The two places to check on a Clydesdale foal
Sexing a young Clydesdale follows the same anatomy as any foal, but the breed's sheer size and thick leg feathering make the check a little more deliberate. The answers are in two places. Under the tail, a filly shows two openings, the anus and directly below it the vulva, while a colt shows the anus alone. Along the underside, a colt carries a sheath midway down his belly, and a filly instead shows two small teats between her hind legs. On a Clydesdale, plan to part the feather and use a hand as well as your eyes, because that famous silky hair around the fetlocks hangs exactly where you need to see.
Checking the colt on a big-bodied foal
Stand the young Clydesdale square and run a flat hand along the centre of his belly. You are feeling for the sheath, the fold of skin sitting on the midline roughly halfway between forelegs and hind legs. Do not abandon the job because you cannot find testicles: in a young draft colt they may not have descended, and on a heavy foal even descended ones sit within a lot of tissue and coat. The sheath plus the single opening under the tail is your confirmation. Size tells you nothing in the opposite direction either, since a well-grown Clydesdale colt's bulk is matched by plenty of fillies from the same breeding.
Checking the filly through the feather
For a young Clydesdale filly, work in good light and part the hair with your fingers. Under the tail, separate clearly the round anus from the vertical vulva beneath it; on a dark-coated or heavily haired foal the vulva can be missed at a hurried glance, which is how fillies get recorded as colts. Then check between the hind legs for the two small teats that sit where an udder will form. Feeling them with a fingertip is often quicker than seeing them among the feather and belly hair. Two openings under the tail plus teats between the legs means filly, with no need to consult the foal's temperament, height or bone for a second opinion.
Handling a draft foal safely
A young Clydesdale may already outweigh a small adult, and its dam is a very large, protective mare, so arrange the check with the mare held by a helper and the foal standing against a wall or the mare herself. Crouch to the side of the hindquarter rather than directly behind it, keep contact with the foal as you move so it is never startled by a hand appearing under its tail, and finish in under a minute. Draft foals are generally placid and learn handling fast, so a calm, short check now sets up every later inspection, from hoof care to the vet, far better than a wrestling match.
Vet confirmation and the written record
Ask the vet to confirm the sex at the Clydesdale foal's first check and record it at once with the foal's markings, including which legs carry white and how high, since those details together form the foal's identity. For a breed where foals may be sold, shown or registered, an early sexing error poisons every document copied from it afterwards, and correcting registrations is slow, tedious work. Your stable record, the vet's note and any breed paperwork should all carry the same answer from the start. KinsLe's Pet Pass keeps a young Clydesdale's identity and owner contact details on its verified ID card, so its sex and markings travel with the foal wherever it goes.