Canadian Horses

DNA samples of rare Canadian Horse breed for study

Rick Blackburn pulls into Texas A&M University with DNA samples from Canadian Horses.
Fifty horse DNA samples have been delivered to a Texas university by two horse riders to further the knowledge of the Canadian horse breed.

Canadian film-makers Rick Blackburn and his wife Louise Leroux made the three-month 2500-mile journey on two Canadian horses from Quebec to Texas A&M University.

The pair, who arrived on Monday, delivered 50 samples of Canadian horse genes to Dr Gus Cothran, director of equine genetics at the university's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

The Canadian horse is a breed that goes back hundreds of years and has had a rich history in North America.

It is now one of the rarest horse breeds in the world, with only about 2500 pure-blood Canadian horses left. The breed is listed as critical by the American Livestock Conservation Association.
It is hoped that Dr Cothran's mapping of the horses' genes will not only help determine how the Canadian horse has influenced the bloodlines of other North American horses, but raise awareness for the breed.

An expert in population and conservation genetics, Cothran is one of only a few people in the world who does work on genetics of horses as it relates to breed conservation.
Until recently, he has had little opportunity to study the Canadian horse because of its rarity.
Rick Blackburn unpacks the DNA samples for Dr Gus Cothran.

"The diverse samples that Mr Blackburn collected from top Canadian horse breeders across Canada will enable me to do a more comprehensive analysis of the breed," he said.
"There is a strong probability that these horses are ancestors to a variety of common North American breeds such as the Morgan horse. This information should bring to light the genetic and historical importance of the Canadian horse and hopefully spark people's interest in conserving the breed."

These outcomes are the reason Blackburn and Leroux undertook the ride, which began on May 11, 2009.

"At 25 to 35 miles a day it has been a long journey for sure," says Blackburn. "But the opportunity to highlight this breed and to demonstrate its legendary ruggedness by riding them cross-country has definitely been worthwhile. There has been an incredible grass-roots interest from Americans in what we are doing and that gives us hope that we will be able to save these horses."
Blackburn and Leroux are also turning this unique experience into a film entitled, "The Legend of the Canadian Horse" that will air on Canadian network television.