Le Cheval Canadien

Stunning large portrait of a Canadian horse. 

The lithographs were printed on textured paper to look like oil paintings.

The Canadian Horse descended from the French stock Louis XIV sent to Canada in the late 17th century. The initial shipment, in 1665, consisted of two stallions and twenty mares from the Royal Stables in Normandy and Brittany, the center of French horse breeding. Only 12 of the 20 mares survived the trip. Two more shipments followed, one in 1667 of 14 horses (mostly mares, but with at least one stallion), and one in 1670 of 11 mares and a stallion. The shipments included a mix of draft horses and light horses, the latter of which included both pacing and trotting horses. The exact origins of all the horses are unknown, although the shipments probably included Bretons, Normans, Arabians, Andalusians and Barbs.

From, L’espèce chevaline à travers le monde.