THE BREEDER.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 981, 11 June 1879, Page 4 (Supplement)

THE BREEDER.

THE POINTS OF THE CLYDESDALE HORSE.

(FrvTft the Clydesdale Stud Book.) The oldest judges of Clydesdale horses hj» the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire are of opinion that the Clydesdale horses of the present day differ little from those which were sold at Lanark and Ratherglen Fair*. Few of them will allow that they have been improved daring the last thirty or forty years; and many maintain _ that horses in old days were better famished with bone, their legs better fringed with hair, and in general were ranch sounder than those for which high prices have been paid during recent years. More attention was paid by breeders m post days to the head of the hnrae than, unfortunately, is now the role, and recent exhibitions show a sad lack of this prominent feature in oar Scottish draughthorses. Judges of the Highland and Agricultural Shows and of other less important exhibitions have not attached and* importance to this point as they gfrOTftt j and the horses and mares with narrow, clean-cot. or what are termed " hard heads," with a prominence of bone, but narrow between and above the eyes - and having: no room for brain, have been ■i placed him on the prize list. , , . The head of the typical Clydesdale is very different from this. He has a broad jaw, ending, as a mule, in a not very fine or well-tapered muzzle, bat with large open nostrils. His eye is usually fall and yet mM; his forehead broad and fall between the eyes; while from the eyes the forehead tapers gradually upwards to the ears which are long and Breeders of Clydesdales should attach considerable importance to these points as a horse of such a description will generally be found to be of excellent temper*, easily trained, docile, and very wise in cart or plough. 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, ts one of the distinctive features of the Clydesdale, as to his formation of shoulder is largely owing his long, quick step for which he is so justly admired. The " upright" shoulder of the English cart-horse may certainly give greater power in the collar ; but if shortness and slowness of step be considered this cannot be called an advantage. The English horse, besides, is more accustomed to sheer dragging and to working in chains, while his Scottish rival is chiefly employed in the two-wheeled cart, which occasions a considerable amount of weight being balanced on the anrmaTs back. A medium slanted shoulder gives a horse, in such circumstances, an advantage; and doubtless those who carted the minerals of Lanarkshire in ant arailroad days found this formation well adapted for their purposes. Even yet no one will affirm that it is onsuited to the traffic of the day if he will only take the opportunity offered for forming an opinion by the sight «f of yoked to cart or lorry in tft» Glasgow. are essentia' Good not underto ® the Clydesdales; in fact, some judges, in their admiration of audi good qualities, frequently loose sight of " top" altogether. 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, shviufsl be broad ; loaded with long, strong muscles, so as to give him full power to bring forward the part beneath ; and in length should be proportionate to the length of the shoulder. A flat and broad knee is also essential; but this is a point sometimes overlooked by the best of Clydesdale judges, who prefer strength of bone immediately under the knee in many horses, and so the leg comes to the ground as if there were no joint between the elbow and the pastern. Deficiency of bone under the knee has not infrequently caused the rejection of many good horses in the show-yard in favor of animals which happen to be thicker at that particular ptace yet have not half the strength, owing to the bone not being of the proper shape, or to the entire absence of sinew. The shank-bone should be fiat from a side view, thick and gently rounded from a front view, and tapering to an edge as it goes back. The late Mr. Fulton used to say he liked the " razor-legged" ones, an expression wi>ich conveys the idea of what this p«rt should be>. The back port 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 of a Skye terrier would style a " pity" nature; and good judges will not have a horse at all the feather of which has a coarse matted appearance. Possibly, too much attention is paid by Ctydesdale breeders to this point, and many will not exhibit at certain shows because their horses at the particular time happen to be what they term " bare of hair." The hair, certainly, creates a false impression of strength of bone, as an animal which has a broad

forearm And well-developed knees, if deficient in "feather," does not compare ' welt with, one posseaaed of a nice, flowing fringe several imches long ; and this is decidedly diaadvancageotw; bat the high value aet upon nice silfcy hair i s, on account of its feeing in all cases a certain indication of a strung, healthy bone, aa the hair ol a short, coarse, matted kind suggests a decided tendency to grease. All horses have a tendence to lose their hair when being' put inio show condition (». e., loaded with fat like a btillock), and s<> " blistering,'' it is to be regretted, is commonlyrvsorted to, to strengthen itsgrowth. The boir produced by this process is not, however, so silken or so fine as the nafiand, and the difference is easily detected by the . pructraed eye. The sinews of the h>g should be thick, strong, thrown well back front the bor.«\, ■ and capable' of being felt with the hand ; r£ not, the leg ia not a good one, however thick, as at 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 jindglus are- also very particular as to this, and also to the pastern, which during the lost few years has crane in for a large share of attention. Youatt, writing on this point, says:—" The concussion which attends the common action of the carthorse is little, because his movements are •low, and therefore the upright and strong pastern is gives to hint, w&ieh he can force into the ground, and on which he can throw the. wfwte of hi* vm/mewo ufright." If Mr. Yonatt had ever seen a draught-horse on the streets of Glasgow or any other large town, " forcing hie upright and strong postern '* into the granite pavement, he weald possibly harenelted before he wrote the abovu sentence. Soijpabt an upright pastern soils well the upright «&oplder

*nd slow action of the Eogliah draogtl bone, a conformation which can scarcelj be called the best for any purpose ; but i will not do in the Clydesdale, which re quires a pastern to suit the formation ol the shoulder, and to confer the necessary elasticity to counteract the concossiot caused by his quick, firm step. Short upright pasterns always get worse wit! age and feeding, and the action in dti( course of time becomes impeded. A horst with an npright pastern has little or nc command of his foot, and literally walk: m on a cnitch ; and if he has no power o: his foot he cannot have much in hi; shoulder. The streets of Glasgow an very trying to horses, which have t< scramble f»r a footing in the furrows between the hard, smooth paving stones Mid hor3e3 with upright pasterns art sometimes almost powerless to move where those witfi pasterns moderate!} doped, and of a medium length, can wall with comparative ease. Farmers aronnr Slasgow nre alive to this, and w'.ll no ■endity use a atallif-n whsch hn3 thii lefcct, however strong and shapely. In districts removed from _ Glasgow ndging from the animals exhibited at th< ihows, they are less particular—doubtlea: recanse a horse with upright pisterns vhich would render him meles3 f->r stree work, might last for 10 or 12 yer.rs plough ng and carting on soft land. The horse iowever, which stands the streets best i: not the worst f»r the farmer ; and as hi »nly lasts for six or eight years at street work he is always in demand, so that hi: :onformation and points should be care Fnlty studied. Without a good, sonnd, well-shaped healthy foot, a horse is of no use at all however symmetrical and strong. A dis jertation on the form, defects, &c., of tin foot is not required here, it suffices tc state that the Clydesdale is generally sonnd on that point, though subject, likt all other breeds of the same genus, to it! various diseases. Side-bone and ring-bom are said by veterinary surgeons to be less common than in the cart-horses of thi sooth. Many Clydesdale stallions ar< lame from "founder," occasioned, ii numerous cases, by over-feeding and wan of exercise, but now become so commoi as to raise suspicions of its being heredi tary. An nndue length of back is not ai nncommcn defect in the formation of thi 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 nnfrequently low, and the horse r.t 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, ami full, if thebodyislargeandrotind-ribbed; if not, it is narrow, and the horse has a weak, " wedgy" appearance ; and in street trafKc this want of breadth places him sometimes, in ronruling corners, under command of the shaf',3 of the wagon or lorry if all heavily laden. Broad, low-set hind quarters, with muscular thighs, descending into broad and proportionally-developed hocks, sums np the good points of the hind end of the Clydesdale. Narrow hocks are so subject to thorough-pin, &c., that most breeders avoid them, though there should be no preceptiblemark3of nnsonndntss. Straight hocks are not liked ; bnt if the other parts are proportionate and the action sonnd, no exception is taken to this formation. It i 3 as a work-horse, however, that the Clydesdale should be considered ; and it is questionable if a straight hock atfords as much propelling power as one moderately bent. The muscles surrounding the hocks should be strong and firm ; and objection is always taken t-> animals which have them louse and flabby, or which, to use a breeder' 3 phrase, have " fleshy hocks." , c _ should be short, broad, flat, clean, evenly, and straight or slightly inclined foreward ; the sinews standing out from the bone, and having a similar fringe of hair to that on the fore leg, end rising as high a3 tliu bottom of the hock-joint. The hind pa3teni3 are a little larger cent rally than the fore ones, and are more inclined, bat not so much as to give the idea that they are not supporting the quarters. Short, steep hind pasterm are a very bad fault, as the animal is always sticking its toes into the ground. The average height of the Clydesdale horse i 3 abont 16 hands 2 inches, though there are several stallions to be found as high as IT hands, but very few over that height. The fashionable color is brown, .hat of a deep dark shade preferred, and all the more so if dappled, while black is also conimt>n. Grey i 3 not in favor, and Tew colts are kept cniire of this color tmleJS very prepossessing otherwise. Grey mares are, however, used for breeding; and the number of grey foals occasionally prodnced by dark-colon d mares served by dark horacs shows that the color was very common previous to the rule wh»ch the Highland Society made in favor of " black and brown bays." This role, it has to be remarked, has long been absolute, and is in no way accountable for the castration of colt-foab, as within the past 30 years grey stallions have taken some of the best prizes of the Highland Agricultural ! Society. The color is simply not liked, and few breeders on the Clyde side care to have their best marcs served by grey I horses. Clydesdale breeders are decidedly averse to chestnuts; and in some districts a chestnut horse, however good-looking . and strong, would not be made use of, and indeed wonld be regarded by many as of impure origin. An occasional roan is Ito be met with; but this color is only regarded as an evidence of a stain of itnoure blood, neither chestnnt nor roan l being recognised as Clydesdale colore. | White markings are now very common, i and have come to be regarded as a sign of purity of blood ; few of the Clydesdale horses of the present day are without white on one of the legs, while a white star or stripe on the face—" ratch," as some breeders term it, if of the latter form—is highly prized. In examining a horse when standing, a good judge will, in addition to running his eye over the rations points mentioned, see that he stands even and firm on his feet, which in tome horses are inclined slightly inward.' To be the least inclined outward is a bad fault, and one which gets worse with age. As regards the hind legs, a glance will tell if they are all right with the animals 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 nseof the hind leg, in which lies nearly all the propelling power. In walking, the horse should, if approaching yon, come with his head well carried, and with an apparently measured stride, lifting his feet well off the ground, and plicing them down au'ain regularly, evenly, and with apparent deliberation. On a side view one can notice if his ac'ion be even, i.c., if his fore and hind action be in nnison ; for in horses with long backs and weak loins the two ends seem to bo under different control, and the hind legs, being in a manner dragged with the toes along the ground, -an nnpleasing effect is produced. In going away at a walk, a horse shonld plant bis hind feet forward as deliberately as his font one, at the same time raising and bending the leg at the hock, which should be evenly carried forward. If the hooks are tanned oat in moving them forward the action is not good; and a Clydesdale breeder considers this an exceedingly bad faolt in either horse or mare, thongh it is one which is conrtnoMy overlooked south of the Tweed.

Jn trotting, the horse should bend the legs at the Ibices and hocks, and from a Kind 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 be discovered at the trotting pace. .