A few days ago, I posted on little Hope, the baby Budweiser Clydesdale foal that was the hit of the 2013 Super Bowl commercial. Today’s post features some more photos I made at Warm Springs Ranch, the Clydesdale breeding facility in Missouri. The facility was quite impressive as we pulled up to the main gate and stopped to check in for our scheduled tour of the facility. I’ll share some of the photos of the facility in an upcoming post. But we were able to see some Clydesdale horses, up close and personal, including 10-day old “Stars & Stripes”, and her mom “Sharon”:
The stalls inside the breeding barn contained a lot of wood chips, for cushioning against the hard floor. Little Stars & Stripes had some fun “playing” in the chips, as you can see on her face! In this next image, Stars & Stripes is nursing from her mom, “Sharon”:
Interestingly, the new foals are typically given a name that starts with her mom’s name. In this instance, mom “Sharon” gave birth to “Stars & Stripes”. Another interesting fact that I learned is that the mares used to breed are typically born and raised at the Warm Springs facility. The stallion, however, is typically a Clydesdale horse that has been purchased for breeding purposes. There are several places that Budweiser purchases these breeding stallions … didn’t get any pricing info, but I’m quite sure they pay a premium for the studs!
In 2013, they are expecting ~35 foals to be born at the Warm Springs breeding facility. Just outside the breeding barn, there was a holding pen with a couple of mares that were within days of giving birth to more young Clydesdale foals. And inside the “pre-foal” area of the barn, one lone mare was in a stall … she was to give birth withing 48 hours. An interesting operation. And a beautiful facility, as I will share in another post.
