1882 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
243 
Clydesdale Horses. 
The antiquity of but few breeds of our 
domestic animals can be the subject of 
special boasting on the part of their breeders. 
Among horses the only really ancient breed 
is the Arabian, and while a number of more 
or less natural breeds exist, of which it is 
difficult to say that they owe more to man 
than to nature, nearly all the highly valued 
breeds of horses of the present day are the 
result of patient and careful breeding with a 
definite object in view. The Arabian has 
been thus carefully bred from remote an¬ 
tiquity. Pedigrees have been kept, per¬ 
formances passed into legend and history, 
and the blood of certain families treasured 
beyond price.—Noticeably these families are 
traced uniformly in the dam’s line, not in the 
sire’s line, as we too often do in stating the 
pedigrees of our carefully bred horses. 
The English thorough-bred race-horse 
originated in the first half of the 18th century, 
say 1715 to 1760, by crossing and mingling 
Arabian, Turkish and Barb blood, with more 
or less native English, and keeping pedigrees 
with the greatest care. Our own American j 
thorough-breds are only a branch of this i 
breed, kept perfectly free from other blood. 
So it is also with the so-called “English” 
horses of Europe. In every country where 
they are valued, pedigrees are recorded and 
the blood is kept pure or the horses lose cast 
at once. The Orloff trotters of Russia origi¬ 
nated late in the 18th century, and represent 
the selected progeny of a single sire ; pedi¬ 
grees being kept, and performances recorded. 
Thorough breeding really consists in keep¬ 
ing and studying pedigrees and performances, 
and pairing animals with reference to quali¬ 
ties conspicuous in their ancestry which the 
breeder desires to perpetuate ; and we may 
expect with confidence to be able thus to 
improve the family and through it the breed 
in whatever direction we choose to expend 
thought, money, and energy. In this way we 
are producing a breed of trotting horses in 
this country, which within fifty years will 
probably be as well entitled to the term 
thorough-bred as any other horses. 
Among draft-horses this principle has just 
as legitimate application as among horses 
used for running and trotting. The French 
originated a most excellent and useful breed 
of draft horses—the Percheron—which was 
only saved from extinction by the opportune 
writings of M. Charles du Hays (not du Huys), 
and others. These horses were and are bred 
without pedigrees, and have none, except 
such as depend upon the memoiy of the 
breeders. It is to be hoped that they will 
| hereafter be bred pure, and that pedigrees 
will not only be kept but recorded in connec¬ 
tion with such tests and performances as wil. 
prove the superiority of individuals and form 
a basis for breeding. American draft-horse 
breeders have selected as it were by common 
consent two breeds—the Percheron (includ¬ 
ing the inevitable mixture of the less good 
Norman blood), and the Clydesdale Horse. 
They are both excellent, and each may well 
have their ardent admirers and advocates. 
The Clydesdales have, however, one im¬ 
mense advantage. They have been bred from 
the first—that is from early in the present 
century, say from 1810-20—with carefully 
preserved pedigrees, which are the subject of 
record. They show the result, in persistency 
of type, in steady improvement, and in the 
increasing demand for the horses both for 
labor and for breeding. They possess another 
advantage, namely, color. Although there 
is a family of Gray Clydes which find favor, 
yet, in the long run, dark colors have a de¬ 
cided advantage over grays in the market. 
The Clydes are large, yet in size the old 
English cart horse is superior, but he has the 
reputation of being a soft, fleshy-limbed 
beast. They have good feet, yet one may 
hardly say “ none have better though it 
would be hard to name a breed that has, 
without fear of contradiction. They are 
hardy and tough when mature; last well at 
slow, heavy work, and among them, those 
which do not naturally reach great size and 
weight, trot off freely, and with ease move 
heavy loads at a brisk pace. They have neat 
heads, well set on arching necks; their breasts 
are deep and broad; backs short, connecting 
the magnificent sloping shoulders with the 
massive loins; barrel cylindrical, and well 
ribbed back. Though standing 16 to 17 hands 
high, and weighing 1,500 to 2,000 pounds, 
they have the look of low-set, pony-built 
horses, which is due to the shortness of their 
