History of Canada's National Horse

The Canadian Horse, Canada's National Horse, once one of Canada's best kept secrets, is rapidly becoming one of our most widely acclaimed national treasures.

The Canadian Horses of today are direct descendants of the first royal horses shipped from France by Louis XIV in 1665. The ancestry of these horses was the Breton, Norman, Andalusian, Arab, Barb and Netherlands stallions brought into France by Louis XIV.

At that time there was no official Canadian breed, and the first horses' conformation did not have a precise or standard description. However, the isolation of the new country in which King Louis' horses evolved kept the breed from straying from its original type.

In 1670, the caliber of the royal horses was described by the Mother Superior of the Ursulines, when she said "The king's horses are not for the plough, but for the royal carriage". The comments of observers of the day as well as sketches, drawings and most notably the paintings of Cornelius Krieghoff, show that the horse of old very much resembles the Canadian horse we know today.

The King's horses not only managed to survive but thrived despite harsh northern winters, eating straw and working ever so hard to help settle the new continent.

From this carefully chosen herd a truly amazing breed called in French "Le Cheval Canadien" emerged and has managed to impress horse persons in contact with them for over 350 years. After the British conquest of 1780, the breed was referred to outside of the French speaking community as the "French Canadian Horse". Recently the name has been changed to the "Canadian Horse" but still today, especially in rural communities, the old name sticks.

New Breeds Formed

Americans travelling in the Canadian Province of Quebec were so impressed by the "Cheval Canadien" horse that they brought back subjects to New England to improve local stock.

The impact and legacy of the "Cheval Canadien" blood was remarkable. The Canadian Horse was used to form the Morgan, the American Saddlebred, the Standardbred, The Missouri Fox Trotter and the Tennessee Walker breeds.

War Horse

The Canadian Horse was also sought after as a military mount due to its size, strength, stamina, durability and versatility. The Canadian Horse saw service in the American Civil War. The North West Mounted Police "March West", the Boer War, and in World War I.

Protecting the Breed

The popularity of the breed was expanding, so much so, that in an effort to protect the breed, a law was passed forbidding the exportation of "French Canadian Horses". However, without a studbook or strong association, it was hard to effectively protect the breed.

Luckily, some concerned individuals did form a first studbook in 1885. In 1895 the Canadian Horse Breeders Association was formed. In 1907 the first studbook was closed and a new one was formed through strict inspections of the breeding stock. In 1909 the second studbook was closed to unregistered horses. In 1912 the Canadian government became involved in the preservation of the breed by setting up a breeding program.

With the outbreak of World War II the federal government discontinued this program. It was then taken over by the Quebec government and continued until 1981. The closure of the governmental programs, the effect of mechanization and the lack of promotional initiative were some of the contributing factors in the decline in numbers of registered stock. At the lowest point between 1970 and 1974 the numbers had dropped from 150,000 in the 1850's to only about 400 purebred horses. Shortly thereafter alarmed Canadian Horse Breeders aggressively started to promote the breed. By 2001 there were 4,000 registered Canadian Horses.

Unfortunately North Americans are only just rediscovering the breed that their forefathers appreciated and which had such an impact on so many North American breeds. All this welcome renewed interest has enabled the status of the Canadian Horse breed to be moved from "Critical" to "Rare" by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.