They have their quirks for sure!
As far as taking care of them goes, you do need to approach and handle them a little differently. There’s really no muscling what you want out of them with brute strength. It takes a little more work to make yourself “bigger” than a moose-sized horse. That said, their reputation of being calm and gentle is well-met in my experience. The primary danger isn’t in them acting out of aggression or anxiety; it’s in them being goofy and clumsy and entirely unaware of their own strength. Imagine a 200lb mastiff trying to crawl into your lap. Now multiply its weight by ten and give it hooves. That’s a Clydesdale.
All the Clydes at our place are barefoot year round and their feet hold up great. Having a great farrier that’s well versed in draft horses makes a huge difference. He has 8 Belgians himself so he’s no stranger to handling big horses and any intricacies therein.
Our clydes need trimming less often than the light horses on the farm. I don’t know if that’s specific to our horses or the breed (or something about the ground here? It’s red clay. All hooves around here tend to get rock hard). Before coming to my current farm I worked with other draft breeds and they seemed to stick to a typical 6 week cycle. Our clydes go more like 8 between trims. Many draft horse owners find difficulty in finding a farrier that a) will trim draft horses at all, b) doesn’t charge like… double the normal rate for a trim*, and c) know what the hell they’re doing. Luckily our farrier only charges $40/horse, no matter the size.
The biggest difference in maintenance is the feathers for sure. They’re prone to infection since they act like a wick for any water on the ground, trap moisture, and make it hard to spot any open wounds or abrasions in the first place. Mites are a common problem for the breed, but we’ve been lucky so far. For maintenance, every so often we rinse them, wash with Dawn or Head & Shoulders, rinse again, then load em with sulphur. Liquid topical ivermectin is a godsend for most ailments. We just squirt it up in the feathers with a syringe.
CPL is an unfortunate condition to which draft horses are prone. It’s similar to elephantiasis. Our little senior rescue, Abby, has the beginnings of it. And speaking of feathers, Abby doesn’t tolerate her legs being sprayed or hosed. So in lieu of the normal routine we clip her feathers and slather a homebrew ointment of ivermectin, DMSO gel, and furasyn on her legs to keep her comfortable. It looks and smells terrible but it’s sufficed so far. That used to be harrowing work but she’s getting better and better about it as she continues to accept that we’re not trying to kill her.
*This is not to imply that farriers aren’t justified in charging extra for working with draft horses. They do require specialized knowledge. Draft horses, being overgrown lapdogs, also tend to make farriers support their weight, which is a big problem with 2,000lbs of horse. And as the “cold-blooded” variety, drafts tend to blow up less, but when they do lose their cool there is added danger due to their size and power. A lot of drafts end up getting their feet done in stocks for ease and safety. Ours don’t need stocks for the farrier, but we have stocks on site. They come in handy now and then.
