CLYDESDALES AND SHIRES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3149, 22 July 1914, Page 19

CLYDESDALES AND SHIRES.

The following js the reply of the editor of the Scottish Farmer (who, by the way, is secretary of the Clydesdale Horse Society of Great Britain) to a query from New South Wales as to the difference between a Clydesdale horse and a Shire horse: “ This is a big question, and an answer to a query cannot icontai* all that could bo . written. A Clydesdale is a draught horso• moulded according to Scots ideas, and for purposes peculiar to Scots methods of harnessing draught horses on the streets and in the fields! He is adapted for a hilly country, and for taking heavy loads over causewayed streets in which there are steep gradients, single-handed. Therefore the Clydesdale has been bred with the mind of the breeder fixed first upon wearing quality in feet and limbs and activity in movement, and, secondly, upon weight and formation of body and thighs. A Shire is a draught horse having much in common with the Clydesdale, but bred on totally different soil —viz., on the soft, deep soils of the English ‘ shires ’ or fens; hence his name —for use on level streets such as thosoi in London, -whore the weight of the two, three, or four horses in the waggon has to bo pitted against the deadweight of the waggon. He has therefore been bred primarily for weight, and wearing quality of bone, -as well as activity in movement, have been secondary considerations. The consequence is that in the Clydesdale and

the Shire you have two breeds of horses having a good deal in common to begin with, whoso blood a century ago was largely intermingled, evolved for different purposes, and with the emphasis placed upon different points in the anatomy of the draught horse. The Clydesdale breeder and judge must have quality of feet and legs—that moans wearing properties of feet and logs, at all costs. He will sacrifice many things, but ho will not sacrifice that; and he must also have action. The Shire-breeder and judge must have weight at all costs, and he will sacrifice formaton and quality of feet and limbs and activity of movement before ho will sacrifice weight. The Clydesdale-breeder and

judge says: ‘No foot, no horse; no quality of hone, no horse.’ The Shire-bvccder and judge says: ‘No weight, no horse for the heavy draught traffic of a great city.’ The Shire is seen at his best at the London Spring Show in February. Unfortunately, there is now no show at which the Clydesdale is seen at his best. For years about 100 of the best horses in the country have never been seen in a show ring. They have all been hired for service months, and in some cases oven years, before the seasons open for which they have been hired; hence the visitor to one of our great Shows rarely sees a good display of matured Clydesdale stallions, and as the Clydesdale is relatively

a slow grower, but a marvellous stayer when he gets there, strangers who only see the yearlings and two-year-olds, and are ignorant of the character of the breed, are ready to form erroneous impressions. On the other hand, Shires are as a rule born earlier in the year than Clydesdales. They are therefore much bigger as yearlings and two-year-olds. They mature rapidly, and strangers, seeing representatives of the two breeds alongside one another, at a Royal Show for example, go away with an idea as to the relative draught horse points of the two breeds, which is equally erroneous.”