THE N.Z. CLYDESDALE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1705, 24 March 1913, Page 10

THE N.Z. CLYDESDALE.

; AN AUSTRALIAN'S OPINIONS. '> i:': ;,; T;' Dnriiig the'last decade thero has beon a f ; (V marked;.revival .lily tlio interest taken in V.-.V.' JW\v' Zealand ,in,-tile Clydesdale horse, i. ' and as a result.the Dominion has'won" a good name by the production of some t .;- ' very high-class apim-ads, 'says ."Camden,"in the ."PAstoralists* Review." , "But," j.' - the writer adds, "thepe has always been l'j : a large' proportion <>f low-grade"animals, f and trading on the ~nanie of - New Zeaf;land's best horses. tht< jnforior sorts havo p' f too frequently, been shipped, to Australia I • . Ivith'. results jthat -are;. not'- calculated to ; ; y-' 'benefit-the trade. \ ' 'The rural "population-, of New Zen'iautl jX . - comprises a good .many Scotsmen, cspeeif-.". oily, in the south, 60 it is not'surprising '-. thati'tho Clydesdale' -horso js so highly. |V 'populii'J - .'';ln Otago-you ; ,hear more broad I, ' 'Scotchin. Tiiral"districts than" anywhere P ' else, iil. Australasia,. and there you 'vill H .<Y inlstf find the -keenest interest taken in. the b : . Cljdesdalp breed. . In the North Island ! there are jnany noted breeders, but the ,South-appears to moro (than lioii its own i : i v )u point of numbers. . _ , • t •■ ' "Manyj years ajio numlKtrs of_fino Clyuesf ,'r : dale horses wore imported- to .New, Zealand by !tho early settlers,'.arid'a very good ■i typo of horse-got about, the country. But ■ , during 'the'period of for stock i i find ' wool - .the 1 ;breeding /was. s,imewnafc b' .. neglected. . Importations - a ceased, -•-• and f locally-bred stallions were ip. almost urni ' .ver'sal,use. The rosult was.' that tio,fine 1, :• -ipoints. of. ihe::.breed.'.werc: neglected, and Cii ifar ' too- : many inferior, if ; .not > mongrel S >-'-' Jetallions paraded . .the. couUtry^ide,' and [(left still more, inferior crops of foals, t 'iTarmers and others bec.umo famil:ari-.cd Svith -this stvle of draught horse, .which, stilj .railed' a Clydesdale-,, so that Svhon, some- years later, '.yraip-iiiiy en- ! : .'.souragod enterprising men ,to , import l ■ : again 'from Scotland, ths new arrivals re{resented quite, a different tjrpe of animal ,to the local horse., .This was immediately !- . ' dubbed a "new type," and it is .surpns- ' Ing how quickly men came forward ind r - Renounced it, and how! ingenious;, they f --'.Srere'- in -their. condemnation; .'They de-' iiplored the fact that Scottish bleeders Y breedings out the - draught; c.'iarac- ! : . teristics of the Clydesdale, that td.ey were !'■ '-[producing a light-bodied,.: light-legged,' ! . '.;. poor-constitriiioned: horse, i' 'and- they claimed,and some still'.rluiiij,. ' -that ; : the modern imported 'librae 'is_lskely. t; .••'to do, great 'harm 'to:..the draught horses ' ■ of the country. • '' "If common sense .isbrouslirito bear on ithesfe' contentions, it is difficuut to allow that they hold! water.- .' The last of the . t .come, in for', tlio bu/k .-.of tho'criticism, and it is right that they: Vnould, -because theyarothe foundation 01

'■ ■ V the utility, of the horse.. • ; : ...' "If. anyone in;it.h<\, : :subjecf gives .unprejudiced :,consideration to ;.-the ■ lines' von--- which- v-the—Scottish -teeders have-been, and. still; nre,Vworking;..hb ,c.an find no fault.c They i,nsist upon.a .largo' ' round hoof of tough, not brittle inatorial, proportionately high,' and with a,. ; wiro : hoof, head.' This 'latter ..is n point to 'which' a great deal-of . importance, is, attached, because" tlio'wide hoof'head i»ai<l "the <soft:setting' of sinews.into, .it,.help to ;break the jar when-.tho.:.horse f .js A : action,' and ;prev.ents ',»<whole 1 string.ot' -ilia • ' to which the equine l% ;; i&'-hai*r.;: As.-ie- . gards the colour of the dark is pre- . -''.ferred. '■ but, provided ••the* foot vis well - -sniped and otherwise?good, it apparently has iilot been proved that the whito coJonr ■:'■'" denotes' an • inferior -type', of .h00f.... lho - • Iwst'brsedets.'in Scotland and'in ]Vew Zea- ■.: ' lanxfaini'-for'the big. round,; hoof, ' • - plenty-of 'width at tho' heels,* and tins is only..logical' wheni;the^veighfc"aneh-pres-sura the feet havo to bear are considered. ■ • v .Then another, -pointon"' which the 'ile- - tractors; of the- modern typo-, dwell is the pastern,' or what is moio. often, called, the nnkle/ They claim' that'it 'is 'Retting - too : long, ' aiid that .it will .- 'eventually becomo - .-;■■ source" of ; .weakhcss;'if it had notaliendy bacdiuo v sor _I: will admit• tnat tho coine"brosdei's di'oss tho hair or spats ' round the'hoofs when'showing their horses •/- ' ' leads spectators :a't .a distance to believo :v .. , that the pasterns' go V'lnuch.-.further-back, • 1 and aro more horizontal than tliey reallj :■■"■- are, b(it .examination in* 'iic'arly every case . ' " would: jioye '.it to be otherwiser One only. ' : lias'to gaze at the fest.of some city horses .. to" sso..,the;'' folly, of' neglecting .the long, pastern. 1 . ' The short, steep pastern ■ nearly, always-goes with small, contracted ' feet;"and"hideous' deformities are -the xe- ■ • . suit.'- If.' tlio ' wido" hoof"' lfead'' tho long,'slop.ihg'pastern are neglected, there ' - ..' is nothing' to,-soften tho jarring the feet - get when-battering-along the hard roads. The constant 'jarring and straining, with- - '■ '... out tlio cushion-like protection of a good setting into a ivide:hopf head;'and of a long, slopingipastenij-give rise. to.troubles . which f extend: above the knees and'hocks. . can anyone . sensibly . allege . thai New Zealahdr b'reedorg,'. who ' are ' ■ , working on '-Scottish .'lines, • aro. on the wrong track P; v' The wholo fabric ,■ of ' , Clydesdale breeding will -topple , down' if ' due attention on sound rational lines is •ndt paid, first of all,- to the feet. .Of course, the terms "big round Jeet," "wide . liopf heads,'? and "long ankles" are general and relative terms,. .and no stercotyped measurements can bo given because : no ; two. horses are alike,', and' everything ' has to'be proportionate.But tho trained - eye'ean.-at once take in, the symmetry or . otherwise of a draught horse's feet and

• pasterns. . .Another defect laid to the door of the imported Clydesdalo: is the''lack of .hair .' / below'the knee, but if this contention "is examined bit by bit it very soon falls, to . ■ ' / pieces. *: It is easily explained in tho first place. :by.,stating .that the breeders' are . . 'going" for-bone,' good: hard, ■ flat bone of- ■ flinty", quality; 'and no.t' fqr,; ileshv.. It , therefore, naturally; follows .that,'as hair 'cannot<gi;ow on bone, the best Clydesdale, • horses' are Teinarkably freo from hair, ex'eppt for a fine silky variety, which grows . ' down the' back of tho leg-aiid over the is : epi'iiigy muscular'tissuo on-top of the hoof : head.-'Jf-the, very .hairy-legged .horses are examined it will be found that the legs are 'spongy' with flesh,.-which accounts • for the hair growing, and as a rule a roiind, soft, porous quality of bono goes with tho fleshy legs.- ' No one will deny that the flat, hard, flinty bono is a bet- ■ . ter support to a heavy draught horse than a 'round, soft, porous bone, so' that there ' .is; no sense in'the contention, that lack \ of 'hair-"denotes- weakness. - Apart from tho "structural aspect of tho question, tho . freedom from thick-matted hair is muc¥ appreciated-by tlioso,, who. liavo to ' look after draught;' horses.. It/minimises the task of cleaning the legs, and the' clenn- / legged horses are not .troubled "with grease or the sores which are nearly, found on gummy-legged' horses. "New Zealand breeders who arc hastenine to the front in Clydesdale breeding aire doing it all,by the means of imported horses.'and as ■ they have been going on these lines for years there are. some mag-, nificent horses in tho country. Every year the improvement goes on, and each season a better lot of mares do duty at the stud, and those who breed on different lines will soon bo left for. behind The clean, strong leg ■; speaks for itself. Wliilo attention has been paid to the, points above referred' to, the.hocks■ have, not 'been neglected; in fact,, after lookingat;a Clydesdale's feet the eyo instinctively" flies to the hocks." Ill'the best horses tho-hock is nicely pointed dnd devoid of all superfluous flesh., A fleshy-hocked horse is given a very, black mark. Then ■ ' tho hocks-have to bo well set under tho horse, not'stretched away "out behind like English hackneys. -_ The draught horse is primarily for hauling, .and to get his. great weight-effectively into the collar his hocks must be set well under. I have h£ard some of tho.opponents, to imported Clydesdales allege that the .tendency to be close in tho hocks is 'ono of-the great objections' to the. Scottish horse. As a matter of fact, it is scientifically correct that- when a draught horse moves., ho Bhould'swinghis rhocks in. .By, doing so '•life"legs are , in! the best position to bear \/' the leveragei. Moving tho iioeksl clfso, Y together means that, the. toes of the hind ieot are turned slightly outwards. In action the hock'should bo well raised, 1 and the leg smartly bent. . The foro feet should be lifted smartly and cleanly, and . thero should bo no dishing outwards or pjirnon toes. Th 6 'correct action of a draught'horse is briefly summed up in tho expression, "A good liorso should ;■• meet you straight in front, and -leave you' ' close behind.' "Another slander on the imported horse

is that lio is small, but after travelling all through New Zealand I could not find evidenco that this is so. I found, however, that tho best and most fashionable Clydesdales are very deccptivo as far as size is concerned. They are so neat and symmetrical that they do not look their true sizo even when one stands only a short distance away, but I ivould strongly adviso. those who believei that what is erroneously called tho 'new type' is a small animal to stand right against those ho condemns in this'way. In every case ho would be surprised."