Southdown sheep Survival Trust. The original Southdown breed probably reached the United States in 1803. Their popularity grew because the Southdowns were very easy to take care of and were resilient to many problems for which other sheep are known. They later declined in nearly the same pattern that had occurred in England. One other factor that affected the original bloodlines was that the Southdown could not satisfy the consumer demand for larger meat cuts. This was significant in the development and mass production of the larger, leggier Southdown of today. This divergence from the original breed standards was the beginning of
Southdown and Eridge Hunt including Henfield. At Uckfield, the country extends north, to include Crowborough and Royal Tunbridge Wells and East to the A21. The hunt's best centres are Albourne, Chailey, Hadlow Down, Lewes and Mark Cross. Its terrain consists of wooded weald, well-fenced vale, and the open downland of the South Downs. The hunt is linked to three separate branches of The Pony Club, with the Southdown hunt founding a pony club in 1936, but which split in 1976 to form the Southdown Hunt West and Southdown Hunt East Pony Clubs, and the Eridge Hunt establishing a branch in 1935. Southdown and Eridge