Phantom – Our Canadian Horse

Phantom – Our Canadian Horse

November 9th, 2018

Gimlet Lynx Phantom – Our Canadian Horse

Phantom is new to the ranch and has already enjoyed gathering the cattle and a few trail rides.  Phantom is a registered Canadian Horse, a breed known for their versatility.  Phantom was born June 30, 2004 and is now 15.3 hands tall and weighs about 1400 lbs.  Both of his parents are registered Canadian horses which makes him 100% purebred.  We know that Phantom will enjoy the ranch as much as our guests do and are excited that you all will have the opportunity to meet him next season.  You can’t miss him out in the pasture! Phantom is best described by the words of Etienne Faillon, a 18th century historian; “Small but robust, hocks of steel, thick mane floating in the wind, bright and lively eyes, pricking sensitive ears at the least noise, going along day or night with the same courage, wide awake beneath its harness, spirited, good, gentle, affectionate, following his road with finest instinct to come surely to his own stable.”

Phantom’s full name is Gimlet Lynx Phantom and each name has its own meaning.  The first name, Gimlet, stands for their herd name.  This comes from their breeder, whoever owns the mare when the foal is born.  Each breeder is able to choose their own herd name as long as it is not used by another.  This is very similar to cattle branding.  Each brand and placement is unique to each ranch.  The second name, Lynx, is the sire’s common name.  This is the name that his sire, his father, was called.  And the third name, Phantom, is the horse’s given name.  Each year has an assigned letter; a foal’s given name must start with the letter assigned to the year they are born.  In 2004 the letter was “P”, any foal born in 2004 has a name starting with the letter “P”.

In the 17th century King Louis XIV sent over three stallions and thirty-nine mares to New England.  As people started to notice their agility, drive, and versatility, they became more and more popular.  Owners of the Canadian horses wanted to add their abilities into other breeds.  This started a huge surge of cross breeding.  After a while there were few purebreds left, due to exports of the breed and crossbreeding.  When these Canadian horses faced the dangers of extinction a few of their admirers came together and formed the Canadian Horse Breeders Association.  This association was able to make eight pure bloodlines from the purebred horses that were still left.  These eight bloodlines make up for the majority of the Canadian horses today.  In 1940 there were only 144 registered horses now there are over 2,500 purebred Canadian horses in the registry.

Blog Written by Shelby