Once a stalwart of agriculture, these days the Clydesdale is more often used in showing, riding, or pulling carriages.
What is a Clydesdale?
The Clydesdale is a heavy draught horse, like the shire horse (the biggest horse breed in the world) and Suffolk punch. These breeds, because of their strong, heavy build, were the tractor of yesteryear, used for hundreds of years to pull hefty loads and machinery in agricultural, mining and forestry industries.
The Clydesdale breed originates, unsurprisingly, from its namesake area (now known as Lanarkshire) around the River Clyde in central southern Scotland.
To make farms in the area more efficient, local horses were bred with Flemish stallions to create a heavier and stockier offspring to be more suitable for farming. It is thought they contain other blood as well, like Shire.
What does a Clydesdale look like?
Clydesdales are huge, broad horses that are usually bay (brown with a black mane and tail) or brown (with a brown mane and tail) in colour, with a broad white stripe down their nose and white lower legs (known as socks and stockings).
Are Clydesdale only found in Scotland?
While most concentrated in the south and centre of Scotland, they can also be found across the UK and even worldwide thanks to their desirable genetics.
How big are Clydesdales?
While early Clydesdales were smaller in stature than the Shire horse, modern animals have been bred to be larger, weighing in at a hefty 900kg (that’s approximately 3-4 times an average Dartmoor pony, one of Britain's native pony breeds).
Clydesdales stand about 17-18 hands high (4 inches equals a hand) at their withers (the point where the back - thoracic spine - meets the shoulder). In modern money that's 1.7-1.8 metres or over 6 foot tall).
What do Clydesdales eat?
Like other horses the Clydesdale's diet should be made up of hard feed and roughage i.e. grass, haylage or hay, each day. The amount of feed very much depends on their workload, age, season and grazing quality.
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How many Clydesdales are there?
The Clydesdale Horse Society estimate that at peak, there were approximately 140,000 horses working on farms across Scotland, a majority of which had at least some Clydesdale lineage.
The decline in numbers began when they were drafted for use in the First World War, and subsequent farm mechanisation meant that they were replaced by machinery on many farms by the 1950s. Today the breed is listed as 'at risk'.
What is a Clydesdale’s temperament like?
They are renowned for their calm and gentle dispositions, making them easy to handle and ideal working horses. Today they are are often used for riding as well, as for driving, heritage farm work and logging, with many Clydesdale riding classes taking place at many shows.
How long do Clydesdales live?
Clydesdales have a similar lifespan to other horses and reaching 25-30 years old is not uncommon, but most head for retirement from working life at around 20.
Want to find out more about horses?
Explore our guide to how pass horses safely in the countryside, delve into the rich history of Cumbria's fell ponies, and discover everything you need to know about how to start horse riding, including what to wear horse riding.
Top image: The beautiful Clydesdale mare Tallulah
