Horses : CLEVELAND BAY

Origin: England

Australian Status:

International Status: In its home country, the UK, the Cleveland Bay is listed as CRITICAL with only 60 mares.

Worldwide it is currently the equine breed at highest risk of extinction.

Arrived in Australia: earliest recorded in 1828 but would have arrived earlier as there were many here by then. For example the Australian Agricultural Company alone had 19 imported and 9 colonial bred Clevelands in 1830. They arrived continuously throughout our horse breeding days prior to mechanisation, and contributed to the Waler and Thoroughbred here, otherwise disappearing when horse use vanished. In the late twentieth century they were imported again from England and a studbook started in 1975.

Australian Population: 2020: 5 breeding aged mares, with 6 mares in total and 3 fillies. 4 stallions and 5 geldings, with 2 purebred foals expected for 2020. Many thanks to Brenda Boaden for supplying us with the current numbers for 2020.
2022: Brenda's beautiful stallion Tregoyd Topper, of impeccable temperament, sadly died early in 2022, and in May her mares sent to Alex Campbell in New Zealand. The end of a tremendous era here keeping this breed alive. A few others have some here. In january 2022 the mare Ferndale Springs Lotus went to NZ, she was in foal to Penrhyn Ps; at that stage to be the only purebred in NZ. 2022 estimate 4 stallions, four mares and five geldings in Australia.
Will add names here as they come to hand, to try and keep count... 
Mares: Earlswood Fedora (Flora) by Tregoyd Topper. Ferndale Springs Margaret. Filly from Ferndale Springs Margaret by St Patrick.
Stallions:  St. Patrick by Tregoyd Topper.Straws of these stallions available: Tregoyd Topper, Penrhyn Ps, Arena Big Ben, Texlea Saint Oliver and Pembridge Midshipman. See this website, Sporthorse Data, for details of straws available and they are also available from Brenda's stud Ferndale Springs, in W.A. Straws also available for Silverfern Blue Jeans 
Geldings: Ferndale Springs St James by Tregoyd Topper. Alabai Mulberry Crumpet (from Miss Chance by Weatherby Barry Crump) - straws collected by gelding, were available from Ferndale Springs.
Also to NZ circa 2014 went the stallion Silverfern Blue Jeans (by Bantry Bere out of Impeccable Emily), his straws available 2022 at Serendipity Equine, Nelson, NZ.

Ferndale Springs Shamrock, Ferndale Springs Topsy, Sunnyvale Bonny Bay, Tregoyd Gizelle and Ferndale Springs Isold to New Zealand from Brenda May 2022. Four mares in foal, one filly; four of them by Tregoyd Topper. Details:

Ferndale Springs Isolde 1yr filly, by Pembridge Midshipman. A rising superstar this young filly, what a journey for never having been floated before.

Tregoyd Gizelle (ex imported from Wales) in foal to Texlea St Oliver

Ferndale Springs Topsy in foal to Penrhyn PS

Sunnyvale Bonny Bay in foal to Arena Big Ben. Arena Big Ben is a sire owned by the King Of Pakistan

Ferndale Springs Shamrock in foal to Arena Big Ben.

History: Originally bred for packing and called Chapman's Travelling Pack Horses - Chapmen were salesmen. From the Cleveland area of Yorkshire. Later used to breed excellent coach horses, the Yorkshire Coacher. Recorded from the 17th century but a much older breed, it is England's oldest recorded horse breed; their studbook society started in 1884. Straight, sometimes convex nose. A versatile breed. Popular during horse days in America and Australia as well as Britain, the breed, like many, saw its demise between the world wars and after. It looked as if they might die out until the Queen stepped in and bought a colt and stood him at public stud, creating a resurgence in popularity, and Prince Philip used them for driving. Powerful, active horses suited to a wide range of use.

Breed traits: All bay, black points. Clean legs.  Height 16 - 16.2hh. The only white permitted is a  small star. Some grey hairs in mane and tail are  permitted. Good feet are a pride of the breed.  Good bone is too - 9 inches of bone should be  seen. Action is straight and true, not high.

Uses: Packing, harness, jumping, hunting, showing, dressage, eventing, endurance, hacking.

Breed Organisation: The Cleveland Bay Society of Australia, studbook started 1975  The Cleveland Bay Horse Society of Australasia

Additional Notes:

Photo : Tregoyd Topper, owned by Brenda Boaden of Ferndale Springs stud and used with her kind permission.
Page by Janet Lane.
Population updated 22/05/2020 by A. Young.
Census 2022 Janet Lane.

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