Cleveland Bay

The Cleveland Bay is the oldest indigenous horse breed in the UK, other than apart from the native ponies. Its ancestor, the Chapman was a bay pack horse with black points. It was recorded in the Middle Ages as being bred in the Wapentake of Langbaurgh, an area corresponding to north-east Yorkshire and Cleveland. Since the reign of George II (1727-60) the breed has enjoyed royal patronage, and the Cleveland Bay Stud Book was published in 1884. The breed is still a feature of the royal stables.

THE CHAPMAN HORSE
The Chapman was the horse used by traveling salesmen of the day 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, an essential feature in a country of deep clay. Although it was much smaller than the modern Cleveland, perhaps no more than 1.42 m (14 hh), it was clearly powerful.

OTHER INFLUENCES
The Chapman was the root stock from which the Cleveland Bay derived, but it is less certain what outcrosses were used and when. The proud boast of the Cleveland breeder is "No taint of Black nor Blood", meaning that the horse is untouched by either cart-horse or Thoroughbred introductions. There is no suggestion that cart-horse blood was involved in the breed's evolution, and two early, influential "Thoroughbred" sires, Jalep and Manica, although they appear in the General Stud Book were used well before
the Thoroughbred was recognized or recognizable in its present form.

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 genetic dominance led to it being exported to improve many of the European breeds. Up to the reign of George II it was acknowledged as the best and most powerful coach horse in Europe, but after the introduction of macadamized roads it was deemed too slow to maintain the speeds demanded. As a result the Yorkshire Coach Horse, a Cleveland/Thoroughbred cross, came into being and its stud book remained open until 1936. The Cleveland was also employed in farming in north-east England, where it was the only horse that could work the clay land. It could haul very heavy loads in deep going and it established itself as a heavyweight hunter able to jump out of clay almost from a standstill.

MODERN REVIVAL
The Cleveland Bay went into decline after the Second World War and by 1962 there were only four pure-bred stallions in the UE It was saved by HM Queen Elizabeth II, who bought the stallion Mulgrave Supreme who was to have been sold to the US. He was used on pure-bred and part-bred mares with great success, and within 15 years there were 36 pure-bred stallions in the UK. The royal stables employ numerous Clevelands and Cleveland crosses and great encouragement was given to the breed by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh who, until recently, drove Clevelands in international driving events. The breed crosses well with the Thoroughbred to produce show jumpers and quality hunters.