Interviewing a sitter for a Clydesdale horse is mostly an audit of scale. A Clydesdale stands taller and far heavier than a riding horse, eats and drinks in draft quantities, wears shoes like dinner plates, and carries long feather over his lower legs that changes how his skin and heels are checked. A willing sitter whose yard was built for ponies can fail this horse without a single careless act. Your questions should walk through their facilities, their feed and bedding logistics, their leg care knowledge, their handling experience, and their plan for the day something goes wrong with an animal one person cannot shift.
Ask Whether Their Yard Truly Fits a Draft Horse
A Clydesdale's housing questions start with tape-measure honesty. Ask the stable's internal size and door height, whether he can turn comfortably and lie down and rise without scraping hips on the frame, and whether gateways and the route to turnout clear his height with headroom to spare. Ask about fencing strength and the ground itself, because a horse of his weight churns gateways and poaches wet corners far faster than lighter horses, and a yard that stays tidy for others can become a bog around his field shelter. Ask what hard standing he gets in wet weather and whether their mucking-out equipment and barrows match the volume of bedding a draft box produces daily.
Ask How They Will Feed and Water Him in Draft Quantities
A Clydesdale's feed questions are about logistics as much as rations. Ask how much hay they would expect him to eat in a day and listen for an answer in bale fractions that respects his size, then ask where that hay is stored and how it reaches the box, because carrying a riding horse's nets will not keep him fed. Ask how water is supplied: a horse of his bulk drinks deeply and often, so buckets need constant refilling or an automatic drinker must be checked daily, and troughs must be big enough that he does not drain them by afternoon. Ask whether they weigh or measure his hard feed as you do, and how they stop a smaller field companion stealing from a slow, generous eater.
Ask About Feathered Legs, Feet and Farrier Access
A Clydesdale's feather hides exactly the area a sitter must inspect, so ask how they check underneath it. Expect an answer about parting the feather daily, feeling the skin at the heels and pasterns for heat, scabs, swelling or a sour smell, and keeping legs as dry as the yard allows, because trouble under feather advances quietly. Ask about hoof size honestly: whether their farrier will shoe or trim a draft foot if a shoe is lost during your trip, since not every farrier carries the stock or the tools. Ask how they pick out feet that size and what they do with a horse who leans his weight onto the person holding a leg up.
Ask How They Handle and What Happens in an Emergency
A Clydesdale is usually a gentle animal, but ask about leading, tying and loading as if he were not. Ask whether they have handled draft horses before, how they would manage him excited at turnout time, and whether their headcollars and ropes fit him, because standard sizes may not. Then ask the emergency question in full: if he were cast in the box, badly lame, or showing colic signs, what exactly would they do, who else would come, and could he be transported if the vet wanted him at a clinic. Satisfied with the answers, a KinsLe Care Pass hands that sitter this Clydesdale's hay quantities, feather checks and vet contacts for the length of your trip.