The Clydesdale is a breed of draft horse derived from the farm horses of Clydesdale, Scotland, and named after that region. Although originally one of the smaller breeds of draft horses, it is now a tall breed with impressive presence in harness. Often bay in color, they show significant white markings due to the presence of sabino patterning. The breed was originally used for agriculture and haulage, and is still used for draft purposes today. The Budweiser Clydesdales are some of the most famous Clydesdales, and other members of the breed are used as drum horses by the British Household Cavalry. They have also been used to create and improve other draft breeds.
The breed was developed from Flemish stallions imported to Scotland and crossed with local mares. The first recorded use of the name “Clydesdale” for the breed was in 1826, and by 1930 a system of hiring stallions had begun that resulted in the spread of Clydesdale horses throughout Scotland and into northern England. The first breed registry was formed in 1877. 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.
Breed characteristics
The conformation of the Clydesdale has changed significantly throughout its history. In the 1920s and 30s, it was a compact horse smaller than the Shire, Percheron and Belgian. Beginning in the 1940s, breeding animals were selected to produce taller horses that looked more impressive in parades and shows. Today, the Clydesdale stands 16 to 18 hands (64 to 72 inches, 163 to 183 cm) high and weighs 1,800 to 2,000 pounds (820 to 910 kg). Some mature males are larger, standing taller than 18 hands and weighing up to 2,200 pounds (1,000 kg). The breed has a flat facial profile, broad forehead and wide muzzle. It is well-muscled and strong, with an arched neck, high withers and a sloped shoulder. Breed associations pay close attention to the quality of the hooves and legs, as well as the general movement. Their gaits are active, with clearly lifted hooves and a general impression of power and quality. Clydesdales have been identified to be at risk for chronic progressive lymphedema, a disease with clinical signs that include progressive swelling, hyperkeratosis and fibrosis of distal limbs that is similar to chronic lymphedema in humans.
Clydesdales are usually bay in color, but roan, black, gray and chestnut also occur. Most have white markings, including white on the face, feet, legs and occasional body spotting (generally on the lower belly). They also have extensive feathering on their lower legs. Roaning body spotting and extensive white markings are thought to be the result of sabino genetics. Some Clydesdale breeders want white face and leg markings without the spotting on the body. To attempt getting the ideal set of markings, they often breed horses with only one white leg to horses with four white legs and sabino roaning on their bodies. On average, the result is a foal with the desired amount of white markings. Clydesdales do not have the SB1 (Sabino 1) gene responsible for causing sabino expressions in many other breeds, and researchers theorize that there are several other genes responsible for these patterns. Most breed enthusiasts today believe, however, that there are no bad colors, and so horses with roaning and body spots are increasingly accepted.
The Clydesdale takes its name from Clydesdale, the old name for Lanarkshire, though which the River Clyde flows. In the mid-18th century, three Flemish stallions were imported to Scotland and bred to local mares, resulting in foals that were larger than the existing local stock. These were a 16.1 hands (65 inches, 165 cm) coach horse stallion named Blaze, a black unnamed stallion imported from England by a John Paterson of Lochlyloch and an unnamed dark-brown stallion owned by the Duke of Hamilton. Written pedigrees were kept of these foals beginning in the early 19th century, and in 1806 a filly was born that traced her lineage to the black stallion. This mare is listed in the ancestry of almost every Clydesdale living today. One of her foals was Thompson’s Black Horse (known as Glancer), who was to have a significant influence on the Clydesdale breed. The first recorded use of the name “Clydesdale” in reference to the breed was in 1826 at an exhibition in Glasgow.
History
Beginning as early as 1830, a system of hiring stallions between districts existed in Scotland. Through this system and by purchase, Clydesdale stallions were sent throughout Scotland and into northern England. Through extensive crossbreeding with local mares, these stallions spread the Clydesdale type throughout the areas in which they worked, and by 1840, Scottish draft horses and the Clydesdale were one and the same. In 1877, the Clydesdale Horse Society of Scotland was formed, followed in 1879 by the American Clydesdale Association (later renamed the Clydesdale Breeders of the USA) which served both American and Canadian breed enthusiasts. The first American stud book was published in 1882. In 1883, the short-lived Select Clydesdale Horse Society was founded to compete with the Clydesdale Horse Society. It was started by two breeders dedicated to improving the breed, an who were responsible in large part for the introduction of Shire blood into the Clydesdale.
A 1904 drawing of a Clydesdale mare
Large numbers of Clydesdales were exported from Scotland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with 1,617 stallions leaving the country in 1911 alone. Between 1884 and 1945, export certificates were issued for 20,183 horses. These horses were exported to other countries in the British Empire, as well as North and South America, continental Europe and Russia. World War I saw the conscription of thousands of horses for the war effort, and after the war breed numbers declined as farms became increasingly mechanized. This decline continued between the wars. Following World War II the number of Clydesdale breeding stallions in England dropped from more than 200 in 1946 to 80 in 1949. By 1975, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust considered them vulnerable to extinction, meaning there were fewer than 900 breeding females living.
Many of the horses exported from Scotland in the 19th and 20th centuries went to Australia and New Zealand In 1918, the Commonwealth Clydesdale Horse Soociety was formed as the association for the breed in Australia. Between 1906 and 1936, Clydesdales were bred so extensively in Australia that other draft breeds were almost unknown. By the late 1960s it was noted that “Excellent Clydesdale horses are bred in Victoria and New Zealand; but, at least in the former place, it is considered advisable to keep up the type by frequent importations from England.” Over 25,000 Clydesdales were registered in Australia between 1924 and 2008. The popularity of the Clydesdale led to it being called “the breed that built Australia”.
In the 1990s, the breed’s popularity and numbers began to rise. By 2005, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust had moved the breed to “at risk” status, meaning there were fewer than 1,500 breeding females living. However, by 2010 they had been moved back to vulnerable. The Clydesdale is considered to be at “watch” status by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, meaning that as of 2010 less than 2,500 horses are registered annually in the USA and less than 10,000 exist worldwide. As of 2010, there are estimated to be around 5,000 Clydesdales worldwide, with around 4,000 in the US and Canada, 800 in the UK and the rest in other countries, including Russia, Japan, Germany and South Africa.
