“It was my dream job,” is the way Barbara Becker of rural Pulaski County, Mo., described her five years as a Clydesdale handler with the Budweiser dynasty, working throughout the western United States. Originally from the Dixon-St. Robert, Mo., area, Barbara said she put together her resume in 1988 and took it to St. Louis, where she interviewed for the job. She was basically told, “Yes, well, everyone wants to work with the Clydesdales.”
“I figured that was pretty much it and then a year later, they called and asked if I was still interested,” Barbara recalled. She was soon off on the adventure of a lifetime.
By mid-1989, Barbara was in Portland, Ore., working as a Clydesdale handler in events such as the Rose Festival in Portland and the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., and all the many other appearances the world famous Clydesdales made in the western United States in the ensuing years.
“I worked in grooming, feeding and exercising the horses, as well as crowd control and public relations. We also drove the trucks for hauling the horses from one appearance to the next,” Barbara explained. “It was wonderful and great exercise, keeping up with the horses. Walking the Rose Bowl Parade route each year was over 5 miles. The last year I worked it, I actually got to ride on one of the floats, so that was a nice change.
“We did a number of other things with the horses too, like riding them into a location for a photo shoot in the snow where there was no road access. That was fun!”
When asked the most important attributes she felt helped her to get such a dream job, she thought general horsemanship was important, and that was certainly part of her background, but that an outgoing personality and the ability to be able to simply pick up and go were also essential.
“It was great in so many ways. You lived in hotels and I loved that. You were on the road 10 months of the year, but you were never home except when you were on vacation,” she added with a smile. “I finally left to marry someone I’d loved for a long time.”
Today, Barbara operates a 160-acre farm on the Pulaski-Miller County line, raising Angus/Charolais cross commercial cattle, as well as hay for herself and others. Her husband of 18 years, Gary Becker, died in 2012 following a stroke.
“Gary had grown up on a farm, but he knew how much I wanted to have cattle,” Barbara said. “I have about 15 head right now and I’ve had to learn a lot in the last four years, but I know Gary would be proud of me. There’s always something more to be done, something else to worry about, like if there will be enough rain. Will the grass be good enough this year? Will there be enough hay? Were all the cows bred this season?
“The hooking and unhooking of the equipment to the tractor is hard and takes a lot of strength. Sometimes, when something breaks, I may know how to fix it but I might not have the strength to do it by myself. I’d have been lost if it wasn’t for the help of neighbors. The man I’m dating now is on the road a great deal with his job so he helps me too, when he’s here.”
For the time being, Barbara feels she is maxed out, in terms of growth, with the number of cows and the fenced pasture she has available. She hopes to fence another hayfield in the near future, which would give her more grazing space. She is also interested in looking at intensive grazing in the coming seasons.
Barbara has been a bus driver for the Crocker School District for many years. She takes great pride in being able to continue life on the farm and jokes that she has to drive a school bus so she can afford to farm.
“Last year, in spring calving season, I caught all the calves by myself and I thought, I am a real cowgirl,” she said. “There are days when I think I can’t do this anymore. I should just give it up. But then I come home at the end of the day and it feels so good to relax here and I realize, I’m not done yet.”
