Clydesdale Duo

Once in a while you work on something that you know will be special and this was it for me. These beautiful Anheuser Busch Clydesdales from... more

by Debbie Hart

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Price

$1,200

Dimensions

20.000 x 27.500 inches

Title

Clydesdale Duo

Artist

Debbie Hart

Medium

Painting - Watercolor

Description

Once in a while you work on something that you know will be special and this was it for me. These beautiful Anheuser Busch Clydesdales from Budweiser were on tour close to my home so I was extremely fortunate to grab a lot of reference photos. The sun was breathtaking that day and I tried to capture the glare on their leather harnesses. It started mostly as an exercise in capturing different metals; brass, gold, pewter and stainless steel and quickly developed into one of my favorite pieces. I had a blast experimenting with different rich blues as a glaze on top of the dark black of the leather. These two were the lead horses of the team and I absolutely LOVE the expression on his face as he looked directly at me; I felt we made a rare connection. This proudly was a finalist in an Oakbrook, Illinois Alliance of Fine Art exhibit. I am looking forward to working more with these beautiful animals in a future series.

The Clydesdale is a breed of draught horse derived from the farm horses of Clydesdale, Scotland, and named after that region. Although originally one of the smaller breeds of draught horses, it is now a tall breed. Often bay in colour, they show significant white markings due to the presence of sabino genetics. The breed was originally used for agriculture and haulage, and is still used for draught purposes today. The Budweiser Clydesdales are some of the most famous Clydesdales, and other members of the breed are used as drum horses by the British Household Cavalry. They have also been used to create and improve other draught breeds.

The breed was developed from Flemish stallions imported to Scotland and crossed with local mares. The first recorded use of the name "Clydesdale" for the breed was in 1826, and by 1830 a system of hiring stallions had begun that resulted in the spread of Clydesdale horses throughout Scotland and into northern England. The first breed registry was formed in 1877. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, thousands of Clydesdales were exported from Scotland and sent throughout the world, including to Australia and New Zealand, where they became known as "the breed that built Australia". However, during World War I population numbers began to decline due to increasing mechanization and war conscription. This decline continued, and by the 1970s, the Rare Breeds Survival Trust considered the breed vulnerable to extinction. Population numbers have increased slightly in the intervening time, but they are still thought to be vulnerable. (Wikipedia)

Uploaded

July 6th, 2011