While St. Louis Blues fans celebrated a Stanley Cup victory Wednesday night, Warm Springs Ranch outside Columbia, Missouri was cheering for an altogether different reason. Staff at the farm missed their hockey team's winning moment, but that's because they were busy tending to the newest member of the Budweiser Clydesdale family. They welcomed a newborn Clydesdale into the world moments after the Blues secured their victory, and of course, they named her Gloria.
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The newborn's name wasn't made official until a day after her birth, but no one was surprised when the ranch chose to name the filly after the Blues' victory song. With the Clydesdale breed being threatened by low numbers, every birth is indeed a victory. The number of Clydesdales in the world took a sharp decline in 2010 as the economy also took a turn for the worst, and it's estimated that only around 5,000 of these horses exist today. The good news is, farms like Warm Springs Ranch are dedicated to bringing those numbers back up.
Gloria was born into an impressive family all living at Warm Springs Ranch. The state-of-the-art breeding facility is dedicated to preserving the draft horse lineage and educating the public about the magnificent breed. While Gloria won't join her cousins on the official Budweiser team (those slots are reserved for only the tallest males) she is now a part of the farm's rich heritage.
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Along with breeding horses, Warm Springs Ranch also employs top horse trainers. Gloria will receive training at the farm and live on 300+ acres of beautiful land. She is her mother's first foal, and she joins a herd of more than 70 Clydesdales. Visitors to the farm might be lucky enough to see her frolicking with the other young horses in the herd or bonding with her mother in one of their 10 pastures.
Visit the Warm Springs Ranch website to learn how to take a tour of this incredible facility.
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