176 THE HOESE BOOK. 



Clydesdale gelding liolds his own only when 

 clas sable at the very top. There must be a 

 reason for this peculiar status. 



Primarily the American and Scotch trades 

 demand horses of different stamps. For a gen- 

 eration the chief effort of the Scotch breeder 

 appears to have been to improve the length and 

 angle of the pastern and the quality of the 

 bone and hair. To obtain these points they 

 have admittedly sacrificed somewhat the size 

 and weight and ruggedness of their horses. 

 Knowing the preference of the American trade 

 for solid colors they seem to have courted, 

 rather than avoided, continued encroachments 

 of white upon the body color. In short they 

 seem to have had eyes for little but ^^feet, pas- 

 tern and feather,'' That they have succeeded 

 in obtaining what they wanted in well-nigh per- 

 fect measure can not be denied, but in gaining 

 this they have partially lost the American trade 

 and inf erentially much for the American trader. 



We can but note this fact with real regret, 

 because the ideal Clydesdale gelding in point 

 of action and conformation is truly a model 

 and a pattern for the world. The levelness of 

 top, rotundity of barrel, clean bone, well set 

 pastern, prompt, swinging walk with the iron 

 showing at every step, and the sharp trot, with 

 the hocks well flexed and carried close together 

 straight beneath the body, form the combina- 

 tion for which the judge is looking and to which 

 he works. 



