ONE woman’s fight to save the Clydesdale breed of horse will feature in a documentary being shown tonight.
Professor Janice Kirkpatrick, director of creativity and innovation at Glasgow School of Art, uses the programme to share her passion for the heavy horse.
Clydesdales are listed as “vulnerable” in the UK by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
Kirkpatrick said: “As a designer, I have been given the skills to identify and resolve problems – once I realised that the Clydesdale was considered to be in the extinction vortex, I felt I could not stand by – I had to do something.
“The Clydesdale horse is the world’s favourite ‘big’ horse – the breed was perfected here in Scotland in the Clyde Valley and exported around the world where it powered industrial and agricultural revolutions and helped win the First World War.”
She added: “Scotland invented the Clydesdale horse – the first recorded use of the name ‘Clydesdale’ in reference to the breed was in 1826 at an exhibition in Glasgow.
“Thousands of Clydesdale horses were put to work in transport and haulage, agriculture and heavy industries with thousands more exported around the world including to Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and Russia.”
The documentary, which was filmed over two years, follows Kirkpatrick as she travels to Canada to select a black pregnant mare for her farm at Lindsayston in Ayrshire.
She also reveals her work to establish a global centre for the Clydesdale horse in Glasgow.
The documentary, which will be shown at 7.30pm today on the BBC Scotland channel, was made by the BBC, Screen Scotland, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Read more stories on Scottish Field’s television pages.
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