Title says it all. But, if no CBs, is there one major breed represented on the competitive teams? I know virtually nothing about driving but am really intrigued after seeing some at WEG.
No Clevelands or Cleveland Partbreds competing in the WEG that are listed. They do not seem to be a popular breed at the top right now, have never been numerous. Could be they are too big for hazards being used right now. In years past the horses used were much larger, for physical power in hazards. Things are much more “technical” in driving, not so much “muscling your way thru” as in the early days of Marathons. Other breeds can be easier to come by, match up.
We have Cleveland Partbreds, would love to see other CB horses out in Driving but they are not common. Part of the issue may be that it takes so long to get Clevelands grown up. They do stay sound for long useful lives, but most folks don’t wish to wait so long.
I think there are only 2 or 3 sets of 4-in-Hands of Clevelands driving in the USA. We have had a 4-in-Hand of Cleveland Partbreds in the past, competed, then lost one a couple years ago. We have been growing young horses since then. We have to get the youngsters going better before we can take 4 Clevelands out again. Maybe NEXT year! Tom O’Connell in Texas has a Four of CB Partbreds, can’t remember who was the other person with a Four. There was a Coaching Four quite a while ago, but last I heard the man was not driving anymore. There are a number of single Clevelands and some Pairs who compete locally in Driving. Still not a good quantity.
There just are not that many Clevelands around, even with counting CB Partbreds. Most CBs are ridden. And looking at CBs in action, folks guess the breed wrongly, never ask to confirm the breed. So even the good Clevelands on exhibit are not given credit when they are out. Everyone who sees ours really likes them, but they are an obscure breed and folks don’t recognize them when they see them.
They are such wonderful horses … I’d love to see them compete … perhaps that would get more interest in these lovely horses.’’
Well, I have a part bred (Carolina Knock Out), who I evented with some success so I was especially interested to see if any were involved with the driving at WEG. They are wonderful horses and I sure wish they had a chance for the world to see them. Oh well, maybe next time.
That issue aside, is there one breed that dominates modern driving?
I guess it would depend on which level you are speaking of. At the WEG, probably Dutch breeding and German horses are among the most numerous. I don’t have the list of horses and breeds in front of me.
At USA competitons, in lower levels you see everything. People just getting started tend to use what they have, to see if they like it. If they do, feel competitive, they continue learning, training, and usually move up with a more athletic horse as the Driver gains skills and confidence.
Again at the higher levels, you need very athletic horses to be able to do what is asked of them in all the phases of a CDE. Body types may be similar, even if breeds are not the same. Multiples may be made of several breeds, but the horses exhibit a similar way of going, body style, self carriage.
PR needed!
I think cbs and cbcrosses need more pr:yes:: a nice article in coth 
with pictures;
mentioning their great feet;); soundness, quick recovery from injuries:yes:
I’m also a fan of the breed. A very dear friend (now departed) owned Powder Monkey who competed dressage at the Olympic Games for the UK. I had a mare by him.
Before he transitioned to ponies the Duke of Edinburgh drove a team of Cleveland Bays.
There’s a team over here competing in coaching classes but not, as far as I’m aware, any at the higher level Horse Driving Trials.
Currently I’m training a lady and bringing her young Cleveland Bay mare but we’re long reining only and will be for some time yet. That horse may well eventually be put to harness but not for HDT.
There’s a propensity over here to DWB’s and Gelderlanders. There are still plenty of other breeds and cross breeds but they’re creeping in. There’s been quite a few high end ridden dressage horses purchased specifically for the sport. Quite a bit of noise about it here and because to put it in a nutshell, of the unequal weighting and importance of the dressage scores. There’s a bit of a movement going on to try to drive down the importance of the dressage test score.
But that subject will I am sure, be for another day.
I have friends who own Peters Creek Farm and breed Cleveland Bays in Social Circle, GA -gorgeous facility. There are very, very few CBs in the USA (around 150 total in the USA and about 500 worldwide). The owners have tried really, really hard to get them into hands of serious, driving competitors -they couldn’t find anyone interested in them.
http://peterscreekfarm.com/Clevelandbayhistory.aspx
If anyone is interested in a great CB horse, part-bred or full -I know they would love to get some horses into the driving community!
One of the coolest historical things they told me about the breed is that dappling on the bay is normal but they also used to come in bay zebra striping on the legs -but that this gene is all gone now. I thought that was really sad, as it would look so neat!
Whip Poll
I recall reading somewhere that the #1 breed used in the lower levels was the Morgan or Morgan-x
I was looking at the breeding of the driving horses at the WEG, there were a good number of KWPN horses. The KWPN has 3 different books; Riding (what is commonly called Dutch Warmblood in English), Harness and Gelders (the Harness and Gelders getting lumped together by a lot of English speakers). Anyways, 37 KWPN horses total, the majority of which were Harness Horses (about 2 dozen).
Of the Dutch Harness Horses there were three by Harmonie and one each by Gelviro and Majesteit, who all stand here in the US. One of the ones sired by Harmonie, Tornado driven by Darryl Billing, was formerly a WBFSH ranked show jumping horse. There were five horses sired by Manno and three sired by his grandsire Renovo, but oddly none sired by Manno’s sire/Renovo’s son Fabricius. There were two by Roy M and one by his sire Larix, Larix also being by Fabricius.
