Royal Highland Show 2017 - #4 Clydesdales, Belgians and Percherons, oh my!

The heavy horse stables are always a popular place to visit at the RHS, but a little dark, so the majority, if not all of my photos were taken with my phone, as my camera (even on his good days!) doesn't do well in the gloom.

I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing those big friendly faces.

One thing that always strikes me about the RHS is how calm the horses are in their stables - it's loud, they're surrounded by noisy visitors and often machinery on all sides, and yet, a good many of them are lying flat out, having a sleep.

Some looked somewhat undignified, in snuggy hoods to protect their manes for the show.

 

It didn't stop some of them from taking matters into their own...bums, and having a good scratch!

 

For the most part they were all really friendly and appreciative of a good fuss, but a few of them didn't like it when we moved onto the next horse and started kicking the door - and let me tell you, that was loud!

There were a few mares with foals at foot - these two were enthusiastically grooming each other when we arrived.

The mare was one of my favourite kinds of sabino patterning, all roany and speckly!

Her foal was pretty darn cute as well!

This mare had to be one of the tallest horses I've ever seen.

There was no information on her, other than what she won and her owner's name, so I did a bit of digging and discovered she was Shielhill Diamond Jubilee, and she's obviously been in the ribbons plenty of times before!

Her foal was absolutely out for the count and barely aware of all the noise around her.

It's a hard life being a winner...

...so hard... XD

Look at this one's belly fluff! Bear in mind it's the middle of summer here!

Not to mention that face!

blep

I think this one won in terms of Extreme Belly Floof though.

True 'gentle giants', they barely batted an eyelid at the scores of people walking past them, even when tied up outside their box.

Some were having their feather puffed up with sawdust. I think it absorbs moisture as well as giving a little extra volume.

I loved this little white spot on a hair whorl!
I've noticed rather a lot of the more extreme sabinos have white starting around that area but never so concentrated in one place!

This next one really reminded me of this resin with his somewhat ruffled mane.

One horse we said hello to got distracted by someone's dog and kept snuffling and licking at it, but flinched back rather dramatically when the dog decided to do the same back!

We got our share of affection too though, as Tomas found out. XD

*smoosh*

As usual we were treated to an array of wildly marked faces. It always amuses me to see how Clydesdales in the model horse hobby are painted as so many people's only experience of them is through the Budweiser Clydes, which are of course prized for their regular and quite conservative markings, whereas the majority of them are far more colourful!

 

I thought this one's blaze was rather unusual with that really wide and distinctive mapping and the little 'tail' up by the eye!

Of course, you do get the odd 'plain' one, but they're few and far between!

A wild Magda appears! (she was, like me, behind the lens most of the time, haha)

Outside of Clydesdales I can't think of many other breeds which have their tails shaved for showing. (I think Lusitanos and Andalusians might?) 

While it looks a bit daft, it's far preferable to docking, and it gives a unique view of how the hair changes colour!

If you can believe it, this gorgeous beastie is a yearling! 

Again with the belly floof! 😍

His handler was giving him a last minute groom before he was presumably taken out for a class and he kept playing with his leadrope and lipping at the knots. Given enough time he could probably have undone it!

In a matter of moments the halter was off and a shiny new bridle was on, but he didn't seem keen on accepting the bit, and it's at times like this that being naturally tall comes in handy...

'NOPE!'

The guy finally got him sorted out and they wandered off quite happily.

 I think this panel just goes to show how versatile Clydesdales are - not only are they outstanding in harness, but they make excellent riding horses too!

The stables were probably about 95% Clydesdales, but there were a few foreign breeds in there too! A pair of Percherons caught our eye at once, and they were very friendly! One was called Jim but I've forgotten the other one, possibly Mack?

They were honestly the shiniest draught horses I've ever seen!

Didn't seem to stop them from looking a bit daft though. XD

Further down the block were the Canadian Belgians, and my gods, they were big!😵

I'm 5"6 and deliberately took this from eye level!

Next up, Working Hunter Ponies!