Cleveland Bay Crosssbreds
Our Native Warmbloods were created right here at Native Oaks Farm.
They are a cross of American Thoroughbred, Cleveland Bay and Trakehner.
We have managed to create a line of horses that match extremely well.

The Cleveland Bay breed appears to dominate in these horses even though
there is slightly more Thoroughbred blood in them.

The original stock for these bay horses came from our dear late friends, Helen Dalton and Kay Cram, over 25 years ago. The services of the original thoroughbred stallion, Merton Street, were purchased from another neighbor and friend, Wheelock Whitney. So, we think of this breed as truly indigenous to our own neighborhood.

We've driven these Bays all over North America -- at the Canadian Pleasure Driving Championship, at Newport during a meet of the Coaching Club, in Virginia, in the Carolinas and, of course, all over the Midwest. They are gentle and docile horses and a pleasure to drive to large coaches and carriages because of their enormous strength.

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The Cleveland Bay
taken from the web site of the
Cleveland Bay Horse Society of North America

The Cleveland Bay originates from Britain, in the Cleveland area of  Northern Yorkshire and is the oldest of  the indigenous breed of English  horses. Yorkshire is known as the  source of two breeds, the  Thoroughbred and the Cleveland Bay.  The Cleveland Bay evolved from  crossing native bay colored mares with  Oriental stallions during the 17th  century. Shaped by a harsh  environment, a horse of durability,  longevity and quiet disposition resulted.  These characteristics, combined with  the uniformity of bay color, size and  substance developed a versatile breed  used as hunt horse, coach or pack  horse and as an agricultural worker.  Originally known as the Chapman  horse, after the salesmen who  exclusively used Cleveland Bays as  pack horses, the breed excelled as an  all rounder. During the peak of  popularity, in the late 1880's the  Cleveland Bay Horse Society of Great  Britain published the first volume of its  Stud Book which contained stallions  and mares selected for the purity of  blood. During the 19th century, some  Cleveland Bays were bred to  thoroughbreds and produced the  Yorkshire Coach Horse, a carriage  horse with unmatched ability for speed,  style and power. With the advent of the  mechanical age, the numbers of  Cleveland Bays and Yorkshire Coach  horses rapidly declined and were  further decimated by their use as  artillery horses during World War l.  

The Cleveland Bay survived in the  region of it's birthplace during these  difficult times but in the 1960's only five  or six mature stallions were found. Due  to the foresight and determination of  the Yorkshire admirers the breed has  survived and numbers have grown.  The Queen became the Patron of the  breed and the Royal Mews continues  the  tradition of using Cleveland Bays and  crossbreds in ceremonial duties. The Cleveland Bay has successfully  been bred to thoroughbred types to  produce outstanding performance horses in dressage, driving and  jumping. It is through these quality animals that breed recognition is  becoming known. With the increase of  numbers of Cleveland Bay purebreds  some are competing along with  breeding duties. Although listed as an  endangered breed with less than 500  world wide, the Cleveland Bay lovers  from Britain, North America, Japan,  New Zealand and Australia are  dedicated to the conservation of this unique horse. 

The first Cleveland Bay stallions were  imported to Maryland, Virginia and  Massachusetts in the early 1800's. The  1884 Upperville Colt and Horse Show  in Virginia was created to showcase Col. Dulany's imported stallion Scrivington and his offspring. Later  William Cody, America's Buffalo Bill  chose the Cleveland Bay for his Wild  West show. Western States utilized  the stallions in their breeding of range horses, noting their staying quality,  easy maintenance and a match for the  biggest of steers. The Cleveland Bay Horse Society  of North America was founded in  1885, with 2000 stallions and mares  registered by 1907. Imported as  superb coach horses, the breed  interest waned during mechanization  but was briefly revived in the 1930's  when Alexander Mackay-Smith  imported founding stock for hunters. Presently, there are around 90  purebred Cleveland Bays in the United  States and Canada, with many  Cleveland Partbreds competing in all  disciplines of horsemanship.  REGISTRY The purebred and part-bred registry is  maintained and supervised by the  Cleveland Bay Society of Great Britain.  Only pure-bred Cleveland Bays sired  by a stallion awarded the Certificate for  Pure Breeding are eligible. Inspection  and approval of stallions and mares by  the Cleveland Bay Society of North  America is done every year or as  warranted. 

CHARACTERISTICS

• great substance, clean legged with 
• excellent feet, flat cannon bones
• Immensely powerful quarters contribute to jumping ability and dressage
• long lived; prepotent transmitting  uniformity in type and substance
• moves with ground covering power
• ideal for carriage work with strong  and powerful shoulders

BREED STANDARDS
(For the guidance of those interested in the breed)

HEIGHT: 16.0hh to 16.2hh, but height should not disqualify an otherwise good sort.

COLOR: Cleveland Bays must be bay with black points, i.e. black legs, black, mane and black tail. Gray hairs in the mane and tail do not disqualify. These have been long recognized as a feature in certain strains of pure Cleveland blood. White is not admissible beyond a very small white star. Legs which are bay or red below the knees and hocks do not disqualify, but are faulty as color.

BODY: The body should be wide and deep. The back should not be too long and should be strong with muscular loins. The shoulder should be sloping, deep and muscular. The quarters should be level, powerful, long and oval, the tail springing well from the quarters.

HEAD AND NECK: The head characteristics of the breed should be bold and not too small. It should be well carried on a long lean neck.

EYES: Eyes should be large, well set and kindly in expression.

EARS: Ears tend to be large and fine.

THE LIMBS: Arms and thighs and second thighs should be muscular. The knees and hocks should be large and well closed. There should be 9" upwards of good flat bone below the knee measured at the narrowest point on a tight tape. The pasterns should be strong and sloping and not to long. The legs should be clear of superfluous hair and as clean and hard as possible.

THE FEET: One of the most important features of the breed; the feet must be of the best and blue in color. Feet that are shallow or narrow are undesirable. "NO FOOT-NO HORSE".

ACTION: Action must be true, straight and free. High action is not characteristic of the breed. The Cleveland which moves well and which is full of courage will move freely from the shoulder and will flex his knees and hocks sufficiently. The action required is free all round, gets over the ground and fits the wear-and-tear qualities of the breed.

(The above standards for the Cleveland Bay Horse have been established by the Cleveland Bay Horse Society in Great Britain and are the standards that the Cleveland Bay Horse Society of North America follows).

 

QUALITIES

• The Pure-Bred Cleveland Bay is a very intelligent horse with a sensible temperament.  They possess a strong character which, if mishandled can be spoiled.

•  They have plenty of bone and substance, are hardy, long lived and have tremendous stamina.

•  Characteristically the breed is very bold and honest.  They are always bay in colour their action is level, free and long striding.

•  They are an established breed and so breed true to type.  Their characteristics and traits are passed on to their progeny.  This makes them an ideal out-cross.

•  America, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand and many other countries have imported Cleveland Bays to improve their native stock.

•  Many European Warmbloods, particularly the Gelderlander, Oldenburg, Holstein, and Hanoverian owe much to the Cleveland Bay influence.  Some European and Baltic draught horses such as the Russian Vladimir and Danish Schienswig have the benefit of Cleveland blood.

VERSATILITY

Perhaps the Cleveland's greatest advantage is its versatility. Early Clevelands were versatile pack and harness horses.  The present day Cleveland is equally versatile in relation to the modern equine disciplines.
 

If you want to visit some interesting sites about
the Cleveland Bay on the web, go to

The Cleveland Bay Horse Society
or
Cleveland Bay Horse Society of North America

 

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The Trakehner

[The following comes from the web site
of Oklahoma State University noted below.]

At the beginning, the horse was a stocky, strong native animal which needed size and refinement. The really important and decisive development of the breed, therefore, occurred in the early 1800's when top quality English Thoroughbred and Arabian blood began to be introduced in small quantities. The goal of the breeding programs then became directed toward breeding a better endurance horse which would prove himself not only highly efficient as a riding horse during wartimes, but also as a working horse on East Prussian farms during times of peace. The object, ultimately, was to add the size, nerve, spirit and endurance of the Thoroughbred to the bulk, stability and nobility of the native breed. Further refinement in the breed came with the addition of Arabian blood.

The Trakehner of today is a large horse, standing generally between 16 and 17 hands. The breed is characterized by great substance and bone, yet displays surprising refinement, perhaps more so than any other European warmblood breed. It is a superb performance horse with natural elegance and balance. It excels in dressage because of its elegant way of moving - the light, springy, "floating trot," and soft, balanced canter, made possible by a deep sloping shoulder and a correct, moderately long back and pasterns. With its characteristic, powerful hindquarters and strong joints and muscles, the breed also produces outstanding jumpers. However, perhaps the most outstanding attribute of the Trakehner is its temperament. It is keen, alert and intelligent, yet very stable and accepting and anxious to please.

All over the world today Trakehner horses continue to excel in most disciplines of equine competition, although since World War II, when they were driven from their East Prussian homeland, the primary breeding area has been West Germany. The breed was first introduced into North America in significant numbers only in the late 1950s, being imported first into Canada and then later into the United States.

If you want to visit some interesting sites about the Trakehner on the web, go to

The Trakehner
or
The American Trakehner Association
or
The Trakehner on Oklahoma State University Site

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