Clydesdale Country: Discovering Warm Springs Ranch

Nestled in the rolling hills of central Missouri and just off Interstate 70 near Boonville, you’ll find Warm Springs Ranch, the 340-acre breeding headquarters for Anheuser-Busch’s world-famous Clydesdale horses. You can tour this working ranch to learn about the breeding program and see these beautiful creatures up close.

It is a perfect day trip from St. Louis (about a 2-hour drive from the western suburbs). Last week we, along with our two friends Kathy and Sally, headed west to visit the ranch for one of its tours.

Photo 1: Visitors reach over the pasture fence to pet Clydesdale foals. / Photo 2: Jodi greets a Clydesdale foal through the pasture fence. / Photo 3: Mares and a foal gather in a pasture. / Photo 4: Sally finds a new friend in a Clydesdale foal.

We didn’t have to wait long to see – and pet – the horses. As we waited for our time to enter the designated parking area, we lined up with a few other cars along the winding road that leads to the large barn. To our delight, several foals and their mothers came up to the pasture fence just outside our cars. Of course, we scrambled out to gather along our side of the fence, where the eager and curious youngsters were waiting for us to reach through the fence rails to pet and scratch their necks and foreheads – all under the watchful gazes of their towering mothers behind them.

Touring the Barn Facilities 

Warm Springs Ranch offers several tours and experiences that vary in price and duration along with special events throughout the year. We chose the 1-hour History & Horses tour, which included a guided walking tour through the different areas of the large barn and stable structure.

To kick off our tour, we were met in the parking area by our guide Marsha, who led us up to the large multi-room barn. First, we entered the space used for horse breeding (none was taking place while we were there) where we were offered a free Budweiser beer (Anheuser-Busch's flagship brand) and shown a short video featuring some history of the Budweiser Clydesdales and their various promotional duties.

Fun fact: As you might guess, the video soundtrack started with the familiar anthem of the Anheuser-Busch brewing company, “Here Comes the King,” copyrighted in 1971. The song is often heard in the company’s winter-themed TV commercials that showcase a Clydesdale team pulling a Budweiser beer wagon.

This large breed of draught work horses was brought to the United States from a region in Scotland; its name is derived from the River Clyde. Clydesdales were exported worldwide in the late 1800s. They became associated with the Anheuser-Busch Brewery when August A. Busch, Jr. presented a team of eight horses to his father, August A. Busch, Sr., to mark the end of Prohibition in 1933. From that point on, the teams of Clydesdales have been marketing gold for the company.

During the tour, Marsha walked us through the different areas of the huge barn, starting the exam room with stalls that also allow mares to see their foals in an attached stall during exams. Just beyond this room was the Pre-foaling room with larger stalls for pregnant mares who are within 30 days of delivery. The birth of a Clydesdale takes 5-15 minutes, and handlers are on hand to assist, if needed.

Fun fact: Mares have 8-10 foals during their lifetime at the ranch. They enter the breeding program at 3 years old and remain until about 12 years old. Warm Springs Ranch welcomes up to 20 foals each year. Fillies (females) stay with the breeding program, and colts (males) are evaluated for training to become part of a team or are sold. 

Photo 1: Clydesdale stallion named Benji hangs out in a paddock near the stables. / Photo 2: Very pregnant mare spends some time outside but near the Pre-foaling wing of the barn.

Just outside the barn were paddocks with the stallions used in the breeding program. The ranch keeps three-six stallions on hand, and they purchase them from reputable breeders to continue to introduce new stock into the program. There was also a very pregnant mare in one of the nearby paddocks because she is very close to delivery but was enjoying some time outside rather than staying in a stall in the Pre-foaling wing.

Man cleans a Clydesdale horse in a wash room.

Photo 1: Sally captures a close-up photo of a gelding in a stall originally belonging to Ted, one of the first Clydesdales at the ranch. / Photo 2: A handsome gelding hangs out in the stall that once was used by Bob -- which is also Heather's husband's name. / Photo 3: Two geldings are walked through the stables during a training session. / Photo 4: After his training session, Jay is hosed off in the wash room by lead handler Eric.

Next, we walked through the Stable wing where the geldings in training are housed. The nameplates on the stalls do not correspond to the current occupants; instead, they are the original names of the horses at Warm Springs Ranch in 2008. The only exception is for Stan, a 12-year-old gelding who is used for photos with visitors at the end of the tour. He’s named after St. Louis Cardinal’s outfielder Stan Musial.

Fun fact: Only geldings that measure 17-19 hands tall at shoulder/base of shoulder and have the iconic look of bay coloring, dark mane and white stockings are selected to train for future hitch teams. They enter the hitch and wagon training program at 4 years old.

Since it’s a working ranch, there were times when we needed to step aside so a trainer and horse could pass by, including when head trainer Eric walked Jay into the wash room. Horses are hosed off after each training session. The stable also has a farrier area for taking care of the horseshoes that the geldings wear. Each horseshoe weighs about 5 pounds and has extra cleat-like extensions on the bottom to improve the horses’ footing.

Photo 1: Filly Raya with her mother Raqel in a Foaling wing stall. / Photo 2: Close-up of 1-day-old filly napping in her mother's stall. / Photo 3: Napping newborn filly and her mother Buttercup in their stall.

We also toured the Foaling wing of the barn where mothers and their newborns are housed. The highlight was seeing the latest foal, a filly – still unnamed – who was born the day before to mama Buttercup. The mare’s handler gets to name the foals, and the current naming scheme seems to use the first letter of the mother’s name and even feature names of Greek origin. Our tour group had fun suggesting possible names, such as Bella, Bonnie and Beauty.

Traveling with the Clydesdales 

Photo 1: Budweiser semi-truck used to haul Clydesdale teams when they travel. / Photo 2: Back of the semi-truck with the #followthehitch hashtag. / Photo 3: Horse stalls inside the semi-truck.

Anheuser-Busch keeps three teams – East, West and Central – of matched Clydesdales to pull the large beer wagons throughout the country. The teams travel 340 days each year along with seven handlers and two Dalmatian dogs. It takes three customized semi-trucks to haul the horses, beer wagon, gear, and other supplies as well as a van to carry the handlers’ gear.

Fun fact: Dalmatians were originally selected to accompany drivers on beer deliveries because they could stay with the wagon to guard its contents while the driver was carrying beer crates to customers. Warm Springs Ranch purchases the dogs from reputable breeders, and when the dogs retire, they remain with their handlers for the rest of their lives.

Photos 1-3: During our photo shoot with Stan, he decided to take a friendly peek at Kathy. From left, Sally, Heather, Jodi, Kathy, Stan, and one of the tour guides.

The final stop on the tour was a photo opportunity with Stan. When you stand right next to a gelding, you really get a sense of their extreme power. Kathy, standing closest to Stan’s head, must have been extra intriguing to him because he turned to give her a closer look.

Before leaving the ranch, we visited the gift shop. I was so tempted to buy an adorable stuffed Clydesdale horse, but I resisted. I opted for a small, round pin as a cute souvenir of our trip.

Interesting Facts and Figures about Warm Springs Ranch 

Photo 1: Warm Springs Ranch welcome sign with letters from the old Budweiser sign at the Bevo Bottling Plant in St. Louis. / Photo 2: Close-up of one of the Clydesdale horse statues on the sides of the welcome sign.

• The large letters W, S, and R forming the signage near the ranch property entrance originally sat on top of the Bevo Bottling Plant in St. Louis that produces Budweiser beer products. The letters stand 15 feet tall and weigh more than 2,000 pounds each. The plant signage was replaced in 2013, and the letters were moved to the ranch to celebrate its connection to brewery history.

• The name of the ranch comes from Warm Springs Creek, the original breeding program location in California. 

• The ranch keeps 75 horses on its grounds. There are 200 horses in total across all locations. 

• The East and West teams of Clydesdales are headquartered at the ranch when they aren’t traveling. The Central team is housed at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery location near downtown St. Louis. You can book a Clydesdale VIP Experience at the brewery. 

• Also in St. Louis, Grant’s Farm, originally farmed by Ulysses S. Grant and now owned by Anheuser-Busch, has stables for Clydesdales, and you can book a Clydesdale Close-up Tour there. 

• A Clydesdale team pulls a beer wagon around the perimeter of the ball field at the St. Louis Cardinals home opener game each season. 

• Within 2 hours after birth, newborn foals are standing and nursing. They are weaned from their mothers at 6 months. 

• The first foal born at Warm Springs Ranch was named Cooper after Cooper County where the ranch is located. 

• The bay coloring of Clydesdales comes in three shades – light, medium and dark. The coloring of a foal darkens as it ages. 

Our Reactions to Visting the Ranch 

Heather summed up her reaction with these comments: “Warm Springs Ranch is a lovely facility that is beautifully situated in mid Missouri. It feels so accessible to the public. We got to learn so much about these majestic animals and be so close to them. It really feels like they’re revered and extremely well taken care of at the facility. It brings the animals we’ve seen so frequently at Busch Stadium and in parades and makes them so accessible to us. That’s such a cool thing.”

Springtime tulips at Warm Springs Ranch

Kathy and I both agreed that we enjoyed learning about the breeding process from insemination to how the geldings train to become part of a team. Maybe that’s why Kathy says she loves how friendly and affectionate the horses were.

I also concur with both Heather and Sally that a highlight for us was seeing the newborn filly. As Sally explained, “My favorite part of the tour was seeing the one-day-old foal and all the mares with their foals. It was especially sweet that the first letter in each foal’s name started with the same letter as their mother’s.”

Planning a trip to Warm Springs Ranch is easy to do – book the tour online, exit Interstate 70 and drive a quarter mile to the ranch gates, and then soak in all the beauty of the rolling hills and majestic animals.

About Day Trip Diaries: Welcome to a new feature of Friendsville Square – Day Trip Diaries – a place where we share our regional travels to interesting locales. The goal? It will get us out and about to explore our region while learning about new things and enjoying time together. And you’ll get ideas for quick trips you might want to take. We’re also excited about the opportunity for our guest bloggers from across the country to share their excursions, as well. So, buckle up and join us as we recount our getaways in Day Trip Diaries. 

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~ Heather M. and Jodi B.