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Breeding for Conservation and Performance
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Cleveland Bay Hunting Day at Farnley
November 2011: January 15, 2012: January
2012 has provided mild weather to date for which we are
grateful. Especially, I am grateful as my "manure
transportation specialist", Mike, has been out of
commission due to an injury. If you will remember
in the winter of 2009/2010, we had snowstorm after snowstorm.
That winter I was also caring for the horses without
the aid of my "manure transportation specialist" as he
was recovering from surgery. For me, I hope that
the weather continues to be mild.
As I missed posting in November of 2011, I want to share
photos which I took at the Third Annual Cleveland Bay
Hunting Day at Farnley in White Post, Virginia on
November 19, 2011.
This was graciously hosted by Peter Cook a member of the Blue Ridge Hunt,
along with the Blue Ridge Hunt Club and
the owners of Farnley. Farnley's history
is significant to the Cleveland Bay Horse breed.
Without the breeding of Cleveland Bays at Farnley, along with the
exportation of a Cleveland Bay stallion back to the UK
after the war, we may not have had the Cleveland Bay
Breed today. Five of the Cleveland Bays bred here
at Epiphany Bay Farm have bloodlines back to the Farnley
stallion.
Cleveland Bays pose in front of Farnley
before the hunt.
Blue Ridge huntsman and hounds headed
out.
Peter Cook on an Idlehour Cleveland Bay.
Cleveland Bays returning to Farnley after the hunt.
View:
Farm History 2009, ,Farm History 2010
Farm History 2011
Farm History 2012
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A Wakeup Call.
March 4, 2011: You may already know
that the Cleveland Bay Horse is a critically endangered
breed of horse with less than 1000 purebreds in the
world and estimated less than 200 breeding age purebred
females in the world. In the most recent Bay
Window published by the Cleveland Bay Horse Society,
which maintains the Stud Book for the Cleveland Bay
Horse, the Stud Book Editors Report lists the number of
purebreds born over the past five years. The
following information is from this report:
Year:
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Total Foals born Overseas:
15
13
10
13
0
Total Foals born in the Great Britain:
66
51
46
41
32
Yearly Total of Foals Born:
81
64
56
54
32
Only 32 purebreds born in the entire world in 2010
and they were all born in the UK! This
represents is a 60 % decrease from the number of
purebred Cleveland Bays born in 2006. There is
much discussion among Cleveland Bay breeders, owners and
enthusiasts about preserving the breed and the ways in
which this can be accomplished. From a "Keep It
Simple Sweetie" (KISS) perspective more purebreds need
to be born. |
Why Own a Cleveland Bay?
Two words, great temperament. A Cleveland Bay is a smart horse with a
traditionally quiet temperament. Their history is one
of having multiple uses for a single horse. The farm
family would use them to pull carriages and carts, ride to
the hunt or to town and for agricultural uses. These uses
developed a horse who is smart with good temperament and a
sound body. Recently, I read an
article in the Virginia Horse Journal, which provided the
results of a survey asking horse owners how they used their
horses. Of all the possible uses, the largest category
by a landslide was pleasure use. To me, this means
most horses are owned, trained, and ridden by amateurs who
want to simply enjoy being with their horse or horses.
Wouldn't it make sense to start with a horse that naturally
possesses a quiet temperament?
Read More
Our History
First a bit
of history. Mike and I, Carlene, met in 2001.
Mike, now retired from an Assistant Fire Chief's position,
was a career firefighter. My career has been and still
is in Veterinary Medicine as a Licensed Veterinary
Technician. When we met, Mike had only been around and
ridden the horses in front of the G.C.Murphy store into
which a nickel was placed before you rode. I on the
other hand, since my first memories have always been drawn
to horses. As a teenager, my parents told me if I
wanted a horse it would be my responsibility as they would
not...Read More
Member of the Cleveland Bay Horse Society
Member of the Cleveland Bay Horse Society of North America
Member of the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy
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