Clydesdale horses no longer at risk of extiction as numbers lift

KNOWN as the gentle giant of the horse world, the Clydesdale has beaten the odds and is off the at-risk-of-extinction list as its numbers have now climbed above 3000.

KNOWN as the gentle giant of the horse world, the Clydesdale has beaten the odds and is off the at-risk-of-extinction list as its numbers have now climbed above 3000.

Russell and Kerry-Anne March have been doing their bit to protect the species, and are preparing five they have bred at historic Glenheath in Lonsdale, to compete in next month’s Royal Adelaide Show.

It’s the same property where Ms March’s ancestors worked a team of Clydesdales to manage the former wheat and barley farm in the 1900s.

“They were the breed that built the nation,” says Mr March, vice-president of the Commonwealth Clydesdale Horse Society of Australia.

“My own grandfather used to drive the Clydesdales in plough on Yorke Peninsula. I can still remember at the age of five or six, I used to go out and see him out on the farm working with the horses.”

It was when the society reported numbers above 3000 that the Rare Breeds Trust of Australia deemed the horses were now considered safe in Australia, with numbers now higher than those recorded in Great Britain.

Clydesdale Horse Society vice president Russell March, his wife Kerry-Anne and Meave the Clydesdale at Glenheath in Lonsdale. Picture: Matt Turner

Mr March says it’s a significant development as 2018 was the 100th year that the Australian Stud Book had registered Clydesdales and the society was planning a series of special events to promote the breed.

Ms March’s mother, Marj Hinkley, said she grew up on Glenheath and could still remember sitting on the back of Diamond, the last Clydesdale her father used in the almond orchard before tractors took over.

It was tractors and other modern machinery that contributed to the drastic fall in numbers across the nation as they quickly replaced horses on farms, with figures gradually worsening as the cost of breeding rose and even the traditional brewery Clydesdales began to disappear.

Carlton and United still has a team, and Mr March said the once-famed Coopers Brewery and West End horses were no longer around and competing at the upcoming show.

This year, Russell and Kerry-Anne along with their three children will all compete at the Royal Adelaide Show in a range of harness driving and breed events with their entries ranging from their largest horse Jet standing at 18.2 hands high (1.84m) — and their smallest, a bonus Shetland pony called Patchy.

They expected another successful event after last year winning a champion title, champion reserve and a stack of ribbons.

Despite the competition being of an increasingly high standard and expense, the couple says they are passionate about breeding and training the Clydesdale horses that can sell for up to $15,000 each.

“We do it because we love it, the people who come up to us at the show say wow, I remember my grandparents had a Clydesdale, the way they draw attention and memories, that’s why we do it,” Kerry-Anne says.

Originally published as Clydesdale horses no longer at risk of extiction as numbers lift