Early
drawings of Clydesdales show a chunky, solid
coloured horse, short and close coupled and
by the time photography came in, early
examples were also mainly dark coloured
horses with four dark legs, still short
coupled and very powerful. Gradually white
legs became fashionable and the breed as you
see it now became more clearly defined. The
vast majority of Clydesdales are solid
coloured bay or brown with four white legs,
the long, silky feathering around the feet
being a distinct feature, with soft, not
coarse hair. As the white colouring was
introduced for the legs, in some instances
this 'spread' and resulted in a roan animal,
which for a time was frowned upon by the
purists. However nowadays these animals have
a much wider acceptance and indeed the main
female prizewinner in 1997 at the Royal
Highland Show was a roan mare.
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The Society
itself is headed by a President, Vice
President, Honorary Treasurer and Immediate
Past President. The main decision making
forum is the Council of the Society which
comprises 3 members from each of the 14
'Areas' throughout Scotland, England and
Ireland. There are 3 Honorary Presidents.
There is a membership of around 700.
"More and more people are now enjoying
riding Clydesdales...far from being slouches
they are very forward going with a lovely
flowing action. A minister of the church on
a Scottish peninsula rides a Clydesdale
around his parish, others compete in riding
club activities, many draw admiring looks as
they simply hack out and others take on all
comers in the endurance sphere"
Photographs and article kindly supplied
by Kate Stephen of The Clydesdale Horse
Society |
FURTHER
INFORMATION
Clydesdale Horse Society,
3 Grosvenor Gardens,
Edinburgh, Scotland EH12 5JU
Telephone +44 (0)131 337 0923 | Fax +44
(0)131 337 7678 |
Email:
secy@clydesdalehorse.co.uk | Web site:
www.clydesdalehorse.co.uk
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