The Cleveland Bay

The Cleveland Bay is believed to be Britain's oldest breed of horse, it is also one of the rarest with less than 500 left in the world. In the middle ages the Cleveland Bay was used by pedlars or Chapmen as a pack horse and was known as the Chapman's Horse.

By 1897, when the stud book was first formed, the Cleveland Bay had become a popular carriage horse both in the UK and North America. Buffalo Bill Cody used to drive 6 Cleveland Bay Stallions to a stage coach in his wild west show.

As horse drawn transport declined, at the beginning of the 20th century, the breed fell into decline. By 1960 there were only 6 stallions left in the UK . Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II bought the stallion Mulgrave Supreme, to prevent him from being exported. Today Her Majesty is a recognised breeder of the Cleveland Bay and is patron of the CBHS.

Cleveland Bays are kept at the Royal Mews in London where they are used for ceremonial duties in central London. The Royal Mews is open to the public.

The Cleveland Bay has great strength and stamina so makes an excellent hunter, Cleveland Bays also compete in dressage and showjumping competitions. The Cleveland Bay has a wonderful temperament and is ideally suited for leisure riding.

When the breed was at threat in the UK many Europeans bought the best Cleveland Bays and used them to improve what we call today 'warm bloods'.

The Shagya Arab

Our Arabians came from the foundation stud at Babolna, Hungary where the stud was formed in 1789. From 1816 the stud concentrated on breeding desert Arabs and in 1836 the foundation stallion known as Shagya ( born in 1830 in Syria) was imported to the stud.

The Shagya was originally bred to be an officer's horse in the Hungarian Cavalry. The World Arabian Horse Organisation credit the breed with great racial purity owing to the accurate record keeping of the Hungarian Stud Book

The Shagya is 90% Arabian and is taller than pure Arabians, it stands at about 15.2hh or 158 cm. and is ideal for use as a Riding Horse in a centre such as ours. The Shagya is prized as a show jumper and endurance horse. According to the stud at Babolna the world class show jumpers Milton and Ratina Z carry Shagya Blood lines.

At the National Stud mares and fillies are broken to harness at four years old and to saddle at aged five.

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Alexis Woods

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