Day 5: Express Clydesdales

Written by: Andi

Today on Saturday June 27th, we visited Express Clydesdales in Oklahoma. The foundation was established in 1936 by H.I Grimes and then was refurbished by Amish carpenters in 1998 where it became a barn for strictly Clydesdales. 

Clydesdales are known for being draft/work horses meaning they were bred to be strong and big and able to haul big amounts over long distances. The horses at the Express Clydesdales were used as competition horses as well as horses that pulled carriages for many parades and celebrities over the years. Over their years competing, Express Clydesdales have been able to take home numerous world champion titles! The competitions they compete in consist of 8 horses pulling a carriage where there’s a driver and a judge and the judge tests how well behaved and smooth the horses ride and also judges how well the driver can control the horses and keep the ride safe and smooth. This might make you think that it takes countless hours of hard work and training everyday from birth but in reality, their training comes naturally. They only have to start training to pull carriages at the age of 3 years. This means when they are born they have three years to bond with the care taker while they complete tasks like feeding, playing, and cleaning stalls that warms the horses up to them. By the time they are three years old, because of all of their bonding time they are relatively easy to train to carriage pull! Despite the Clydesdale’s being anywhere from 2000 pounds and upwards and 19 hands when full grown, they are born smaller than most would think. When they are born they are only about 130 pounds and usually up to most people’s waists. The horse we meet today Tigger was a black and white Clydesdales and we learned that they are extremely rare for the Clydesdale breed! They only make up for around 6 percent of the breed. Traditionally most Clydesdales are a reddish color. We had so much fun and are so grateful for this experience! Thank you Express Clydesdales!