Canadian Horse - Breed Numbers
 

Number of Horses Currently in Existence

Estimated Numbers:

The estimated number of live Canadian Horses in existence was determined using the formula published in the Canadian Horse Breeders Association (CHBA) stud book #5. This formula uses the number of registrations for each year, spread over a 25 year period. With each passing year, a certain number of the older horses are predicted to be lost, so the number of live Canadian Horses in existence from years previous is expected to drop by a given percentage. 

This use of this formula ultimately results in a prediction for the number of horses alive on any given year. The number of horses registered for each year, was obtained from either the CHBA records, or from the Canadian Livestock Records Corporation (CLRC).

When this formula was applied to the numbers from the past decade, the results were as follows:

Actual Numbers - 2005 Census Results

In 2005, the CLRC completed a survey of all live Canadian Horses owned by CHBA members. Happily, the population number ended up being higher than the calculations above would have lead one to believe.  The results are as follows:

Interestingly, if you combine the number of stallions and geldings, it only comes to 2710, which is considerably less than the number of existing mares.  Since males vs females should roughly equal a 50:50 ratio, this would lead one to believe that there are a significant number of male horses (most likely geldings) out there that have likely never been registered or reported.  This is likely due to many geldings not being registered due to the cost incurred with the registration of a non-reproducing horse, or because gelding owners frequently do not become CHBA members so would not have any way of reporting their animals.  Thus, the total number of existing Canadian Horses has in all likelihood, been under-reported. 

Sadly, this is still a rare breed and there are so few of them,  it does a real disservice to the breed when any individual are not registered. When this happens, there is no way of accurately tracking the population, nor of being able to follow specific individuals in order to track whether certain stallions/mares or breeders produce exceptional animals that are particular suited to one discipline or another. 

In any event, it is nice to see that the breed continues to gain in numbers and popularity.  However, to put things in perspective, the numbers of Quarter Horses in the US alone is estimated to be something like 3,000,000, so obviously the Canadian Horse has a very long ways to go...
 

Number of Horses per Province in 2007 (as published in CHBA newsletter)

Canadian Horse Registrations per Year (1994-2007)

Canadian Horse Breeders Association Members (1995-2007)