CHERRY CREEK CANADIANS

6. Lou Bloodline

Lou (#3613), a small chestnut stallion, was foaled May 13, 1955. He was owned by Laurent Morin of Lachute QC. His sire was the bay stallion Deland de Cap Rouge (#2918), and his dam the brown mare Mona (#3413). He comes from very old lines and was a son of a mare from the St Joachim Government breeding program and a grandson of another renowned St. Joachim horse, Tom (#2227,) who was foaled in 1927. This line is considered by some, to be the "purest" line existing.

Lou sired three sons: #4150 Beauvail Lou General, #4165 Bienvenue Lou L'Houblon, and #4192 Bienvenue Lou Heros. Only Bienvenue Lou Heros has any surviving male offspring. Each of these stallions were somewhat smaller in stature. A decade or two ago, they were not being used by mare owners due to the increasing trend towards breeding for larger size. Since they were not being used, two of the three stallions unfortunately were gelded, resulting in the near extinction of this male line.

Further contributing to the Lou line's near demise, was the fact that for many years, mostly non-pure mares were being bred to Lou Heros. Since the male offspring were consistently less than 100% pure, they were gelded. Given this, this stallion line was on the verge of disappearing. Fortunately, over the past few years, concerned individuals have realized that yet another line of the Canadian Horse was on the verge of being lost. Since then, some breeders have been making a point to bring good quality, purebred mares to the now aged Lou Heros in an effort to try to produce some quality stud colts and mares in order to preserve this stallion line.

The horses from this line tend to be more slender and seem to be of a more riding type build and movement. They tend to show the stamina, strength and hardiness for which the Canadian Horse is famed. We find that Lou horses may be sometimes recognizable by their sloped croups which are quite apparent when compared to Canadian Horses from the other lines. This particular conformational trait does not appear to have been a detriment to their performance in any way, and in fact some individuals state that this makes for a stronger driving horse, better able to pull heavy loads. In our experience, the horses that we have seen from the Lou line, and in particular, those which are built this way, tend to be quite nice movers.

Other Information:

For photos of some of the horses from the Lou bloodline, see the Canadian Horse Stallion website set up by Anne Belanger of Ferme Franchere: http://groups.msn.com/2p0/lignlou.msnw