What is a Clydesdale horse?
A: The Clydesdale is a Scottish breed of draught horse.
The Clydesdale takes its name from Clydesdale, the old
name for Lanarkshire, noted for what?
A: The River Clyde.
In the mid-18th century, Flemish stallions were
imported to Scotland and bred to local mares, resulting in what?
A: Foals that were larger than the existing local stock.
When was the first recorded use of the name
"Clydesdale" in reference to the breed?
A: In 1826 at an exhibition in Glasgow.
A system of hiring stallions between districts existed
in Scotland, with written records dating back to when?
A: 1837.
This program consisted of local agriculture improvement
societies holding breed shows to choose the best stallion, whose owner was
then awarded what?
A: A monetary prize.
The owner was then required, in return for additional
monies, to take the stallion throughout a designated area for what?
A; For breeding to the local mares.
Through this system and by purchase, Clydesdale
stallions were sent where?
A: Throughout Scotland and into northern England.
Through extensive crossbreeding with local mares, these
stallions spread the Clydesdale type throughout the areas where they were
placed, and by 1840, Scottish draught horses and the Clydesdale were what?
A: One and the same.
What was formed in 1877?
A: The Clydesdale Horse Society of Scotland.
This was followed in 1879 by who?
A: The American Clydesdale Association (later renamed the Clydesdale
Breeders of the USA), which served both U.S. and Canadian breed enthusiasts.
The first American stud book was published in what
year?
A: 1882.
In 1883, the short-lived Select Clydesdale Horse
Society was founded to compete with whom?
A: The Clydesdale Horse Society.
It was started by two breeders dedicated to doing what?
A: Improving the breed.
Large numbers of Clydesdales were exported from
Scotland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with how many
stallions leaving the country in 1911 alone?
A: 1617.
Between 1884 and 1945, export certificates were issued
for how many horses?
A: 20,183.
Where were these horses exported to?
A: Other countries in the British Empire, as well as North and South
America, continental Europe, and Russia.
The First World War had the conscription of what?
A: Thousands of horses for the war effort, and after the war, breed numbers
declined as farms became increasingly mechanized.
This decline continued between what?
A: The wars.
Following the Second World War, the number of
Clydesdale breeding stallions in England dropped from more than 200 in 1946
to how many in 1949?
A: 80.
By 1975, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust considered them
what?
A: Vulnerable to extinction, meaning fewer than 900 breeding females
remained in the UK.
In 1918, the Commonwealth Clydesdale Horse Society was
formed as the association for the breed in what country?
A: Australia.
Between 1906 and 1936, Clydesdales were bred so
extensively in Australia that other draught breeds were what?
A: Almost unknown.
How many Clydesdales were registered in Australia
between 1924 and 2008?
A: Over 25,000.
The popularity of the Clydesdale led to it being called
what?
A: "The breed that built Australia".
In the 1990s numbers began to what?
A: Rise.
The conformation of the Clydesdale has changed greatly
throughout its history. In the 1920s and
1930s, it was a compact horse
smaller than what?
A: The Shire, Percheron, and Belgian.
Beginning in the 1940s, breeding
animals were selected
to produce taller horses that looked what?
A: More impressive in parades and shows.
Today, the Clydesdale stands how high?
A: 162 to 183 cm (16.0 to 18.0 h).
How much do they weigh?
A: 820 to 910 kg (1800 to 2000 lb).
Some mature males are larger, standing taller than 183
cm and weighing up to how much?
A: 1000 kg (2200 lb).
The breed has a straight or slightly convex facial
profile,[22] broad forehead, and what?
A: A wide muzzle.