Cleveland Bay
Origin
England
History
The Cleveland Bay is the oldest indigenous horse breed in the UK (apart from the native ponies); The Chapman, a bay packhorse with black points was ist ancestor and was used by traveling salesmen of the day (chapmen) to carry their merchandise. It was also vital to the area´s mining industry and transported ironstone, and later potash and alum, from the hill mines to the sea or the nearest navigable river. The breed was clean-legged, clearly powerful and much smaller than the modern Cleveland.
It is reasonable to assume that Andalusian and Barb infusions occurred in the seventeeth century. The marriage of Catherine of Braganza to Charles II in 1661 brought the North African port of Tangier to the British crown, and when the Tangier harbor works were being built by contractors from northeastern English seaports there was constant traffic between the two. In the last half of the 17th century, after the English Civil War, there were many Spanish horses in northeast England which would have been available to breeders.
After the 18th century there is no evidence of further infusions of alien blood. By then, the Cleveland was fixed in its type and its resultant prepotence led to it being exported to improve many of the European breeds. Cleveland Bay horses have been used throughout Europe to improve other breeds, including the Holstein, Hanoverian, and Oldenburg during their formation. Up to the reign of George II, it was acknowledged as the best and most powerful coach horse in Europe and the Cleveland Bay Stud Book was published in 1884.
The Cleveland Bay went into decline after the Second World War. It was saved by HM Queen Elizabeth II, who bought the stallion Mulgrave Supreme. It was used on purebred and part-bred mares with great success.
Lieutenant Colonel Sir John Miller, when Crown Equerry to the Queen, was very successful in crossing Oldenburg mares with Cleveland stallions to produce Prince Philip´s well-remembered team of international carriage driving horses.
Description
- Head:
"ramlike" or "hawklike" profile, very like the heads of the Spanish breeds; large eyes, well set, and kindly in expression - Conformation:
-long and lean neck
-sloping, deep and muscular shoulders
-strong back with muscular loins
-usually quite level quarters, powerful, long and oval
-muscular legs and thighs with large, strong joints, sloping pasterns
-hooves of hard, dense horn, very open and of a size appropriate to the size and substance of the horse - Average height:
16 to 16.2 h.h. - Colour:
the Cleveland Bay horse is always bay in colour. A small star and a bit of grey are allowed in the mane and tail - Temperament:
powerful and eager but with a calm, steady nature - Today:
the royal stables employ numerous Clevelands and Cleveland crosses, and great encouragement was given to the breed by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh who drove Clevelands in international driving events. The breed crosses well with the Thoroughbred to produce show jumpers and good hunters.
