FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES DECEMBER 2013 89
Stephanie and Baile at the Boggy Creek Competitive Trail Ride.
Photo by Tre Wheway Photography
GHP Baile Hill, South Eastern Distance Riders Association
(SEDRA) 2012-2013 Overall Grand Champion, Competitive Trail.
Photo by Stephanie Sutch
enough to for him to want to do it and go the distance?
Our first ride was October 2010 at Doe Lake, a 25-mile
competitive trail ride. He was hooked from the start. I used to race
endurance and had some success on different Arabs, but I had
never ridden a distance horse who loved it as much as Baile. We
left our first ride being awarded Best Rookie Horse, and the rest
is history.
Since that ride, he has completed three ride seasons, totaling
828 lifetime competitive miles. He has also been named the
Overall Grand Champion for the 2012-2013 ride season, the
Overall Reserve Champion for the 2011-2012 season and
the Overall High Point Other Breed award for two consecutive
seasons in 2012-2013. Baile was also named the Cleveland Bay
Horse Society of North America Performance Award Champion in
Distance Riding in 2010, 2011 and 2012. While Baile continues
to add awards to his resume, he also placed first in his division
in 2012 and 2013 in the Florida Horsemen’s 3-day 100 mile
Competitive Trail Ride.
My goal for Baile is longevity in competition and to serve as an
ambassador for his breed as long as he can and is willing to do
so. For this reason, I do not have plans to race him in endurance,
as some of the times being posted today tend to push the limit.
We stick to competitive trail, in which the horse is judged on
soundness and fitness after completing a certain distance within
a prescribed time window. We dabble a bit in dressage and do a
little jumping to achieve great cross training conditioning.
Baile has definitely been an asset in helping to promote the
Cleveland Bay breed. The Cleveland Bay is England’s oldest
native breed of horses and is noted for athleticism, stamina,
intelligence and even temperament. These traits make a very
versatile horse that can do just about anything from driving to
dressage to jumping. The breed is also renowned for passing
these hallmark traits to their offspring, which makes for excellent
crosses.
Many European Warmblood breeds such as Oldenburgs and
Hanoverians can trace a Cleveland Bay influence in their lineage.
Sadly, Cleveland Bays are a critically endangered breed, with
less than 1,000 purebreds remaining worldwide. Slowly word is
spreading about this amazing breed and more people are getting
involved. There are a few cross-breeds currently competing in
top level international competitions in various venues such as
combined driving, dressage and eventing. Baile’s 2012-2013
Overall Championship win was a huge victory for the breed, and
showcases the breed’s stamina and versatility.
As we are gearing up for the 2013-2014 ride season, it fills me
with joy to look back on the journey of this amazing horse, and his
transformation from that spooky, insecure horse to the most willing
and sensible distance horse I have ever ridden. Ironically, he is
now the horse other riders choose for their youngsters or nervous
horses to follow. The true Cleveland Bay in him has come out and
he has found his calling in life. Though some people tell me he is
“just too good of a horse to waste on distance, he could go on to
be a top dressage horse or jumper,” they will never understand
our relationship and the love he has for going the distance. I am
asked all the time, “He is phenomenal … what is he?” I am always
very proud to reply, “He is a Cleveland Bay!”
About the writer: Stephanie Sutch is an accomplished
horsewoman who has been involved with horses her entire
life. She grew up successfully competing hunters and jumpers.
She began training horses and giving riding lessons when she
graduated from college. She got her first taste of distance riding in
2002 when she went to work training and conditioning endurance
horses. She also worked at the Florida Carriage Museum and
Resort as their education coordinator and museum historian.
This exposed her to the world of carriage driving, as well as
allowed her to fulfill her passion for researching and teaching the
history and development of the horse within human societies.
Stephanie currently serves on the South Eastern Distance Riders
Association’s (SEDRA’s) board of directors as well as the Florida
Horsemen’s Association board of directors.
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