The Clydesdale Horse

Scotland’s famous breed of heavy horse

The Clydesdale is one of three native British breeds of heavy horse, the others being the Suffolk Punch and the Shire. In the days before farm tractors, these horses were the mainstay of British agriculture, being bred to pull ploughs through heavy soil for hour after hour.

The Clydesdale breed

Clydesdale is the old name for the region of Scotland known as Lanarkshire, where the central lowlands meet the southern uplands, and the River Clyde flows north towards Glasgow. This is therefore an important region for agriculture, and the Clydesdale breed owes much of its success to the need to provide food for the growing industrial towns of central Scotland in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The breed dates from the mid 18th century, when native local horses were crossbred with imported Flemish stallions in an effort to produce greater weight and stamina. Several landowners would appear to have been involved in this breeding program, one of them being the 6th Duke of Hamilton, whose stallion was made freely available to his farming tenants. Another breeder was John Paterson of Lochlyloch, who crossbred from a stallion brought from England, and whose horses became much sought after.

Glancer