BOONVILLE, Mo. — Warm Springs Ranch Manager Amy Trout casually massages the muzzle of a 2,000-pound Clydesdale named Pamona. Pamona, who towers over Trout inside her stall, stands still and patiently next to her handler.
For Trout, her role at the ranch is more than a career.
It is her life.
The staff at the Warm Springs Ranch (WSR) invest days, weeks, and months in the future of each horse.
“I feel like the luckiest person in the world. [We] are present when they are born, when they graduate, and make the hitch,” Trout said.
The iconic eight-horse Budweiser Clydesdale hitch has been an Opening Day symbol for St. Louis Cardinals fans. Fans observe the Clydesdales trot in unison across Busch Stadium every spring.
However, there is a lot of training and preparation that happens before that big moment.
"The wagon weighs 7,000 pounds empty. Each Clydesdale can pull twice their bodyweight," she said. "It's the real deal when you see that wagon going around."
Just like the baseball field, there are different positions on the hitch.
"Closest to the wagon, that's our wheel team," Trout said. "Those are our biggest, strongest horses pulling most of the weight of the wagon."
Motioning in front of the wheel team, Trout lists off the order.
"Then you have your body team, swing team, and then in the front .. it is the lead team. The smallest in the front."
Unfortunately, not every horse can pull the wagon. There are strict requirements, Trout added.
“First one is size. If you look at [Pamona] here,” The ranch manager then stretches her hands open wide to each side. “She’s about 18 hands high. That’s our minimum height requirement.”
Physically, each key player must have a white strip down their muzzle, white legs, and a dark brown body, mane, and tail.
Pamona passed those traits down to her three-week-old baby Patrick. Although he is not quite ready to step in, the WSR team will train him for his future position.
For those horses who don't quite check off all the boxes, the demand is still high for these well-trained breeds.
"We find that a lot of mounted police units across the country are interested," she said.
Normally, there are 70-80 Clydesdales on the ranch daily. Trout stated, “We are always sending horses out to the hitch and they are sending them back.”
She joked, “sometimes we come in in the morning and get a surprise.”
Trout shares that staff is always on standby for potential births. For the first 24 hours of life, a veterinarian conducts a full workout.
That's when the journey begins.
"The naming process," she said. "Usually, we follow the mother's name so whatever letter the mother's name starts with ... we pass that along to the baby."
There is a lot of history hidden along the winding hills of the 300-plus acre ranch. One of the historic designs is perched at the entrance and stretches over 14 feet tall.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that it was part of a famous sign from downtown St. Louis,” Trout added. “It was on the old Bevo Mill [Budweiser] plant.”
Over 10 years ago, the brewery dismantled three letters from the 14,000-pound structure for LED replacements. The Budweiser display is just one landmark in the town that comforts St. Louisans.
She exclaimed that the signage is an instant conversation starter.
“When people visit the ranch, their reactions are ‘Wow. This place is immaculate. Amy gushed. “People have no idea that this little oasis is tucked away.”
Tours are available to allow people to bask in the full experience of Warms Spring Ranch.