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The modern Clydesdale horse is a delight to observe and has been described as 'huge, stylish, perky and colourful'. Centuries ago the horses that lived along the valley of the Clyde did not fit
this description. They had large heads, long necks, flat feet, big appetites, and unshapely bodies. It was the spread of coal-mining that created the Clydesdale breed as we know it. When mines in Lanarkshire were little
more than burrowings in the ground, packhorses carrying the coal in panniers on their backs were adequate. However, when coal
 had to be taken a distance to serve heavy industry, it had to be transported by cart,
which meant that bigger horses were needed to pull the loads. Better roads were then built - a development that justified bigger and better carts, and these in turn needed bigger and stronger horses.
The faster a load could travel, the quicker the journey and the greater the profit. Clydesdales were the horses used for this haulage.
So, though Clydesdales are often associated with plough teams, it is more accurate to think of them pulling loads along the roads. This lasted well into modem times Glasgow
Tramways used to buy about 4000 horses a year, and large numbers of horses were used to deliver goods from railway stations to surrounding businesses. The improvers of the
original horses along Clydesdale horse breeds are now cousins. As the great breeder William Dunlop said in 1935 - 'Our Clydesdales so named and Shires are really not two
breeds at all, but practically one breed. The kings and queens of Clydesdale to begin with were nearly all first cousins with the Shires'.
For more than a century, both breeds have boasted pedigree stud books, but it is an open secret that 'unofficial' infusions have played their part, and Clydesdales have been used to
improve the Shire on its own territory over the Border. The petrol and diesel engine drove the Clydesdale off the streets. The coming of the tractor did the same in the fields, but there
was a sadder reason for their demise in this area. A plague called grass sickness struck the Scottish farm horse, and the victims died quickly and agonisingly, or dwindled and wasted
away in misery. Today, it is unlikely that Clydesdales will be seen again in any numbers working on Scottish farms. They need seven days-a-week attention, and this is not easy
either to obtain or pay for. Their numbers are increasing, but this modern-day breeding is for show purposes and for the pleasure of people visiting Heavy Horse centres.
However, there are people who argue that they have a chance of a comeback as working horses, now that the emphasis in farming is away from increased production per acre
towards economy. A 'hay-burner' could be a worthwhile 'power unit' on a farm with plenty of grazing. Clydesdale horses, like the Scots themselves, have spread worldwide. The first
Clydesdale colonists went out on sailing ships. Now they fly to America and Australia in specially adapted planes. On the walls of many Scottish farmhouses, you will see the
romance of the Clydesdale illustrated in a remarkable picture. It shows an eight-horse team pulling a red brewery wagon through a handsome gateway. These are the Budweiser
Clydes, owned by the world's largest brewery, Anheuser-Busch. Though a big Clydesdale may weight over a ton, 'the general impression created by a well-built Clydesdale is that of
strength and activity, with a minimum of superfluous tissue. The ideal is not grossness and bulk, but quality and weight'. |
