Cleveland Bay Breeding
Margaret and Colin Green have been breeding Cleveland bays
for over 30 years. This is their personal story
Tregoyd mares against the Black Mountains in the Brecon Beacons National Park
The Cleveland Bay Breed is a rare breed but also breeders are
a rare breed too as with the success of any breeding project,
there must be people willing to make personal sacrifices to follow
such a specialised interest. There are not many people who are
breeding pure bred Cleveland Bays and after 32 years of breeding
pure bred Cleveland Bay horses, following a number of years of
breeding Thoroughbreds, Margaret Green and I, Colin Green, of
Tregoyd Cleveland Bays, know just what dedication it takes.
Certainly
any rare breed will cost and this is not just financially, although
that is certainly the case, but also in terms of time, commitment,
energy, inconvenience and not least of all through the emotional
energies and heartache following difficult breeding experiences
and losses. Breeding is a roller coaster ride following the vagaries
of the economy with it’s ups and downs.
<< Tregoyd Journeyman
Stallion:
Reserve Champion at the CBHS Stallion Championship 2003
Now in USA
The Cleveland Bay breed in particular has been on a roller coaster
ride throughout the last century and a quarter. They gain in
popularity and breeders think that this is the 'breakthrough'
as the economy rises only to be followed by slumps and recession
and resultant pessimisms and return to low breeding numbers.
This has happened time and time again over the decades and
only slow progress has been made in increasing the numbers bred.
However as dedicated breeders we carry on with eternal optimism.
In our 32 years we too have experienced these rises and falls
a number of times but our aim has always been to be able to ensure
the survival of the Cleveland Bay and strive for continual improvement
and increasing the respect and recognition by the horse world.
Tregoyd William
Cleveland Bay stallion
Now in Oregon USA >>
So who are we and what brought us to being involved with this
historical Yorkshire breed?
Margaret and I are both from the
great county of Yorkshire which is also the home of the Cleveland
Bay Breed. Margaret rode as a young girl doing all of the usual
pony activities and joined in on local hunt days. I however as
a young boy, never went near a horse (just after the war and
times were hard and horses were only ridden by posh girls with
rich parents - I thought) so I never rode until after college
and was actually introduced to it by Margaret during our courting
days. (So I eventually married a ‘stuck up, snobby girl!! Margaret
of course was not like that). I quite took to it as I was PE
trained and found balancing not a problem and quite enjoyed the
challenges. I had changed my opinions of horses!
<< Colin Green, President of the CBHS meets Her Majesty and talks about the King George V Trophy for the Champion Cleveland Bay presented to the Society by her Grand Farther in 1921
Soon after we were married a decisive event took place - Margaret
bought a TB mare, Marshland Gazette. Unfortunately before long ‘Zette’ developed
back problems and couldn’t be ridden. We took the vet’s advice
to breed from her and this became the point where our horse breeding
interest began.
Before long, we had two young Thoroughbreds, their mother and
two riding horses. We obviously needed land and, after some difficulty,
managed to buy 26 acres right up at the bottom of the steep Black
Mountain face. The original mare had died giving birth and with
the position of our land and other considerations we looked for
a hardier type of horse to breed from as a replacement.
Cleveland Sporthorse Spring
Pascal
Part bred Cleveland Bay wins the Winter Championships
2009 at Hartpury. Cleveland Sporthorse example not bred
by Margaret and Colin Green. Ridden by Samantha Thurman-Baker
FEI Junior Champion 2009 >>
The search
led us to look for a horse of the Cleveland Bay breed which Margaret
had known as a child.
Eventually we found a yearling filly, Farnham Lady Marygold,
from near Knaresborough. That was 32-years ago. She proved to
be an excellent choice as she eventually turned out to be one
of the most successful, modern day females of the breed ultimately
having 13 sons and daughters registered in the Cleveland Bay
Stud Book. It’s either a record or very close to being a record.
She actually died only a few weeks ago which shows the tremendous
stamina of this wonderful breed and of her in particular.
However,
when we bought FLM we also saw a mare who was in foal so we talked
to the Bank Manager and bought her too. As it happened this was
another stroke of luck as she, Magnolia, gave birth to a pure
bred filly, Tregoyd Country Girl. The luck continued as Country
Girl herself later also became another very successful breeder
of daughters with the amazing record of having 8 daughters in
succession.
<< Tregoyd Sportsman:
Bred by Margaret and Colin Green
Competing Junior Novice eventing.
Ridden by Rhiannon Eustace
Our first stallion was a 3 year old bred in North
Wales who turned out to be a wonderful introduction to stallion
ownership for inexperienced stallions owners. Penrhyn Gladiator
was easy to live with and was hardly any trouble. He was keen
but kind and patient. On one occasion when approaching a mare
for covering I had him in-hand and then just a couple of yards
away from the mare I slipped on the wet footing and he stopped
too, waited, looking down at me like saying "what are you doing
down there, come on, hurry up" until I was back on my feet and
we could continue to complete the task. This gave me great confidence
with him too. Breeding was easy and we were very successful in
making many entries into the CBHS stud book but we were less
good at selling. We kept saying, "Let’s keep this one to
see how it turns out."
Cleveland Sporthorse This
is a part bred Cleveland Bay - not all are bay Natter Jack
Toad. Cleveland Sporthorse example not bred by Margaret
and Colin Green.
Ridden by Rachel Pickard CB Ridden
Champion 2008 at Royal Show >>
At our peak we had 39 horses, mostly Cleveland
Bays, including three Cleveland pure bred stallions and one Thoroughbred
stallion. All this we accomplished with both of us teaching full
time, also 230 sheep and half a dozen cattle. But more than that,
in my job I was required to be away sometimes for four or five
days at a time leaving my wonderful wife to see to everything
on the farm before and after a full day’s
work with infants at school. What a wonderful choice I had in
Margaret.
We have bred some lovely Cleveland Bays and like to
feel that we have been reasonably successful. One of our home
bred stallions was Reserve Champion Stallion for the Breed in
2003 and he is now in Virginia USA. Another stallion that was
Champion stallion in 2007 is now in Australia. Two more stallions
who were sold as a colts are in North America and a number of
females have also been sold abroad. We travel out to see these
horses occasionally and through the Cleveland Bay breed we have
made some lovely friends throughout this country and also abroad.
<< Pure bred Tregoyd
bred filly foal finding her legs
These days now we are retired from teaching and have more time
to devote to the breed. We currently have eight mares, one four-year-old
stallion, one two-year-old colt and a gelding for hacking out.
This year, 2009, we have three foals and two more might have
foals. It has long been our practice to allow our stallions to
run out with the mares all of the year round. This way we feel
that the horses are happier in a settled herd, management is
easier all round, and mares get into foal much easier and with
fewer problems. Stallions have been very good with foals when
they arrive but we are always watchful when a young stallions
sees the foals for the first time. They are always intrigued
by the first foal pondering how they get there in amongst his
herd unseen - as it were!
The down side of running stallions
is that we do not always have a definite foaling date. We are
fortunate that our land is arranged so that we can the keep two
groups separate. We believe that the stallions are aware of each
other but in 30 years of this sort of management the stallions
have stayed with their own mares. Cleveland Bays are lovely horses;
they love humans and can do everything asked of them. Pure breds
might not always end up doing really advanced events but they
are great for the average and just beyond rider. They are an
economical horse to keep and happily live out. They
ask little but company and have a temperament to suit the whole
family. They are the true family horse and people who have actually
owned a pure bred Cleveland Bay speak very highly indeed of the
qualities and of their personality. They have a temperament that
has been honed with time being selectively bred to work all day
alongside humans. They have been our companions for many generations
and will give all that they can.
Breyer Horse model based on
Tregoyd Journeyman. Breyer are a huge producer of horse and pony
models for children in the USA >>
The Cleveland was bred to work with man, to be in harness,
to be a working companion. It’s in their genes. It is as if they
are a member of the family. They used to work with man in the
fields; they would take you to church, take you hunting, and
tolerate young children. They’re
all-purpose, capable horses and just really pleasant company.
3 Tregoyd pure bred foals 2009