page_title: Cleveland Bay
section_title: Decline and re-emergence
hierarchical_section_title: Cleveland Bay / History / Decline and re-emergence
caption_attribution_description: English: Two of the Queen's Cleveland Bay Horses pulling a coach down the Mall from Buckingham Palace
context_page_description: The Cleveland Bay is a breed of horse that originated in England during the 17th century, named after its colouring and the Cleveland district of Yorkshire. It is a well-muscled horse, with legs that are strong but short in relation to the body. The horses are always bay in colour, although a few light hairs in the mane and tail are characteristic of some breed lines. It is the oldest established horse breed in England. The ancestors of the breed were developed during the Middle Ages for use as pack horses, when they gained their nickname of "Chapman Horses". These pack horses were crossbred with Andalusian and Barb blood, and later with Arabians and Thoroughbreds, to create the Cleveland Bay of today. Over the years, the breed became lighter in frame as they were employed more as carriage and riding horses. The popularity of the Cleveland Bay has greatly fluctuated since it was first imported to the United States in the early 19th century. Despite serious declines in the population after the Second World War, the breed has experienced a resurgence in popularity since the 1970s, although only around 550 horses existed worldwide as of 2006.
context_section_description: However, interest in the Cleveland Bay was waning, due to increased mechanisation, and the Great Depression of the early 1930s reduced exports by almost a third. There was a brief revival of interest in the late 1930s in the United States when they became popular as foundation stock for hunters. The decline continued, quickening after the Second World War; in 1960 the War Office stopped offering premiums on stallions, and many breeders discontinued breeding. By 1962, only four purebred stallions were present in the UK. Queen Elizabeth II saved the breed by purchasing Mulgrave Supreme, a stallion that was about to be sold to a buyer in the United States. The stallion was bred to pure- and part-bred mares, and within 15 years there were 36 purebred stallions in the UK. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, used the breed for many years in international driving competitions. In the late 1960s and 1970s, interest in the breed increased, and part-bred Cleveland Bays were in demand for use as riding horses, especially for use as hunters and jumpers. In 1964, a Cleveland Bay/Thoroughbred cross competed in show jumping in the Tokyo Olympics. Another half-bred Cleveland Bay competed for the British Olympic team in show jumping at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, while a third was a reserve mount for the Canadian show jumping team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. In the late 1960s and '70s, horses continued to be exported to many countries. Japan, the United States and Australia have continued to import the horses from England, and in New Zealand crosses between Cleveland Bays and native mares were in demand on cattle and sheep stations.
  Since 1977, Elizabeth II has been a patron of the Society, and during the Society's centenary year of 1984 she acted as its president. The British Cleveland Bay Horse Society also maintains a separate registry for part-bred horses. In the late 20th century, the breed again gained the attention of the United States public, and in 1985 the US association was reactivated, renamed the Cleveland Bay Society of North America. The US American Livestock Breeds Conservancy considers their status to be critical, which means there is an estimated global population of less than 2,000, and fewer than 200 annual registrations in the United States. The UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust also considers their status to be critical, with less than 300 breeding females registered worldwide. The Equus Survival Trust also considers the breed population to be at critical levels, meaning there are between 100 and 300 breeding females left in the world. Currently, there are about 135 purebred horses in the US and Canada recorded with the North American registry. There are also small populations in Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. In 2006, an estimated 550 Cleveland Bay horses existed worldwide, of which about 220 were mares; the 2005 foal crop produced fewer than 50 horses.
caption: Two of the Queen's Cleveland Bays pulling a coach near Buckingham Palace
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