The moments of the real eigenvalues of real Ginibre matrices are investigated from the viewpoint of explicit formulas, differential and difference equations, and large $N$ expansions. These topics are inter-related. For example, a third order differential equation can be derived for the density of the real eigenvalues, and this can be used to deduce a second order difference equation for the general complex moments $M_{2p}^{\rm r}$. The latter are expressed in terms of the ${}_3 F_2$ hypergeometric functions, with a simplification to the ${}_2 F_1$ hypergeometric function possible for $p=0$ and $p=1$, allowing for the large $N$ expansion of these moments to be obtained. The large $N$ expansion involves both integer and half integer powers of $1/N$. The three term recurrence then provides the large $N$ expansion of the full sequence $\{ M_{2p}^{\rm r} \}_{p=0}^\infty$. Fourth and third order linear differential equations are obtained for the moment generating function and for the Stieltjes transform of the real density, respectively, and properties of the large $N$ expansion of these quantities are determined.