Home of Clydesdale horses popular tourist draw

BOONVILLE, Mo. (AP) -- The ranch in central Missouri where the famous Budweiser Clydesdale horses are raised is becoming an increasingly popular spot for visitors and tours.

Warm Springs Ranch in Boonville had 24,000 visitors last year, an increase of 33 percent from 2012, said ranch supervisor John Soto, who expects the numbers to keep climbing. He credits some of the interest to Budweiser's Super Bowl ads for promoting the ranch.

After the 2013 commercial, which featured the bond between a Clydesdale and his trainer, people came to the ranch to see Hope, the young star of the ad, Soto said.

"It just kind of snowballed," Soto told The Columbia Daily Tribune (http://bit.ly/1h31E8H ). "I don't know of any reason why we won't have another year of more visitors than the year before."

The tours are offered Monday through Sunday through Oct. 31. The ranch is closed on Wednesdays.

Visitors can see Clydesdales that range in age from foals just a few days old to breeding stallions and pregnant mares. Fifteen foals have been born so far this year and the ranch is expecting a total of 28.

"It's definitely a tour that really can only be shown here," Soto said.

The ranch also offers VIP tours that allow groups to take a tractor ride around the 300-acre property and get access to the paddocks.

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Information from: Columbia Daily Tribune, http://www.columbiatribune.com