The Belgian The
Clydesdale The Shire The Percheron
The Belgian
The Belgian originated in the small country of Belgium,
which, in spite of its size, has a considerable variation in topography. The
lowlands near the sea needed a bigger horse for work in their heavier soils and
on their docks than did the wooded uplands of the Ardennes. These demands
resulted in three different size requirements which the government recognized.
The government encouraged the efforts of large and small breeders to fix the
tyupes which, through district shows, would be judged. Only those determined to
have proper conformation were then eligible for subsidies and, conversely, which
horses should be eliminated from the breeding program. In 1866 the official stud
book was established, and the national show in Brussels became the great annual
showcase. The result was a rapid improvement as the draft horses of Belgium came
to be regarded as both a national heritage and treasure. The American Belgian is
an offshoot to the Brabant horses - the big fellows bred in the lowlands.
The American Association was officially founded in February 1887 in
Wabash, Indiana, but is was slow going in America for the Belgian until an
exhibit from the government of Belgium attracted a lot of attention at the St.
Louis World's Fair in 1903. American farmers took to the Belgian horse. He was
an easy keeper, a willing worker, had an amiable disposition, and his thickness
was desired.
Today's Belgian is a big, powerful fellow that retains the
drafty middle, a deep, strong foot, a lot of bone, heavy muscling and the
amiable disposition that the best of the early Belgians had. The modern Belgian
is a great wagon horse as well as a doughty work horse. The fact that Belgians
are equally as effective in pulling competition as in hitch competition says it
all. The most common colors are sorrel and blonde sorrel with a white mane and
tail. Roans and bays are also common to the breed.
The Clydesdale
The Clydesdale breed originated in Scotland and takes
its name from the river Clyde which flows through the district from which they
come. The country there is rough and broken. The Clydesdale was bred to meet not
only needs of those Lanackshire farmers, but the demands of commerce for the
coalfields and for the heavy haulage on the streets of Glasgow. The Clydesdale
Breeders Association of the Uniterd States was founded in 1879. The Clydesdale
is a very active horse. He is not bred for action like the Hackney, but he must
have action. He is straight and snappy in movement. They carry their hocks close
together both at the walk and the trot. He should have broad, clean sharply
developed hocks and big knees, broad in the front.
No draft breed has
laid more stress on "bottom" than the Clyde. The breed shows a sloping pastern
that is adapted to wear on hard surfaces, where the shock of the feet striking
the ground needs the softening effect of a springy pastern. The hoof head must
be wide and springy. The Clydesdale is endowed with a silky feather. The
impression created by a thoroughly well built Clyde is that of strength and
acitivity, with a minimum of superfluous tissue. The idea is not bulk, but
quality and weight. The most common color in this breed today is bay, with a
generous number of browns, blacks and chestnuts. The preferred markings are four
white socks to the knee and hocks and a well defined blaze or bald face. There
are many roans in the breed. The Clyde with his flowing feather, straight and
snappy movement, and generous white markings is a popular hitch horse. Though
ranking third numerically and fourth in size in this country, the Clydesdale may
well be the best known of all the draft breeds to our urbanized countrymen. The
splendid Anheuser Busch eight hitches have brought Clydesdales down hundreds of
streets and into millions of homes across the nation.
The Shire
The destiny of the Shire and England is inexorably
entwined. In the period between the reign of Henry II, 1154, and that of
Elizabeth, 1558, it seems to have been a constant aim of the government to
increase the size and number of horses called "The Great Horse". Little wonder,
the weight of many horse soldiers in armor was upwards to 400 lbs. for rider and
armor.
But if he was useful in war, he proved to be even more so in
peace. Turning his attention from battle to commerce and agriculture in a nation
that takes both very seriously indeed, the Shire had become nothing less than a
national treasure in the 1800's. The Shire geldings moved the commerce of this
most commercial of all nations off the docks and through the streets of the
cities.
The needs of the empire and the temper of the times called for a
horse of enormous bulk, prodigious muscular strength, and docility . . . and the
stockmen and farmers of England responded with one of the finest living
creatures - the Shire horse.
The American Shire Association issued its
first stud book in 1888. From 1900 through 1918, there were 3907 registered
Shires imported from England. That period became the years of the greatest Shire
expansion in the country.
Preferred colors are black, brown, bay, grey,
or chestnut with excessive white markings and roaning undesirable. Feathers
should be fine, straight, and silky.
The Percheron
Ranking second in popularity in the United States is the
Percheron. The cradle of the breed is one of the smallest provinces of old
France, the district known as La Perche, located some 70 miles southwest of
Paris. It is a region of green hills and verdant valleys, well suited to the
production of horses, producing a high percentage of the best horses in France,
both draft and light horse types.
The Percheron alone of all heavy draft
breeds is believed to have an infusion of Arab blood left behind by the defeat
of the Moors by the French at Tours, just south of La Perche in 735 A.D. This
perhaps explains the combined style and substance of the gray and white chargers
so numerous in the middle ages.
The American stud book for the Percheron
was formed in 1878. In 1884 more than 2,000 Percherons were brought to our
shores from France. With their big start and very effective promotion, the
Percheron quickly moved into a position of dominance until the mid-thirties.
Basic colors are black and gray with a fairly even division in this country.
In general conformation the Percheron is not unlike the Belgian, in fact
except for color it would be difficult to distinguish between some animals of
both breeds as they are well-muscled, short-backed, drafty animals setting on
good feet and legs. Both are pretty much free of the feather that characterizes
the Clydesdale and Shire.
