[QUOTE=TN Lilly;3486973]
This is the quote that prompted my last post:
“The UK Cleveland Bay Society is concerned to protect the pure bred Cleveland Bay NOT the part bred - though of course they have their use and purpose and are also a great type. Cross breeds are much much much more common but its true proven pure breds that are rare.”
Protecting the pures means being concerned about the partbreds too. IMHO it is short-sighted to think otherwise. Due to the low population numbers, the CB sporthorses are functioning as the ambassadors for the breed. The CBHS & the CBHSNA should be concerned about both. Other breed groups have capitalized on “partbreds.” The Appendix Quarter Horse comes to mind. Perhaps there should be an Appendix Cleveland Bay Registry here in N.A. to deal with the N.A. Sporthorses.[/QUOTE]
You are getting excited about things you need to change from inside the Societies. Both function as mostly a volunteer organization, with I think, one part-time employee in the UK. Income to the Treasuries to promote with is limited, as is the people time to put in at Horse gatherings at the booths. EVERYTHING done at these venues is VOLUNTARY, usually paid space by the person sitting there in front.
As said, the Societies’ PRIMARY concern is keeping the Purebreds coming, of good quality, with diversity in bloodlines. I do think they are getting more concerned with the Partbreds, but it is a big change in focus. There just is not enough attention to spread it over a big area, not enough people or money. They are MOST concerned with the Pures because they are needed to create Partbreds. There are less Pures always, and each is of importance to the breed. Colts of various lines, combinations, getting gelded means they are not available for breeding. Yet not all colts are good enough to be stallions, pass inspection, breed quality would deteriorate.
UK owners breed and have to sell the products to pay the bills. A big breeder might register 4 foals in a year! They need to be desirable to be sold. Partbreds are quite desireable for their skills, sell well, faster. Alternating years with the Pure mares to CB and other stallions, makes the foals more saleable. They don’t often have the land or resources to keep the unsold animals forever. If their foals don’t sell, you DON’T breed the mare again!! Doesn’t matter how rare her blood is, you can’t feed the foals and mare with no income from sales.
There are a dedicated few CB folks, especially in the US, who have carried a lot of responsibility for years. They continue to work on getting the CB out in public as they can. Doing the boring Society stuff of paperwork, keeping us all tied together, knowing what is happening in other places across the wide spaces of the US and Canada. They put up their time and money as they have it, to present these horses for others to learn about.
Oddly enough, the US stallion owners are usually older, not even riders. They don’t get the horses out, for whatever reason, to compete. It takes a BUNCH of work to present a lovely horse in competition, money to pay good riders and trainers, to have him successful in his chosen area. Taking a stallion out is WORK, you do things MUCH differently than with mares and geldings. ALWAYS a chance of problems with a stallion. Most of the owners just have a couple CB animals, are trying to keep the CB horses going. No interest in competing. They stand him, hoping to break even on yearly expenses, willing to take the loss if he doesn’t get many mares in. Easier for them to keep him at home, do mares AI. Less chance of him getting hurt in transit, injured during work.
We have been in CB horses, the CBHSNA, owning Partbreds for many years. We see the new folks come and go, who want everything changed RIGHT NOW! Maybe if there were a few million dollars laying in the treasury, we COULD do all those things, improve the way things work. However, no millions around to do that, so it is one slow step at a time. And you see those folks for about 5 years, complaining, then they get a new interest and leave.
Maybe if our family had “staff” and a bottomless wallet, we could go out more, be in the public eye. Since we don’t have the above, we attend what we can, look the best possible in our presentations of these horses. We answer questions, give the Society address and websites out for more information.
Unfortunately, the people who enjoy owning the Bays, are usually more quiet and NOT VISIBLE. They go hacking in their backyards, local trails, may hunt him. Sometimes they compete at a local schooling activity. They have done competition before, own this CB or Partbred CB horse to have FUN with. It meets their needs, they don’t feel the need to prove how wonderful he is to others.
We have found the Bays we know to be best in the hands of experienced horse people. Skillful handlers and riders, with a deeper knowledge of horse thinking. I would NEVER say they are a beginner type horse as a breed. They are extremely smart, quick to learn, for good or bad. As mentioned by others, CBs are thinkers, wanting to COMPLETELY understand what you are asking of them, before going forward. Teaching them confidence, trust, boldness, takes time and skill in handling. NOT a 90 day or even a years work. If you FAIL THEM, they are even less likely to try next time, willing to wait and see what happens then. Beginner riders lack confidence in themselves, unwilling to push horse when needed, so failures escalate. Very easy to make a smart horse into a quitter or unruly. They are too big to muscle around, as other breeds sometimes are to change a bad habit.
We are back to that time factor in growing up, training steps, which just can’t be speeded up. Mine have no attention span over 10 minutes before age 3yrs. Trying to force the issue develops evasions, games, problems you don’t have if you don’t push learning. He may be 16H, wearing size 3 shoes, but the brain is not ready. He has good ground manners, wears bridles, saddles, but won’t accept drilling time. No one home to hear me! By age 4, he can do longer lesson times, more READY to listen. Has some patience. Bones are still growing for another 2 years, maybe more. Just the way CBs and CB Partbreds are made. You can’t force this breed to grow faster.
Buyers don’t want to hear that. They expect to be using that horse by age 3. Western Horse folks use their babies fairly hard because they are the epitome of “Can’t Wait Folks”. Have to be getting “some use out of him” so feed money is not wasted. Lunge line classes for the weanlings and yearlings. Big futurity classes for 2yr olds in Snaffle Bit or Hackamore. Reining and jumping at 3-4yrs. This is from the local to National level shows. A western breed horse in their hands is an old-timer at 4yrs old, both in mileage and experience. My CB horse has just started untangling his legs to respond to signals! I don’t want to promote the CBs to that kind of a future usage.
