A weekly diary suits a Clydesdale because almost nothing about a draft horse changes fast except the things owners miss. The entries worth making for a Clydesdale each week cover weight and appetite, the skin hidden under the feather, hooves built to carry real mass, and how the horse works and recovers.
Weight, appetite and droppings in a Clydesdale diary
Weight anchors the Clydesdale diary. Take a weight-tape reading at the same point each week and score body condition by hand over the ribs and crest, because a heavy winter coat and a broad draft frame disguise both gain and loss until they are advanced. Note appetite at each feed, how much hay is being left, water intake on cold days when drafts drink less, and the consistency and frequency of droppings. A Clydesdale who leaves feed he normally finishes, or whose droppings loosen without a feed change, has given you the earliest useful warning a diary can capture, and the dated entry proves when it started.
Skin under the feather on a Clydesdale's legs
Feather deserves its own weekly Clydesdale entry. Part the long hair on the back of each lower leg and look and feel at the skin beneath, recording redness, scabs, thickening, dampness or a sour smell, and whether the horse stamps or rubs the leg. Draft breeds carry skin trouble under feather for weeks before lameness announces it, and mud kept against the skin through winter is the usual setting. Note bedding wetness and how often the legs were washed or left to dry naturally, so a flare-up can be matched against the conditions that preceded it rather than treated as a mystery each time it returns.
Hooves, shoes and lower legs on a Clydesdale
Hooves carry more weight on a Clydesdale than on any riding horse, so log hoof growth, cracks, shoe tightness and any lost or shifted shoe each week. Run a hand down each leg for heat, filling or new lumps, and note whether the horse stands square or rests one foot more than usual. Record farrier visits and what was done in the same diary, because the interval between shoeings and the state of the foot at each visit is exactly the pattern a farrier wants when deciding whether a big foot needs a shorter cycle. A shoe that loosens early twice in a row is a diary fact, not a memory. Note which surface the horse worked on as well, because a big Clydesdale foot bruises differently on stony tracks than on a soft arena, and the surface note often explains a tender week.
Work, stiffness and breathing entries for a Clydesdale
Work closes the Clydesdale week. Record what the horse actually did: harness work, riding, groundwork or rest, and how he felt doing it, including stiffness coming out of the stable that walks off, reluctance on slopes, heavy breathing that lingers after work stops, or coughing at the start of exercise. Note turnout hours and any field incidents in the same entry. Kept in KinsLe's Pet Passport, a season of those weekly Clydesdale notes sits alongside the horse's farrier and vet records in one packet, so the vet reading about a stiff month sees the workload and leg entries that explain it.