History of the Clydesdale Horse

The Clydesdale Horse,  so utterly synonymous with the phrase 'Horse Power' began to develop as a breed in the early part of the 1700's. As the name implies, it originated from the valley of the River Clyde (world famous for the shipbuilding activities in its lower reaches within the City of Glasgow) in the area comprising the upper wards of the County of Lanarkshire. 

Informed legend has it that one of the Dukes of Hamilton wanted to cut a dash with some splendid coaching stallions and so he imported big black Flemish Stallions from the low countries of Europe. He generously allowed his tenant farmers to mate their 'scotch' mares with his imported blood and the resultant offspring were considered superior to both their sires and dams. These farmers, realising that they had something rather special in the way of horse flesh, carefully developed the breed amongst themselves and before long they had an animal that was widely sought after.

The Clydesdale spread rapidly from its base in Southern Central Scotland to Northern England, Ireland and northwards through Scotland itself. The sales at the market town of Lanark became renowned and in the heyday of the breed, hundreds if not thousands were sold in a matter of days.

The horses provided the power not just for farming, but were widely used in the cities for carting and also for haulage over greater distances - there would at one point have been as many Clydesdales working in the towns and cities as there were in the countryside tilling the soil. Large numbers of Clydesdales were also exported to America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia - and indeed the Clydesdale is credited with aiding the opening-up of Australia.

The original Clydesdale horse was a stocky, close coupled animal around 16 hands high with good feathering on the legs, an active movement and a good sloping shoulder. They were largely of a solid dark bay, brown or black colour. Today when people think of Clydesdales they immediately think of white blazes on their faces and white legs, but that was a fashion that was introduced at a later stage. The Modern Clydesdale).

The development of the railways, motorised transport and farm tractors spelled the death knell of the Clydesdale as a 'working' animal, although not perhaps as quickly as one might imagine. When the railways were being constructed, Clydesdale horses were used to transport the building materials and remove the waste soil and rocks that were dug out to fashion a level track bed. However, over time the horse became 'redundant' and the breeding of these magnificent animals was left in the hands of a dwindling number of farming families who because of sentiment could not bear to see them, nor indeed the blood lines which had been perfected over the decades, lost.

The Modern Clydesdale Horse

It is to be admitted that the Clydesdale and Shire breeds (the Shire being the English counties equivalent of the Clydesdale) have been inter-related to the mutual advantage of both breeds, although today when you see a good example of either breed, it is very clear which is which. Clydesdale breeders used the Shire breed to inject a bit more size, and to give the white leg hair that you see today, and once this had been perfected, the Shire breed came back to the Clydesdale to fine down and make their leg feathering more silky, and to get rid of skin problems on the lower leg that the Shire had developed.

As more white was introduced to the breed, genetics not being an exact science, the white hair occasionally strayed onto the Clydesdales' body, giving an animal of a roan colour. The purists frowned upon these animals, believing that only a good solid colour was correct. However most people today believe that a good horse cannot be a bad colour, so roan horses and horses with white areas on the body are acceptable.

The horses of today are also bigger than their original counterparts - 17 hands high and above is not at all uncommon. But these are not big ungainly ugly animals. The Clydesdale is a horse of quality with a fine head, intelligent eye, excellent paces and a fluidity of movement. They have the most wonderful, willing temperament and they truly do epitomise the phrase 'gentle giant'.

The Clydesdale is a Rare Breed - classified as 'at risk' by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. However having the reached rock bottom in the 60's and 70's, there are more people breeding these wonderful animals today and numbers are remaining steady, if not increasing slightly.

What do they do?

The majority of Clydesdales throughout the world today are kept for breeding and showing - they do not have to work for their living any more. So, go to any breeder in the UK today and you will usually go to a family farm where the horses will very likely be the descendents of those kept by the preceding generation that ran that farm. They are not there to earn their keep like the dairy cows, beef cows or sheep that they may share a field with. They are there to breed and to be shown at the various Agricultural  Shows held during the summer - they are a hobby (if an expensive one!) for the farmer.

However, increasingly the PR power of these lovely animals has been recognised and people are now using the horses to pull drays and carts which can be used as advertising vehicles for a variety of businesses. Breweries and whisky companies were the first to latch on to this and now you see their names emblazoned across the carts. City councils, such as the ones in Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow, keep Clydesdales for work within the cities and parks departments and for using as 'publicity tools'. And Clydesdale horses have joined the 'wedding industry', getting dressed up in their finery to pull the bride in a cart to the church to make a memorable day even more so.

The Clydesdale is playing a significant role in the 'green' world too. It has long been recognised that timber extraction and logging in environmentally sensitive areas can do untold damage to delicate ecosystems and the solution has been to return to the horse for the 'horse power', so minimising any damage whilst carrying out necessary maintenance and extraction.

And increasingly today Clydesdales are being ridden, just like any other breed of horse. They can be seen occasionally on the dressage arena, taking part in endurance rides, carrying a minister in Kintyre on his rounds, or simply being enjoyed as a gentle hack - possibly for the larger figure! Cross bred Clydesdales can also be found at the top of all the equestrian fields, as hunters, three day and one day eventers, show jumpers and so on - they seem to have an inbuilt spring and impetus that makes them good jumpers, and they do possess the quality of movement that is so necessary.

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