Davis Farmland has a new horse out on our hayride! For those who haven’t met her yet, Dakota is the new Cleveland Bay Mare on the farm. We’ve never had this particular and endangered breed here before and there’s lots of interesting history about these amazing horses.The Cleveland Bay is currently on the Critical List, with about 1,000 left in the world and about 180 left in North America. This breed of horse is bay in color with black points and no white (except the occasional star) and therefore pretty uniform and distinct-looking. The breed originates from Yorkshire, England and is England’s oldest breed of horse.
Cleveland Bays have tremendous strength, stamina and speed and were used for transportation as coach horses (by Queen Elizabeth Herself) and farm work. As time went on and transportation became more industrialized, the demand for these horses diminished. The purebreds themselves were not great sport horses but they can be cross-bred with several other breeds and produce excellent sporting horses.
The breed first came to the United States in the 1800s and their status has been Critical since the early 1900s. A fun fact about these horses is that they are still used and bred by the Queen of England.
For more information on this breed visit: Cleaveland Bay or Albc-USA.
