1794 Eeport of Farmers' Institutes 



the clydesdale 



A breed whose popularity in the United States today has been 

 sadly diminished by the Scottish breeders' obstinate refusal to co- 

 operate with or consider the wants or requirements of the Amer- 

 ican trade. 



Twenty-five years ago the Scottish drafter was the most numer- 

 ous of the heavy breeds in our show rings, but the fact that tlie 

 American and Scotch trade require horses of a different stamp, to- 

 gether with the fact that Clydesdale breeders in the United States 

 and Canada have beaten the Scotchman .at his own game, has re- 

 duced the number of Clydesdales imported to this country to its 

 present small proportions. 



An insistent and increasing demand in America for a more 

 rugged horse, heavier boned, with less feather and less white mark- 

 ings has given the French and Belgian breeders many millions of 

 dollars, as a reward for their efforts and wnllingness to cooperate 

 with the supporters of these breeds in this country. To the old 

 Flemish or Belgian horse the best Clydesdales of today as well as 

 most of the other draft breeds trace their origin. The history of 

 this breed shows that to the black Flemish blood introduced in Scot- 

 land some IGO years ago, can be traced the improvement of the 

 Clydesdale. 



The faults of the Clydesdale are the lack of size, weight and rug- 

 gedness ; and to this w^e may attribute the fact that the Clydesdale 

 gelding hold their j^lace in the city markets only when of the very 

 highest quality. 



A draft breed, light in top, lacing in neck, light boned, and gen- 

 erously splashed with white, have and will continue to eliminate 

 the Clydesdale horse from the consideration of many practical 

 American importers or breeders, except a few wealthy men who can 

 afford and prefer to breed, show, and make a specialty of a class of 

 horses that are not numerous or popular. 



The good qualities of the Clydesdale are their level top, round 

 barrel, clean flat l)one, well set posterns, with action at a walk and 

 trot that it would be hard to fault. The Clydesdale is still the 

 preeminent drafter in Canada, but from recent inroads made by 

 the importation and sale of other European draft breeds, it needs 

 no prophet to forecast the decline of the Clydesdale popularity 

 across the border. 



