The Cavalier Recreation Project aims to re-start the cavalier breed with a healthier, broader gene pool to stop the suffering.

Mammary tumours - diagnosed on average at 10 years old, when all cavaliers have got MVD and half have got SM. And the risk is hugely reduced by spaying.
Autoimmune diseases - rare.
Hip dysplasia - rare.
Familial nephropathy - controlled by a single autosomal recessive allele that there is a DNA test for so easy to breed away from.
PRA - ditto.
Cardiomyopathy - rare (only 9% of cockers die of this according to the KC data).

Papillons are even healthier.

I won't list the OVER 40 conditions that cavaliers are prone to, including two painful and debilitating conditions that are so common good breeding cannot avoid producing dogs with them.

The fact remains that cockers and papillons are healthier than cavaliers. A breed based on cockers and papillons, therefore, WILL be healthier than cavaliers.

Cocker - MAMMARY TUMOURS, AUTO-IMMUNE DISEASE, HIP DYSPLASIA,FAMILIAL NEPHROPATHY,PROGRESSIVE RETINAL ATROPHY,Autoimmune Thyroiditis, Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA) ,Chronic Hepatitis,

Syringoymyelia
http://www.vin.com/proceedings/Proceedings.plx?CID=WSAVA2006&PID=
15986&O=Generic

DVM http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9298474

and much much more....

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119848686/abstract?CRE
TRY=1&SRETRY=0
Eight cases are described of young Cocker Spaniels with severe congestive heart failure that fulfil the criteria for a diagnosis of congestive cardiomyopathy. The differential diagnosis of cardiomyopathy and primary mitral/tricuspid valve disease is discussed. Clinical, radiographic, electro-cardiographic, therapeutic and pathological details are reported. An analysis of pedigree records revealed a close ancestral relationship between six of the dogs.

ABSTRACT
A 5-year-old female Cocker Spaniel dog had a sudden onset of vestibular disease that localized to the caudal fossa. Upon computed tomography of the brain, a large, hypoattenuating mass with a slight peripheral ring enhancement pattern was detected ventral to the cerebellum. A hypoattenuating region was also identified in the center of the C2 spinal cord segment, consistent with syringohydromyelia. Postmortem examination of the brain revealed a fluid filled, cystic mass located dorsal to medulla oblongata that caused severe compression of the overlying cerebellum. The histopathologic diagnosis was an epidermoid cyst. Extensive syringohydromyelia and obstructive hydrocephalus were identified, both thought to be secondary to overcrowding of the caudal fossa. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118574968/abstract

Ruthann, why recreate an existing breed you ask? Well, in this case, you mean recreate it for the second time, the first time having been done purely for aesthetic reasons based on a painting of course. Basically, because dogs are suffering, just because of the breed they were born in. Health problems are so rife in the breed that a "cleared" dog will still get MVD, just not at such an early age, and the Breed Club themselves recommend breeding dogs that do have SM because otherwise the gene pool will shrink to half it's current size which would be even more of a disaster for the breed. I don't find that acceptable. The health problems in cavaliers are not something that only I "believe", they are well documented on such useful websites as http://www.cavalierhealth.com/ which I recommend you read.

Of course a cocker-papillon cross won't be a recreated cavalier, it is merely the first step. And, incidentally, it is how the breed was originally made, back in the 16th and 17th centuries. There are many generations to go before we arrive at a good approximation.

I urge you both to read up on population genetics, through http://www.cavalierhealth.com/ and to read the studies on SM.

Why recreate an exsisting breed?  Just do like other "designer breeders" and start a new breed with out the problems you seem to believe inhierent in the Cavaliers.  Many dedicated and ethical Cavalier breeders have donated their time, money, and dogs to research, identify, and diseases so them may be iradicated from the breed through means of intelligently breeding only health tested dogs and cleared dogs in their breeding programs.  These breeders are out there! Find them listen and your chances of having a healthy puppy will increase measurably. Do not buy from pet shops, mass breeders, or low cost backyard breeders. These people are in it for the money. They don't really care about the dogs why would they care about you and your financial and emotional investment in a puppy.
If you want a Cavalier research the person you are buying from. Ask for references from prior puppy buyers, other breeders, and veterinarians. If you want a cocker-pap, buy one. But do not be deceived into thinking you are going to get a "recreated Cavalier".

I hope that before you do this you do more research into the health problems of both of these breeds. You may have find that diffrent problems will result. You certainly could not call a papillon/cocker mix a Cavalier. It will just be another mixed breed(Designer Dog)

I would just like to wish you the very best with this project and look forward to following the project. Couldn't put it better myself Carol

Hi Lucy

I'm impressed by the thought and care that you have put into this project to recreate the Cavalier bred. You have taken on an enormous task for the best of reasons - to breed dogs which are free from the inherited problems which beset Cavaliers. I wish you the very best of luck with this project and will be following its progress with interest in the coming months and years.

Testing, testing...