When I mentioned to a friend that a colleague had bought a part Cleveland Bay horse (actually, a Thoroughbred-Arabian-Cleveland Bay), she quizzed me as to why a breed would be named after Cleveland (Ohio). She didn’t realize that the Cleveland Bay was an old breed that is actually England’s only native Warmblood. In fact, aside from native British ponies, the Cleveland Bay is thought to be the oldest breed in Britain. Some documents state that the breed may go back to the times of the Roman Empire. Ancestors of the Cleveland Bay were thought to be pack horses bred to transport goods between monasteries and abbeys. Many European Warmblood breeds can find Cleveland Bay among their roots—especially the Oldenburg, Holsteiner and Hanoverian, among others.
The Cleveland Bay is considered a critically endangered breed of horse. Estimates are that just over 550 pure bred Cleveland Bays exist in the world.
The Cleveland Bay’s history traces to a district called Cleveland in North Yorkshire, England. The breed was a true jack of all trades—plow horse, pack horse, field hunter and carriage horse for the Sunday church visit. He was expected to do all jobs without going lame (try that with any breed of horse today!)
The breed stands roughly between 16 and 16.2 hands, is always bay in color with black points (legs, mane and tail) and with blue hooves. It is noted for its longevity, stamina and sturdy construction as well as its steady nature. (My friend's horse is 26 but has the back and body of an athletic 15-year-old.)
During the 1700s, the same foundation Middle Eastern horses that began the Thoroughbred breed were being used to refine the Cleveland Bay to make a more fleet carriage horse.
The breed suffered several successions of declining numbers: first, with the advent of the railroad, the Cleveland Bay was used less, then lost on the battle fields in World War I and World War II as the horses were sought after for the cavalry.
But during the mid 1800s, the breed made its way to the United States into breeding programs (including those for Quarter Horses, Morgans and Standardbreds, and into the U.S. cavalry as well as Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show.)
In the 1960s, a sire of note named Mulgrave Supreme was one of only the five remaining adult Cleveland Bay stallions in England. Originally destined to be sent to the United States, he was purchased by Queen Elizabeth II to keep him in England. (Her father had bred Cleveland Bays in the 1920s.) She made his breeding available to the public, and over the course of the next 10 years, Mulgrave Supreme sired horses that went on to become Olympic champions. His offspring showed success in hunting, jumping, dressage, driving and even just pleasure riding.
My friend never knew what history she was getting when she purchased Jo Jo (Jo Jo! What kind of name is that for a horse with such ancestry!)
