The future of a breed of horses used by Britain's Queen Elizabeth has been protected by the use of a fake mare.

The Cleveland Bay, which has been used to pull the Queen’s carriage, is characterized as being a bay horse with black points, measuring 16.0-16.2 hands. In the UK, there are only 300 Cleveland Bay horses left. The Cleveland Bay Society of North America, which was founded when the first horse was imported from England in 1885, has about 135 registered purebreds on its roster.

Scientists who were worried the Cleveland Bay breed was set to die out have used a PVC-clad model horse to seduce one of the last final stallions, London Principal, who has now fathered six foals over three seasons thanks to artificial insemination—with one of the queen's horses currently pregnant as a result.