Every morning, John Soto wakes up, leaves his house and tends to the horses, like many other farm managers across the world. But, unlike any other breeding operation, Soto tends to the Budweiser Clydesdales, representatives of Missouri industry, American history and some of the finest pedigree in the world.
At just a few days old, Yadi - named for Cardinals baseball catcher Yadier Molina - playfully rubbed his muzzle against Soto's coat as the Clydesdale breeder brushed the mother, Rachel's, bay fur with one hand and petted the fluffy foal with the other.
"Clydesdales love to have their necks scratched," Soto said. "They brush their nose up against you like this to reciprocate. It's kind of like petting you back."
Soto lives on the farm with is wife, where he can respond to any emergency that may arise in the middle of the night, like a mother-to-be going into labor. His best response time is right at 52 seconds from alarm to arrival at the barn.
This is Soto's life in Warm Springs Ranch, the only place in the world where the Budweiser Clydesdales are born. The team has been seen pulling cases of beer in major parades and sporting events like the Super Bowl.
Soto, a life-long horseman, helped Budweiser build this more than 300-acre breeding farm in the rolling hills outside Boonville a decade ago. Visitors can reserve a tour of the facility to congratulate the staff members and horses on Warm Springs Ranch's 10th anniversary, then celebrate with a couple complementary Budweisers with one of the Clydesdales at the end of the tour.
The ranch is open for tours by reservation only 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday-Tuesday March 24 to Nov. 4 at 25270 Missouri 98, Boonville. Reservations can be made at warmspringsranch.com/tours. Guided walking tours are $15 per guest, and children younger than 2 are free. Private VIP tours, including a ride around the pasture in a custom-built trailer, are also available for a fee of $500 for as many as 16 guests.
Walking tour groups begin in the stable's Breeding Room. "This is where the magic happens," tour guide Cindy Tharp said. "This is where it all begins."
This room is where baby Budweiser Clydesdales are conceived, but on tour days, the room is filled with beer spouts, tables and the 1903 beer wagon. Here, Tharp explained some of the history behind the Budweiser Clydesdales.
Clydesdales are Scottish horses bred for their great strength and stature. Budweiser's hitch team - geldings that pull some 250 cases of lager in the iconic beer wagon - stand 6 feet tall at the shoulders and weigh 1,800- 2,300 pounds. Although Clydesdales come in a variety of colors, company CEO August Adolphus Busch wanted his horses to have a memorable look - a bay coat with white stockings over each hoof and a blaze of white on the face, standing against a black mane and matching black tail.
The origins of the Budweiser Clydesdales stem from a present Busch's two sons gave their father to celebrate the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Two six-horse teams carried the first post-Prohibition Budweisers produced by the brewery, and it is said Busch and his family wept for joy. Next, Busch took a hitch of horses and haul of beer to Gov. Alfred E. Smith in New York and President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House, two men who helped end the prohibition of alcohol in the United States.
Now, there are three teams spread across the country to service Budweiser distributors who request their presence at events. After InBev purchased the Anheuser-Busch company in 2008, a team even visited China to highlight Budweiser's international prestige.
The tour moves through the Exam Room, where the horses are treated and given health exams within indoor stalls. Outside, visitors view the horses in the outdoor pens, where the pregnant mothers, stallions like Yadi's father, Theo, and off-duty hitch horses relaxed in the cool, misty morning. Tour guide Shani Adair said Clydesdales love this kind of weather, typical of the breed's native Scotland.
Visitors gathered around STAN THE MAN, a sturdy horse named for Cardinal legend Stan Musial, along with another stallion in the Wash Room, where the horses were brushed, and Adair described their cleaning and beauty regiments. The group then left STAN for a little while and went back outside to see the semi-trucks that move these massive horses around the nation.
Then, it was finally time to enter the area most of the visitors had been waiting for, the Foaling Room. This is the stable where the mothers and babies reside. People are welcome to photograph the little ones, some of whom were bold enough to approach the gate and take a closer look at the visitors, while shy others hid behind their mothers. A sign reminds visitors not to poke their hands through the gates, though Yadi may have wanted to curiously lick a few fingers.
Later, everyone had a chance to know one of the celebrity Clydesdales up close and personal. Back in the Breeding Room, STAN THE MAN was waiting in front of the beer wagon for photos and petting.
Lanny Johnson, of Columbia, loves coming to Warm Springs Ranch, especially for this last part.
"Hey STAN," he greeted the big horse as it bent over for the young man to pet the white blaze of its forehead from his wheelchair as Johnson's mother took a picture to remember the moment.
"And remember," Tharp told the visitors as the tour came to a close and the adults lined up for the promised complementary beers, "this ranch is funded by the sale of Budweiser beer - only Budweiser. We love our little brother Bud Light, but remember that every time you buy Budweiser, you're supporting our horses."