Horse Breeds


Clydedales Icelandics Shires

The Clydesdale horse:
  • originated in Lanarkshire County, Scotland, through which the river Clyde flows over 300 years ago
  • originally was bred for farm use and heavy hauling
  • breed was standardized and Clydesdale Horse Society formed 1877
  • association called the Clydesdale Breeders of the USA formed in 1879
  • colors include bay, black, brown, gray, roans, and chestnut - often with white on face, legs and body
  • are active movers for their size and weight
  • range in height from 16 to 18 hands and in weight from 1700 to 2200 pounds
  • recent breeding aims for a more slender "hitchy" appearance
  • is used presently for pulling hitch and carriage and for saddle use
  • was made famous for their use in this country as the mascot of the Anheuser-Busch companies' Budweiser beer
The Icelandic horse:
  • is the original "Viking" horse, brought to Iceland from Britian and western Norway over 1,000 years ago
  • has been isolated from all other horses for the past 900 years
  • importation to Iceland was stopped in 1100 AD to keep the breed disease free (once a horse leaves Iceland it can never return)
  • is a healthy and robust breed today, after many centuries of natural selection in the harsh and demanding Iceland climate
  • is generally an "easy keeper" breed
  • exportation to Europe began in the 1950's, and to the USA about thirty years ago
  • was originally used for transportation and farm work throughout Iceland, as well as an important source of meat for humans
  • ranges in height from 13-14 hands and weigh 800-1000 pounds
  • is technically a pony by US standards, but is called a horse in Iceland and Europe
  • is slow to mature and is not ridden until 4 years old, and then ridden lightly until age 5
  • is long lived, often reaching thirty years
  • comes in all colors and markings
  • has five natural gaits - walk, trot, canter, tolt and flying pace
  • tolt is a 4 beat lateral staccato sounding and very smooth gait - reminiscent of the smooth gait attained by racking horses but without the need of special shoes and training
  • flying pace is a two beat lateral gait traditionally used in Iceland for racing on smooth surfaces (typically a smooth frozen stretch of ice)
The Shire horse:
  • is historically significant in that this breed derived from the Old English Black Horse whose ancestors were the war horses ridden by the knights in medieval times
  • traces its history all the way back to the days of the Roman Conquest in England
  • was first imported to America in 1853, and became popular because of its large size and flashy action
  • breed registry in the USA organized in 1885 as the American Shire Horse Association
  • is one of the largest breed of horses in the world, known as the gentle giants (the worlds biggest horse was a Shire named Sampson, foaled in 1846, he was 21-2 and 1/2 hands tall and weighed 1.5 tons)
  • often weighs 1 ton and stands up to 19+ hands tall
  • was used primarily for farm and draft work in the past, and today is also used for pulling carriages and hitch wagons and increasingly for riding
  • is used widely now to produce heavier hunter type horses by crosses with thoroughbred mares
  • can be bay, brown, black or gray in color
  • has long hairs over the backs of the legs called the "feather", and over the feet called "spats"



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