CLYDESDALE Horses
The Clydesdale is a strikingly beautiful cold blooded draft horse breed from Lanark shire Scotland, its name was inspired by the River Clyde and previously called area of Clydesdale. The Clydesdale possesses a fabulous temperament made up of willingness, intelligence, docility and common sense, topped up with strength and beauty making them an extraordinary breed. When in groups, they rub and nuzzle one another, they grow very fond of their pasture mates, whether it is a Clydesdale or any other breed. Because of their lovely temperament and beauty, Clydesdales today are extremely popular for riding, competing very successfully in most ridden disciplines, for hitching competitions, as a fun riding horse for trial rides and outrides or in some case kept as just a pet. Even the Queen favor their good looks as Clydesdale crosses form part of the British Household Cavalry as drum horses, leading parades on ceremonial and state occasions. The horses are eye-catching colors, including piebald, skewbald and roan.
The breed had its origins in the 18th century, when breeders began to cross local Lanarkshire horses with Flemish stallions in an effort to produce large working horses.
The first stallion to be used for this purpose was imported by the Duke of Hamilton VI, who granted use of the horse to his tenants. Soon afterwards, a Flemish stallion was purchased by John Paterson of Lochlyloch, who used it to further improve the local stock. A third stallion known as “Blaze” was notable for adding coaching qualities and style to the breed.
The matriarch of the Clydesdale breed was purchased in 1808 as a two year old, and the lineage of nearly every living Clydesdale can be traced back to her. Her most notable foal was “Thompson’s Black Horse,” or “Glancer,” who had a strong body, short, thick lets, and the long feathers on his legs that the Clydesdale is famous for today.
Clydesdale horses were first exhibited under the breed name in 1826, and the breed was further standardized through the system of hiring out purebred stallions.
The Clydesdale Horse Society was formed in 1877, and its breed registry records go back to the 1830s. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands of Clydesdales were exported from Scotland and sent throughout the world, including to Australia and New Zealand, where they became known as “the breed that built Australia”. However, during World War I population numbers began to decline due to increasing mechanization and war conscription. This decline continued, and by the 1970s, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust considered the breed vulnerable to extinction. Population numbers have increased slightly in the intervening time, but they are still thought to be vulnerable.
In South Africa the Clydesdales are registered through The Clydesdale Horse Society at the SA Stud Book, it is known that the first Clydesdales came to SA from England during the Anglo Boer war, the average life expectancy for any horses where arriving in the Cape was just 6 weeks, due to the long voyage, no time to acclimatize allowed, disease, ill treatment and exhaustion, there is no recordings about any of these Clydesdale horses surviving the war.
The Clydesdale was first imported to North America in the 1840s. The breed’s attractiveness and size led to its use in promotional hitches, such as one sponsored by the Chicago Stockyard Company. In the 1930s, the Anheuser Busch Company of St. Louis, Missouri, began to use a hitch of Clydesdales to celebrate the end of Prohibition and to represent the company’s products. The “Budweiser Clydesdales” were an immediate sensation when they delivered the first post-Prohibition beer to the White House, and the hitch has proven to be one of the most popular and successful advertising symbols of all time. Less well known is the fact that Anheuser Busch has maintained a Clydesdale breeding program since 1953, and that the company’s commitment to the breed during the 1950s and 1960s was critical to its survival in North America..
Budweiser Advert – link to one of the best ads ever made!!
The Clydesdale is a powerful, heavy, and handsome horse. Males and females should both have these qualities, and they should also exhibit a free action that creates an impression of quality rather than bulk. Clydesdales are judged heavily on the quality of their legs and feet. Members of the breed should have open, wide, and round feet and generous feathering on the legs, and their pasterns should be long and set at a 45 degree angle from the hoof head to the fetlock joint. The points of the hocks should be turned inwards and the shanks from the hock joint to fetlock joint must be straight. The Clydesdale should have an open, broad forehead and a flat profile. The muzzle should be wide and the ears should be big. The neck should arch and the withers should be high. A short strong back is favoured, and heavily muscled quarters complete the picture of a strong yet graceful animal. Although originally one of the smaller breeds of draught horses, it is now a tall breed. The Clydesdale combines strength and style. The breed’s action is distinctive, with each foot lifted cleanly off the ground so that the bottom of the foot is visible from behind. The forelegs are well planted under the shoulders, the legs are straight, and the feet are durable. The most common color is bay, though black, brown, chestnut, and roan are also seen they show significant white markings due to the presence of sabino genetics.
As with many breeds of livestock, the Clydesdale has evolved during the 1900s to meet the changing demands of the times. In the early 1900s, the market favored a compact animal. More recently, breeders have selected for a taller horse to be used in fancy hitches and in the show ring. Today’s Clydesdales stand 16.2–18 hands (66–72″) at the withers and weigh 1600–1800 pounds. The largest individuals are taller, weighing as much as 2200 pounds.
In the late 19th century, Clydesdale blood was added to the Irish draught breed in an attempt to improve and reinvigorate that declining breed. However, these efforts were not seen as successful, as Irish Draught breeders thought the Clydesdale blood made their horses coarser and prone to lower leg defaults. The Clydesdale was instrumental in the creation of the Gypsy Vanner horse, developed in Great Britain. The Clydesdale, along with other draught breeds, was also used to create the Australian Draught Horse. In the early 20th century, they were often crossed with Dales ponies, creating mid-sized draught horses useful for pulling commercial wagons and military artillery.
