RAYNE, La. — Cleveland Bay is the oldest established breed of English Horses. Sandra Marx, a horsemanship teacher at Cove Equestrian Center, owns Melvin, 1 of only 200 Cleveland Bays in North America. Marx says Melvin was a gift to her from her friend Laura.
“Laura was looking for a good forever home for him, and I needed good school horses," Marx said. "I got on him, rode him for the first time and took him home.”
Marx told me it’s a privilege to have such a rare horse.
“I’m honored it could bring tears to my eyes,” Marx said.
The breed is known for having many unique characteristics such as their large size. Marx explained Cleveland Bay’s are often much larger than other horses, this is what makes them perfect work horses.
“If you notice, the strong shoulder, and the rear end, you have strong muscles that can pull a carriage,” Marx said.
However the Cleveland Bay horse became less popular overtime, this is why only 500 horses of this breed are left in the world.
“They went from really large horses to a smaller horse but with the gaits of the bigger horse,” Marx said.
Because the breed is a rarity they tend to be more expensive.
“It depends on what they do, and what level they are trained," Marx said. "You can spend 50,000 you can spend 100,000.”
Marx loves the size of her Cleveland Bay and will continue using him as a school horse to help riders learn proper mechanics.
Marx told me she loves her Cleveland Bay horse and she would never sell him.
