CHERRY CREEK CANADIANS

3. La Gorgendiere Royal Bloodline

This line is also often referred to as the "Royal" line.

La Gorgendiere Royal (#3593), was one of the 3 stallion lines which originated at the Government Experimental farm breeding programs. LG Royal, a black stallion, was foaled May 31, 1954 at Deschambaults, QC. His sire was the bay stallion Beauport de Cap Rouge (#2744), and his dam the black mare LG Reine (#3460), both also products of the government breeding programs.

LG Royal sired five sons: LG Don (#3761), LG Opulent (3773), LG Barreau (3797), LG Blondin (#3834), and Prince Royal (#3873). Of these, only LG Barreau and Prince Royal have any reproducing male offspring today.

LG Barreau was a black stallion foaled April 30, 1964. He too was a product of the government breeding program, having been bred by the Ferme Ecole Provinciale at La Gorgendiere QC. His dam was the black mare, La Gorgendiere Baronnie (#3694), who was also bred at the La Gorgendiere farm.

Prince Royal (#3873) was sired by La Gorgendiere Royal but stemmed from a private breeding program. He was bred by Benoit Levesque of Trois Pistoles, QC. The Prince Royal branch has had some controversy involved with it, in the past. Of interest, if one traces back the ancestry of Prince Royal in the Canadian Horse Breeders Association (CHBA) studbook, you will see that he is noted as having had a non-registered mare in his pedigree. Prince Royal's grand-dam, Cafe de Arsene (#4786), had not been registered by her original owners although she was purebred, and all of her full siblings had previously been registered. At the time that Prince Royal (her grandson) was foaled, Cafe de Arsene had still not been registered. Because of this, Cafe de Arsene is simply noted as "jument" in the pedigree of her daughter, Princesse Maggie (#3748), who was the dam of Prince Royal. Princesse Maggie is denoted in the CHBA studbook with the "S" prefix indicating that she was out of a "souche" or non-purebred mare, which really wasn't the case. Cafe de Arsene was always a purebred mare despite the paperwork mix up, and eventually was awarded her registration posthumously (thus the reason why her registration number of 4786, actually follows her daughter's number of 3748 instead of vice versa). There are some who might say that this line should not exist since it is not "pure" however this really is not the case, when you know the whole story.

Prince Royal sired three sons, all full brothers out of the same mare, Brunette 3ème (#3583), a black who features prominently in several of the bloodlines including Royal, Lou, and Brio (being the dam of Brio himself). The three Prince Royal sons, all bred by Philippe Bergeron of St. Etienne de Beauharnois QC, were #3954 Bienvenue Royal Brilliant, #4131 Bienvenue Royal Eric, and #4132 Bienvenue Royal Fanfaron. Somewhat like three Viger brothers Coco, Fablo, and Duc, the three Prince Royal sons, although being full brothers, were quite dissimilar in appearance. Brillant was the most typey, being jet black with a wavey tail and mane. Fanfaron was quite a big, "chunky" solid looking horse, and this physique can often be seen in his descendants. Eric was rather ordinary looking. All three were known for having very nice dispositions.

This line used to be quite common several years ago. It is now becoming less common due to increasingly fewer stallions of the Royal line remaining. As a rule, the horses from this line seem good examples of the traditional type of Canadian Horse having substantial bone, nice natures, good movement, and good, steady temperaments.

Other Information:

For photos of some of the horses from the Royal Bloodline, see the Canadian Horse Stallion website set up by Anne Belanger of Ferme Franchere: http://groups.msn.com/2p0/lignprinceroyal1.msnw?Page=1