Blue
Clydesdale mare, born 2017
Blue is a full Clydesdale and seven yrs old this month, May 2024. Blue came to us with her two sisters Maize, Star and one brother Knox. They were approx. 6mths old. These babies came to us from Canada and were born on a farm that breeds and sells foals to Japan for meat. Through our relationship with a very special liaison to these breeding farms we were able to acquire these babies. Our intention was to raise them and train them, according to their individual capacities to be representatives of their plight of their kind and the possibilities they offer to a dramatically changing world and how it views working horses, specifically the breeds that are now endangered.
Blue and Star and Maize all drive and can be ridden. They are smart and competent and easy to work with. Since the girls were removed from their mothers early they are not the full size of the breed but are healthy and strong all the same. Having grown up in our sanctuary among retired and disabled draft horses they have had a full immersion with their own kind which we believe lends to their extremely good natures with people.
The Clydesdales are endangered with less than 2000 registered horses with as little as 500 mares. On the other hand we have farms breeding without registering, who produce a few hundred more to be used as meat primarily in Japan.
It's important to us to stay focused on the reality working horses face today in modern society and how we can support their continued place alongside us. It's a small effort, perhaps tiny effort, to be the difference we want to see in the world for the beautiful Clydesdales.
The most famous Clydes today are known as the Budweiser horses who show and participate nationally in all kinds of cultural venues, like shows, representing the Budweiser beer company and fairs throughout the country. Those horses lead a life of celebrity status, cared for and adored for their beauty, power and grace. The shadow side of their reality is that there are those farms that in an extreme effort to survive have resorted to selling their foals as a meat product. This is both shocking and an urgent message to the world that we can do better for a breed that has served our societies loyally for so long.
All breeds represent the culture and the people from whom they came about. The Clydesdale breed was founded in the early eighteenth century. They were originally crossed with imported Flemish stallion and draught maes of the Clyde valley. The Clydesdales popularity peaked after World War 1 . They were originally bred in Lankanshire Scotland also known as Clydesdale. They were used for farm work, coal mining and heavy hauling, they also pulled the barges up and down the Clyde River. They were in high demand until the cars and machines were invented and have been in a steady decline since. Some sources say there are as many 5000 left in the world, not all registered or kept track of.
It has been our hope to bring more attention to their status and inspire others interested in using horse power to consider looking into what makes them special, beloved and necessary wherever they are found. They are known for their calm temperament and not spooked very easily, this makes them great for high stress environments and why you see them in cities and parades. Clydesdales are commonly known as bay colored horses but they are also Black and grey roan colors too.
We like to say "Long Live the Clydesdales" because it is our hope they are with us well into the future as we design better methods for forest and land care and include them more in therapeutic settings for human well being. We also hope that awareness of their role in supplying meat markets can play a part in educating that they were always bred for far more than that. They were and can still be partners in drafting a better future for all.
Blue's special gifts come from her extremely curious nature. She was known for years as one of the primary troublemakers. If there was something new to be discovered or messed with Blue would be the first to know. She always wandered outside the boundaries of what the others horses found safe, she followed her curiosity loving senses constantly, everyday breaking the bounds of what she knew the day before. She was a handful.she also loves to work and go out and explore roads and cities, any new landscape, in that way her curiosity worked in all of our favor. I would say that Blues fundamental teaching to us would be, Follow the Frequency. These days there is a lot of talk about vibes, vibing or finding what makes you come alive. In Blue's case she lives by this motto, or at least did until she was given the role of caretaking her baby sister Elspeth. Our original plan was to rotate the caretakers so that Elspeth could get a sense of all her new herdmates in a controlled way. We also hoped that her caretakers could rub off on her in different ways, with their special personality traits. Like a lot of things we plan for the horses it didn't work out quite that way. Elspeth came to us as a 6mth old and is now a yearling, she is strong willed and very intelligent and demanding. She needed and wanted a lot of attention and not everyone wanted to give it to her. Blue however handled her perfectly. Blue is also intelligent and curious and energetic so she became the perfect match to Elspeth's energy. Thanks to Blue Elspeth is affectionate and loves learning new things, she is brave too. There isn't a lot Blue is afraid of.
Blue has developed into a mature mare who is protective and seems to have outgrown her troublemaking ways. You can tell she is still interested in going out and doing things but that is secondary. These days her primary role is in taking excellent care of Elspeth. Thanks to Blue Els is having the "childhood" she deserves full of affection, lessons in living and resting and growing under the loving, all attentive watchful eyes of Blue.
Blues instincts to follow the good feeling vibes wherever they lead, lead her into the role of her lifetime so far. .I don't think she could love Elsbeth more than she does if she was her own.
