Clydesdale and Shire Owners .. I have questions :)

Cheeky

Cheeky

.Love me, love my horse.
Apr 13, 2005
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Down Under ... Australia
Hey there

Once again am still on the lookout for my new equine buddy .. and the thought crossed my mind .. Clydesdales.. I have always admired the breed, but never had the chance to own one, same goes for Shires.

So I thought I'd ask the experts :) What are they like to own? In general, what are their temperments like? I like their movements (from what I've seen) .. have you (if you own or have ridden one) competed?
How do they go in dressage? Do you get a lot of comments saying 'lacking impulsion'? How is their jump? Are they generally happy/friendly? What do they eat (Besides a lot!)?

Etc .. as many details would be brilliant :) I have heard that Clydes are really cruisey .. but Shires can get quite high strung?

Thanks :)
 
Hi

All the shires and clydesdales i've owned/loaned have been fabulous! They have all had lovely workable temperaments. I've never heard that Shires are more fiery than Clydesdales. I've only had one Shire and he was a complete and utter chilled out dude! Until you got him out on the XC course.


Back then i never did a dressage test with any of them, but i did do a lot of dressage tests with clydesdale's x tb. I've had my fair few of these guys and i believe they are the ultimate sport horse......... i know i'm biased. But i just think you can't go wrong with them! Everyone that i've had his been so lovely to handle and be around. Quiet to ride but given that you press the right buttons they will fly! :D

When i've competed its been in Veteran Classes or something along this line. Depending on the judge, if they like the heavies, depends on placement. But they have all been lovely in regards to their movement.
cassie.jpg

a very dirty clydesdale!

YoungmurphywithCassie.jpg

thats cassie the big grey clydesdale in the background and her tbx son, Murphy
 
My grandfather used to have Shires working on his farm. Used to go there when I was a kid. One was black and the other bay.​
 
OMG What sweeties!!!

I studied them with a passion about 5 years ago .. was obsessed :rolleyes: haha .. I think I will look for a Clyde .. or Shire .. if I can find one :) I think there is a Clydesdale rescue around somewhere ..
 
shires do the hugest poops and eat mountains of hay, they have very heavy feet, most farriers charge more to shoe them as they're harder work

they are very beautiful though and very comfortable to ride,they have lovely flowing smooth paces and are not hugely wide across the barrel so you don't feel to much like a pea on a drum
 
teabiscuit said:
shires do the hugest poops and eat mountains of hay, they have very heavy feet, most farriers charge more to shoe them as they're harder work
Click to expand...

agree with that!! when we were bringing Cassie back into work, it took the farrier about 4 weeks to get shoes... as he doesn't make them himself. Plus he charged more to fit them! a big expense actually
 
If you have the space and able to feed the extra sized horse! go for it, I have always find them placid and workable.

I had 2 driving horses where I worked, One a Pure clydesdale and the other Shire possibly crossed with cyldesdale.

I loved my driving clydesdale to bits, and was very trustyworthy on his own ir in company. He was only 5 ( I found out). He was a lovely ride aswell, but very wooden mouthed but that was down to whoever had him before us.

He was also a character, and lovely to hug..or to lean on!
I found them very sure footed, both to ride or drive.

I also had myself a ShireXAndulsian ( winter Loan)
Jake.jpg


Now he was the most wonderful armchair ride...with a canter that could send you to sleep !

He was wonderful, and gentle alougth awful to hack out alone ( came from trekking centre) however in company nothing would phase him.
 
I have a clydesdale x. He tries hard at whatever I ask. He has been known to do dressage and I have jumped him before - he has the nicest temperament I have ever known in a horse - a real gentle giant with humans and horses:)
 
I have a clydesdale cross TB - I love them, but I am biased! Click on my name and look through threads started by for photos - dont want to bore everyone who has already seen them!
 
Ive had a Clydsedale for the past 7 years and I wouldnt swap her for anything.Duchess is so easy going and laid back and shes a favourite of everybody on our yard.Riding her is like sitting on a big comfy sofa but shes by no means a plodder and she absolutely loves to jump.I always feel 100% safe when riding her, nothing fazes her.As for feeding she doesnt eat that much more than my daughters 14` 2 Welsh cob.As big as she is, she stands at 17`2, the little Shetland pony in the same field bosses her about terribly and she has never once retaliated.Shes such a sweetie and I love her to bits.
 
I ride a friend's Clydesdale & he's fabulous! He has a very soft mouth & is quite forward going but not at all fizzy or too fast. He has the nicest temperament & loves to spend hours being groomed and pampered. Would definitely recommend Clydies to anybody!
 
Max is a Clydesdale X (not sure with what but I think another heavy breed!), he is very very calm and sweet, very easy to handle in all respects - infact the nicest horse I have ever come across (but then I would say that :D )

As for feeding, he lives on thin air pretty much!
 
I have had heavy horses for the last 20 years.

This is just my opinion based upon 20 years on the breeding/showing/working circut.

They are not for beginners! You can get away with a lot with smaller horses. Any accidents you have will be bigger. If they are not handled consistantly and firmly they go from 'Gentle Giant' to lethal machine in a flash. With a light horse you stand a chance. A heavy will throw all of its weight about.

Everything costs more! It is like keeping 2 light horses!

Check that your farrier is willing/capable of shoeing one. I pay 120 pounds for a set. Heavy horse feet grow quicker and they wear their shoes out faster. When in work 1 set lasts 4 weeks.

Double the costs for wormers and suplements etc.

My Clydes each munch through a bale a night.

A heavy horse is lucky to reach 20 years old. They are not noted for their long life spans or soundness. Its the wear and tear on the joints that gets them in the end.

Couple this with the fact that they mature very slowly (still growing at 6/7)and they don't have a long working life.

They most certainly are not plods. Clydesdales have better movement than shires. They are not designed to be ridden and are totaly the wrong shape. They were designed to pull, not carry weight. As a ridden horse, they are not weight carriers.

Under saddle they are wonderful armchair rides. However, you are looking at years of work. They can't be worked hard when young because of their joints and uncoordination. I back mine at about 5-6 years after a couple of years of driving.

Then they start hacking and flatwork. Because they are not designed to be ridden they find everything much harder. You need a large school! It has taken 5 years of schooling to get my ridden clyde in to something aproaching an outline!

As for jumping, people do. I do on occasion, but I dont make a habbit of it. Its the weight thing again. 1 tonne crashing down on to joints that were never designed for such stress:eek:

They come with their own interesting selection of problems.
EPSM (It is estimated that half of all heavies have it or will have it at some point)
Grease/Grapes/Pastern dermititis:eek:

I find there is a lot of sexism around heavies along the lines that they are 'not for lasses' so if you are a girl this might bother you. I get my husband and his friends to show mine. Sadly the sex of the person on the end of the lead rope DOES matter:mad:

I would say that they are for enthusiasts. If you get a heavy, enlist the help of an 'old boy' (or girl!) to keep you right!
 
I have a Suffolk Punch X (though he looks pure):

TCwaitingforlunch2.jpg


I agree with much of what Alfies-slave says, however, not all farriers will charge more - I phoned around when I got TC and found about half wanted to charge extra.

The other thing you could think about doing is going barefoot as trimmers usually charge the same whatever size the feet - TC has been barefoot since April and his feet are now really lovely.

They are definitely not all plods!! TC is really forward going in walk and trot but is not over keen on cantering (even in the field).

If you want a heavy but are worried about problems with heavy feathering you could consider a Suffolk as they don't have feathers.

Alfies-slave said:
As a ridden horse, they are not weight carriers.
Click to expand...

Would you mind elaborating? I know the theory is heavy horses were bred to pull and their bone is meant to be less dense than a lighter breed, but how does this effect them as riding horses on a daily basis? Does it mean as a plus-size rider I am too heavy for TC?
 
Lots of people assume a heavy horse will be a good weight carrier, ie for seriously heavy people, 20 stone plus. There are several reasons why not.

Firstly, proportionaly they don't have a lot of bone for their height/weight. If you scaled up a weight carrying 14hh heavy cob to the size of a Clyde it is estimated that the clyde would have 25 plus inches of bone... they don't. They have to carry round their own weight. Heavy horses are notoriously unsound, their joints can't cope with their own weight (consequence of breeding them unaturaly big) , let alone the extra stress of a heavy rider. They are made of the same stuff as any small horse. Everything is under lots more pressure and wears out faster.

Its a bit like the thing that a shetland pony is the strongest equine for its size. A heavy is strong... but not for its size!

They are very heavy on the forehand, they are shaped for pushing their weight in to a collar, rather than supporting the weight of a rider. The rocking horse stance and the close set back feet of many heavy breeds would be conciderd faults in a riding horse. They would be conciderd conformational faults because the affect the soundness of a horse expected to do the work of a riding horse. These traits in a draft horse add to its draft (pushing in to a collar) power, but at the expense of its soundness and ability under saddle.

All this combined would probably make them less capable of carrying a seriously heavy rider than a heavy cob is. With aa heavy cob (and the smaller, stockier draft breeds) you have the optimum balance of height and weight carrying ability.
 
Alfies-slave I found what you have written really interesting as I always thought a Clyde would be an excellent weight carrier.Amazing what you find out from people here:)
I have a good farrier and Duch gets shod every 7 weeks for £50 although shes not used for anything but happy hacking and doesnt carry anything over 10 stone.
I find she doesnt really need to eat that much more hard feed than my daughters Welsh cob although as you mentioned she does get through quite a bit of hay.
As for the jumping she very rarely jumps but when she does she loves it....gawd hope I havent done any damage to her:o
I find Duch more easy to handle than any of the other horses on the yard including the little shetland I mentioned previously:rolleyes: shes just so laid back she literally walks to her stable from the field on her own, something none of the others on the yard dare let theres do!!!!
Thinking about it now I guess I have a good un and I wouldnt swap her for anything.
Whats the best feed for EPSM Alfies-slave.Dont know much about this condition at all.Would adding vegetable oil to her feed and cutting down on the grain suffice?
 
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The friend of my riding instructor used to own Clydies, I'd ridden them a couple of times when I was young. Only problem was these ones were predominatly cart trained, so they didn't stop or turn unless you said the right words, it was quite disconcerting pounding down a paddock bareback (too big for a saddle!!) on a gigantic Clydie...who ignored pulling on the reins but slammed on the brakes as soon as you whispered "Whoa?"
 
Wow .. Alfies-slave, you have really opened my eyes.

I too also thought that they'd be better for carrying heavy weights (not overly heavy) .. thanks for putting that up :)

As for life span .. would that change if the Clyd/ or shire was crossed with another breed? Such as a TB .. or QH .. or Wb? Would this also help the joints (perhaps even making the body less heavy than a pure).

Thanks :)
 
SB a shire is a lot less square than your suffolk punch-you see how much he is built like a table-a shire is much more - well, slab sided and narrow


i think your boy is a better weight carrier than a shire because of his squareness
 
Cheeky clyddies are really nice, the farm down the road from me has about 7:) Clyddie TBx are snapped up very quickly, I was looking recently(6mths) for one for my daughter missed out everytime:rolleyes: .

There used to be this gorgeous clyddie stallion called Black Knight whose rider did dressage type test with him at 2005 Night of Stars. He is gorgeous, I believe she sold him now.

Good luck with your search:)
 
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