Draft Horse Village

[BlackShire]

How can you tell the difference between a Shire & Clydesdale when just looking at them?

I am constantly asked "whats the difference" and am still confused on how to answer.
(Proudly owned by two shires.)

[dodib1994]

not sure if its true but found this on the internet

Shires are larger, but the different just in general between them are that Shires come in more varieties of colors than clydesdales and clydesdales have a slight roman nose while the shire has a staight normal nose.

[Quelah]

It's sometimes hard to say, but you know it when you see it

[RedPonyRanch]

And sometimes you don't know it when you see it. My black and white clydesdale masqueraded as a shire in a show hitch for three years (withholding the name!). He started out in his breeder's clyde hitch, but had a breed change when he was about 5 until he was 8 when I got him. I have pictures to prove it. I guess if it's black and fluffy footed, people don't look to closely, or it really IS hard to tell.


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Living simply and peacefully in Arlington, Washington with Bailey the clydesdale, Maddie, Yakki and Shadow the minis, Little Bit the Pony, and Lily and Daisy the donkeys. Come see our little farm at www.redponyranch.blogspot.com

[jenni_grey]

Depends on what the customer is looking to buy!

[prayerkat]

Now my first shire had a huge roman nose... and now I have a clydesdale.... he is just like the first shire Einy ... but no roman nose.
My other black shire... has also no roman nose...

I have heard that more white than the four socks and blazes... are accepted more in the clydes than in the shires... but then too if you go back far enough in the registries... there is shire blood in the clydes and vice versa...

I wanted a bay shire forever... with certain markings.. got one.. he died of a malformed insides at three years old... and looking to replace him... I went with a clyde. I am totally in love with both of them.

here is einstein at 18 mos when I first met him in Colorado

and later at home the first day that october


and here is my Clydesdale Slim at about the same age...




and well my Shire Duelly at 4... nice head no roman nose



(obviously my horses are all on the plump side.((grin)) But I dont know how to tell the difference either unless you ask the breeders! Cause you got the old style shire the new modern shire .. and the same with the clydes.. Slim is scottish type bred... and then there is american type bred that I guess I was told are leggier and taller??
I will be interested to see the responses you get on this topic!!

[Judi]

LOL, along with the black Clydes who volunteer for Shire hitches, I've heard the opposite as well. Stories are rampant of bay Shires who, because of their height, are in demand for Clydesdale hitches, including for the most famous Clydesdale hitch of all. Shhhhh! It's a secret!
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Judi

HMS Braveheart (Bravo): 2002 Shire gelding
Tally Ho BK's Lady Fiona: 2005 Shire mare
Tally Ho BK's Dalin: 2011 Shire gelding (Lady Fiona's baby brother)
Kala: 2005 rescue paint mare
F.I.P. Creek: The Wonder Horse, 1984-Nov. 19, 2011

[horsemix12]

I dont know, I own 2 Percherons

[BlackShire]

Prayerkat. . . . . im in love with Duelly. SO handsome !

more pictures please .

[california girl]

A good friend of our family says
the only differece is which side of the river LOL
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Adrienne

The best part of waking up is drafts in your pasture!

[Laureada]

I really don't know the difference in just looking at them but I've only seen some Clydes in person and no Shires
The horses in these pictures are gorgeous.
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Mom to:
Layla - Clydesdale
Concho & Dehlia - QH
and the rest of the menagerie

[BigGreyHorse]

This has been a very interesting thread. I have no knowledge of the breeds and I definitely would have thought there was a lot more to the matter.

[prairieview]

One of the easiest ways to tell the difference is in the head. Typey Shires with have a longer and narrower head than many Clydesdale. There is also a difference in hind legs. However, this isn't a fool proof method many good Shires have a Clyde like head and many Clydesdales have more of a Shire heads.
The reason for no hardline distinction is that the two breeds have had a long history of co-mingling. The interbreeding really intensified after World War II. For example according to fairly reliable information one of the best and most influential Shire Studs of the 70s was sired by one of the most important Clydesdale Stallions of all time. This Shire stud is then said to have sired an very important Clydesdale stallion of the 90s. There are plenty of well documented border crossings and switching of papers on both sides.

Here are some photos that show some of the differences.



Here is a group of Shire geldings. When I think of Shires I think of the type of head seen on the second gelding.


Here is the mare High Blochairn Jean, a mare that I think has a pretty typey head.


This is Deighton Starlight a Shire mare with a lot of breed type.


and the good mare Millisle Vera. Both mares have clear breed distinction from each other.


The easiest way to tell the two breeds apart is certain colors. Clydesdales never come in grey as the color was bred out early on. Even so on this mare you can see a different style of head and hind leg that sets her apart from a Clydesdale.

The difference is also more striking when you go back a bit in time
here is a Clyde and Shire stallion from roughly the same era.

[Jocko]

Arlin Waring, a respected shire breeder, when asked this same question replied:

"I look at their papers."

[Laureada]

Prarieview, thanks for posting those pictures and for the information.
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Mom to:
Layla - Clydesdale
Concho & Dehlia - QH
and the rest of the menagerie

[JoanR]

One of my friends breeds Shires and has one that we all SWEAR is a black Clydesdale. As revenge on us for thinking this, she refers to her horses having a "Clydesdale moment" if they decide to avoid work by lying down (the famous Clydesdale-flop). The first Clyde I had was vcery dark, looked black and everyone kept insisting that I was wrong, he must be a Shire. As Alin Wareing is quoted as saying--sometimes you have to look at their papers to know.

[Judi]

LOL, JoanR, "Clydesdale moment"! I love it! That has just become an official part of my vocabulary. I shall use it to describe my lazy-butt gelding. No offense to all my Clyde-aficionado friends, of course!
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Judi

HMS Braveheart (Bravo): 2002 Shire gelding
Tally Ho BK's Lady Fiona: 2005 Shire mare
Tally Ho BK's Dalin: 2011 Shire gelding (Lady Fiona's baby brother)
Kala: 2005 rescue paint mare
F.I.P. Creek: The Wonder Horse, 1984-Nov. 19, 2011

[vand4221]

Our standard reply to crowds at our shows is that one easy way to tell is in the stockings. On shires, the whites are "suppposed" to stay below the knee. On clydes, the whites can go all the way up the leg and onto the belly--often with splashes on the body or heavy roaning. But...as with most breeds that originated in areas that were nearby each other; there has been a lot of cross breeding and often times, it's just hard to tell. In terms of colors, as far as I can tell, both breeds come in the standard black, brown, bay, and gray with some variation in between.

I personally see some differences in action and body style between the breeds (the clydes being more showy) and I think a lot of the old-style shires have more of a propensity for the heavy roman nose than the clydes I've seen. That's just my two cents worth.
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*** Sara ***