A St. Louis gem!

In October of 1998 my mother and I were introduced to Grant's Farm while we were visiting a friend who lives just outside St. Louis, Missouri. We were to see the former President's hand built cabin, the famous Clydesdale horses, enjoy some beer and more.

It was an abbreviated introduction as we had also been shown the St. Louis Botanical Garden earlier that same day.

http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Beautiful-Missouri-Botanical-Garden

One could spend an entire day in each of these places!

Grant's Farm is so named due to the fact that an American President, Ulysses S. Grant hand built and lived in this cabin pictured above. He also farmed about 80 acres on these grounds.

About a century ago August A. Busch Jr.'s father purchased land encompassing Grant's original acreage and added to it. It now totals 281 acres.

August Busch Jr. made it into a country estate and brought in over 1,000 animals from all over the world. Most of the large animals such as zebras, bison, elk, cattle, Sika deer, antelope and more roam about quite freely.

An open-aired tram takes one through this area where one can view the animals in a natural setting.

Admission to Grant's farm is free and there is much to see.

The Bauernhof is a large U-shaped grouping of buildings that house a food court area; a guest relations and first aid area and the carriage house which protects a collection of more than two dozen historic coaches and carriages. Many of those vehicles date from the 1800's.

We took advantage of having a bite of lunch and sipped on a free glass of Budweiser beer. We all decided that the bratwurst looked good that day.

Since it was the month of October, the area was decorated appropriately with dried corn stalks, bundles of hay, pumpkins and blooming mums.

It was a bright and sunny day and the umbrella tables offered some needed shade.

Grant's farm is a breeding center as well as a training center for the beautiful and famous Clydesdale horses.

One can stroll through an area where the magnificent beasts romp and roam in pastures. One can also go through a stable where some of the horses are on display.

Each horse has a brass plate with his name inscribed. The stables are immaculately clean and fresh.

Approximately 15 foals are born at this location each year and they are nurtured and eventually turned into the show horses that we have all come to love.

A full grown Clydesdale horse weighs in at around 2,000 pounds!

Keeping them fed and watered takes some effort as they each consume around 60 pounds of hay as well as 30 quarts of feed. 30 gallons of water is also needed for each horse every day.

In the stable was a display showing a normal horses hoof and a Clydesdale hoof. These horses are huge in every respect!

Family friendly and with no admission fee, be sure and plan to spend some time here if you are in the St. Louis area of the country. Grant's Farm is well worth a visit!