It's been such a long time since I went on a field trip!
Today, The Eiman clan and I went to
The Breeding facility of the Budweiser Clydsales
A wonderful cool and cloudy August day at their gorgeous facility.
The last three of the pregnant mares-there will have been 23 babies when these three come.
They are all due in the next month so they are "on deck"
A mare is pregnant for nearly 11 months and gains about 300 pounds
but there are never twins!
That said their labor takes from 5 minutes to 35 minutes.
They are rigged with alarms straight to the head trainer when labor begins.
He has made it to the barn from his home on the ranch in 52 seconds.
Whether he was completely dressed is a question.
They breed for the hitch and there are specific requirements:
Must be male,
Gelded,
Bay in color with 4 white socks, a black mane and tail and a white blaze on their face,
Must stand at least 6 feet at the shoulders and weigh between 1800 and 2000 pounds.
With the exception of the first two their breeding program is 95% accurate.
They're very scientific.
We saw every part of the facility photos and questions were welcome.
Everyone's favorite part is the BABIES!
There were three in the stalls with their moms.
This a very famous little girl named Gloria!
She was born only minutes after the
St Louis Blues won their first ever Stanley Cup!
(That's hockey folks.)
Budweiser's home is St Louis so it's a very big deal.
Then they brought out Stan the Man for petting and photos ops.
He's already a commercial star but isn't on any of the hitches yet!
That's Kolby with me.
Such a patient and well mannered man is Stan.
A better picture of Stan!
Ethan actually touched him!
Then as we were headed out to the trucks,
there came along a training drive.
Boy babies are kept with their Mums until they are gelded at 1
then they go off to St Louis for "basic training"
At 3 they return to Warm Springs for hitch training.
This 4 horse hitch is stage two.
The Three Clydesdale Hitches appear 300 times a year.
And are well known for their fabulous Super Bowl commercials!
Have a look at a couple of my favorites!
Puppy Love!
And the 911 Tribute
You can read more about Warms Springs here
and more about the Budweiser Clydesdales by Googling them!
(Although you do have to be 21 to enter their sites-too funny!-
I tried to add a link but something went wrong.)
It was a great trip and I now know a lot about these gentle giants.
