POINTS OF THE CLYDESDALE HORSE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1953, 28 May 1880, Page 3

POINTS OF THE CLYDESDALE HORSE.

An undue length of back is not an uncommon defect in the formation of the Clydesdale, and flat badly-sprung ribs—the last of the latter occasionally very short — form defects which it should be the object of breeders to remove. The back is not unfrequently low, and the horse at first sight looks as if he had no command of himself, the barrel merely forming a bridge between the fore and hinder ends. The chest is generally low, broad, and full, if the body is largo and round-ribbed ; if not it is narrow, and the horse has a weak and wedgy appearance Broad, low-set hind

quarters, with muscular thighs descending into broad and proportionately developed hocks, sum up the good points of the hind end of the Clydesdale. Narrow hocks are subject to thoroughpin, Ac. . . . Straight hocks are not liked .... it is questionable if a straight hock affords as much propelling power as one moderately bent. The muscles surrounding the hock should be strong and firm, and objection is always taken to animals which have them loose and flabby, or which, to use a breeder’s phrase, have “ fleshy hocks.” From the hook to the ground the leg should be short, broad, flat, clean, even, and straight or slightly inclined forward, the sinews standing out from the bone and having a similar fringe of hair to that on the fore legs, and rising as high as the bottom of the hock joint short steep hind pasterns are a very bad fault, as the animal is always sticking its toes into the ground. The average height of the Clydesdale horse is about sixteen hands two inches, though there are several stallions to bo found as high as seventeen hands; but very few over that height. The fashionable color is brown, that of a deep dark shade preferred, and all the more so if dappled, while black is also common. Grey is not in favor .... Clydesdale breeders

are decidedly adverse to chesnuts An occasional roan is to be met with ; but this color is only regarded as an evidence of a strain of impure blood, neither chesnut nor roan being recognised as Clydesdale colors. White markings are now very common, and have come to be regarded as an evidence of purity of blood ; few of the Clydesdales of the breaent day are without white on one of the egs, while a white star or stripe on the face —“ ratch,” as some breeders term it—if of the latter form is highly praised. Judging. —ln examining a horse when standing a good judge will, in add.tion to running his eye over the various points mentioned, see that he stands even and firm on his feet, which in gome horses are inclined slightly inward. To be the least inclined outward is a bad fault As regards the hind

legs, a glance will tell if they are all right with the animal, and hocks close to each other and the feet at the proper place for supporting the weight of the body, while at the same time giving the animal the fullest power for the use of the hind leg, in which lies nearly all the propelling power. In walking the horse should, if approaching you, come with his head well carried, and wit h an apparently measured stride, lifting his feet well off the ground, and placing them down again regularly, evenly, and with apparent deliberation. On a side view one can notice if his action be even — i.e., if his fore and hind action be in unison ; for in horses with long backs and weak ends the two ends seem to be under different control. • . In going away at a walk, a horse should plant his hind feet forward as deliberately as his fore ones, at the same time raising and bending the leg to the hock, which should be evenly carried forward. If the hocks are turned out in moving them forward, the action is not good, and a Clydesdale breeder considers this an exceedingly bad fault. . . . In trotting the horse should bend the legs at knees and hocks, and from a hind view the inside of the fore hoofs should almost be seen at every step. If the animal be inclined to move wide behind, this fault will easily bo discovered at the trotting pace. The Head.—A broad jaw, ending as a rule in a not very fine or well tempered muzzle ; but with large open nostrils. His eye is usually full and vigorous, yet mild ; his forehead broad and full between the eyes ; while from the eyes the forehead tapers gradually upwards to the ears, which are long and active. The Head and Shouddee —Experience alone can teach one when the head is well set on to the neck; but the latter should be strong, massive, and of medium height ; while the shoulder should be more oblique than in the English draught horse. This, indeed, is one of the distinctive features of the Clydesdale, as to his formation of shoulder is largely owing his long quick step, for which ho is so justly admired. The “ upright ” shoulder of the English cart horse may certainly give greater power in the collar ; bur. if shortness and slowness of step be considered this cannot be called an advantage. The English cart horse, besides, is more accustomed to sheer dragging and working in chains, while his Scottish rival is chiefly employed in the two-wheolod cart, which occasions a considerable amount of weight being balanced on the animal’s back.

The Foeeleg. —Quite as essential as the slightly oblique and closely-topped shoulder of the Clydesdale for his long quick step, is a strong forearm. This part from a side view should be broad; loaded with long strong muscles, so as to give him full power to bring forward the part beneath; and in length should bo proportionate to the length of the shoulder. A flat and broad knee is also essential. . . . The shank-

bone should be flat from a side view, thick and gently rounded from a front view, and tapering to an edge as it goes back. The late Mr Eoulton used to say he liked the “razorlegged” ones, an expression which conveys the idea of what this part should be. The back part from the knee down should possess a nice flowing fringe of silken hair, which should spring from the very edge of the bone. This hair should be of what a judge of a skye terrier would term a “ pily ” nature; and good judges will not have a horse at all the feather of which has a coarse matted appearance. . . . The sinews of the leg should be thick, strong, thrown well back from the bone, and capable of being felt with the hand ; if not, the leg is not a good one, however thick, as a soft round leg in which the sinews are not very well defined will not stand work. The lower end of the shank bone, or fetlock, should also be large in all so as to give full play to the tendons; and Clydesdale judges are also very particular os to this, and also to the pastern, which during the last few years has come in for a large share of attention. Touatt writing on this point says“ The concussion which attends the common action of the cart-horse is little, because his movements are slow, and therefore the upright and strong pastern is given to him, which he can force into the ground and on which he can throw the whole of his immense weight.” If Mr Youatt had ever seen a draught horse on the streets of Glasgow, or any other largo town, “forcing his upright and strong pastern” into the granite pavement, he would possibly have halted before he wrote the above sentence. No doubt an upright pastern suits well the upright shoulder and slow action of the English draught horse, a conformation which can scarcely ba called the bast for any purpose; but it will not do in the Clydesdale, which requires a pastern to suit the formation of the shoulder, and to confer the necessary elasticity to counteract the concussion caused by his quick firm step. . . . Without a good, sound, well shaped, healthy foot a horse is of no use at all, however symmetrical and strong. . . . The Clydesdale is generally aound on that point. . . . Side bone and ring bone are said by veterinary surgeons to bo less common than in f the cart horses of the South.