The Cleveland Bay is the only pure bred Warmblood horse left in the world today. They originated in Britain, in the Cleveland area of Northern Yorkshire. It is the oldest established English breed and is known as the English Warmblood.
The Cleveland Bay must be bay with black mane and tail. No other color will qualify. However, a few gray hairs in the mane or tail do not disqualify, and have long been recognized as a feature in some strains of pure bred Cleveland Bays. White is not allowed with the exception of a very small white star, and even this can be frowned upon.
Next to their color, the feet are one of the most important features of this breed. They must be of the best shape, blue in color, and not too shallow or narrow. Here it is said "No foot, no horse."
The bone of the Cleveland Bay is more dense than most breeds, similar to the Arabian. There should be 9 inches of good, flat bone below the knee measured to the nearest point.
During the 19th century, some Cleveland Bays were bred to thoroughbreds, producing the Yorkshire Coach horse. They were outstanding performance horses with speed, style and power. They work well under saddle or in harness, and are excellent jumpers.
During the war years, the Cleveland Bay was the favored horse for war use. During the two world wars, approximately 1.5 million horses died, many of them being Cleveland Bays. This put a drastic decline in the pure bred horse. Other factors that brought a decline to the breed was cross-breeding and the introduction of the first automobiles. Due to exports and the industrial era, by the 1950's there were only four purebred stallions left in England. In 1983, the first pure-bred Cleveland Bay foal was born in the United States, after a hiatus of 25 years. In 1994, only 22 purebred fillies were registered world wide. The breed still remains on the endangered breeds list. Now, due to foresight and the determination of its admirerors, the breed is surviving and its numbers are growing.
