on the VIP tour, which included taking a tractor and wagon through various pens, including a hands on stop with the mommas and their new babies!
The wagon ride was frigid, to say the least, so we had to cut it short, but not before we got to see the foal that was featured in this year’s Super Bowl commercial.
The first stop in our indoor tour was the breeding room, which doubles as a bar for a free beer tasting at the end of the tour. A mare’s desire for breeding is determined by parading a ‘teaser’ stallion around their pen. If a mare shows interest, she is then brought to the breeding room. A different, more enthusiastic stallion is paired with her and brought to the room… a little bait and switch.
The horses are cleaned regularly, on cold days they are vacuumed instead of washed!
The ranch manager lives on site and all of the ranch hands live within 5 minutes of the ranch. This is necessary because of the quick duration of labor and delivery. Each horse is implanted with a sensor that will call the ranch manager when the colt begins to pass through the birth canal. Delivery only takes around 15 minutes after that!
You can learn more about Warm Springs Ranch and buy tickets here: Warm Springs Ranch
The trip was fantastic and there were a lot of great places to stop along the way. We stumbled upon the Burgers Smoke House facility and outlet store, located in California, Missouri. They are only open Monday-Friday, but we got loads of goodies at great prices!
We also enjoyed a drive through Eldon, which is a neat town, with lots of vintage buildings, including an original Walmart store! There are several long standing restaurants, such as The Philly Cafe, which we will be visiting on our next trip through!
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