Ok, I admit
it. Even after a year of working with
the Budweiser Clydesdales, I am still the worst stereotype of a horse-crazy
tourist—taking pictures with my phone of the horses, the dogs, the wagons, me
with the horses, and the dogs, and the horses again, etc. Lucky for me, the folks who work with the
Clydesdales are some of the nicest, most patient people I’ve met. And the horses are absolutely
magnificent! How can you not be
awestruck when you’re standing next to Big Jake, and can barely reach his
withers standing on tiptoes? And the
yearlings are as big as my own full-grown horses! To top it off, the horses are
really as great as I ever dreamed they would be—sweet, kind, and endlessly
tolerant of their admirers. To me, spending time with the Budweiser Clydesdales
is pretty much as good as it gets.
So what is
Purina doing with the Clydesdales? About
a year ago, we started working with the horses at Grant’s Farm in St. Louis,
and with the horses on the traveling teams. The folks in charge of the horses
were looking for a consistent feed program, and while various Purina® feed products
have been fed to the Clydes for quite a few years, this was the first time that
the Purina equine technical and research teams put together an organized
feeding program and started collecting data on the growing and mature
horses. Mike Jerina (manager of our
Equine Research Unit), Tim Maxey from Straatmann Feed, Tod Wideman (Purina local
sales specialist) and I have been meeting with Dave Hennen of Anheuser-Busch
Clydesdale Operations and his team monthly for the past year to weigh, measure
and determine body condition scores of the young Clydes at Grant’s Farm, and make
sure that they are on the best feeding program to support growth. I can’t speak for Mike and the others, but it
has been a great learning experience for me!
One of the
early issues that emerged from our monthly meetings is that even though the
horses are so much larger and heavier than the light horse breeds, many of them
are VERY easy keepers and require very little feed to maintain appropriate body
weight and condition, especially since they are fed high quality hay and have
free access to pasture during much of the year.
This was even true for some of the young growing horses, so we had to
make adjustments to the original plan.
We started with Ultium® Growth Horse Formula for the youngsters, but
switched to Enrich Plus™ ration balancing feed for several of the easiest
keepers to keep them from gaining too much weight. Like all growing horses, it
is extremely important to provide essential nutrients in correct balance with
calories to support optimal growth.
The Clydesdales
on the hitches are a mixed batch. Since
they are working horses, we are feeding a combination of Omolene® horse feed,
some Amplify® High-Fat Supplement, and some Enrich Plus™ feed along with high quality
grass hay. A few of the hitch horses are
again such easy keepers that Enrich Plus™ feed and hay is enough to maintain
body weight and condition. Of course, it
is very important to everyone involved that the horses always look their best,
are happy and healthy, and receive the highest quality nutrition possible.
An especially
memorable experience took place on January 16 of this year, when Mike and I
traveled to Warm Springs Ranch in Booneville, Mo., the Budweiser Clydesdales
breeding farm. We arrived about 5 hours
after the birth of the first filly of the year, and enjoyed taking pictures and
watching her figure out where to find breakfast (Mama’s elbow was not very
rewarding for the little girl). Little
did we know that we were in the presence of a future TV star – the baby was
Hope, the star of the Budweiser commercial for the Big Game!
One aspect of
our relationship with the Budweiser Clydesdales that struck home with me is the
similarities between our companies. Both brands share a history that is rooted
in St. Louis, Missouri, and is based on a tradition of quality, integrity and
innovation. In talking and interacting
with the people who work with the Clydesdales, it is very quickly apparent that
they take great pride in their company and its heritage, and are dedicated to
the care and welfare of their horses. At
Purina Animal Nutrition, we certainly share the passion for our animals, as
well as the pride in our company and its history. It seems like a perfect partnership for our
two companies to work together, and I look forward to a long and mutually
rewarding relationship with the fabulous, beautiful, enormous(!) Budweiser
Clydesdales.
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