Since 1926, the Canadian Sport Horse Association (originally called the Canadian Hunter and Light Horse Improvement Society) has been registering and identifying sport horses, defined as horses capable of competing in dressage, jumper, eventing or hunter. It is Canada’s oldest indigenous sport horse “breed” registry. Originally they were bred by combining hot bloods such as Thoroughbreds and Arabians with colder draft horses, with European warmbloods added in the mid-1900s. The CSHA is incorporated under Agriculture Canada’s Animal Pedigree Act as an Evolving Breed, which provides breeders the flexibility to plan breeding programs based on market trends and genetic science.

Some notable CSHA-registered horses competing at the top levels of their sport include Foxwood High (Rio Bronco x Evita II), bred by Kingridge Stables, owned by John and Judy Rumble and ridden by Selena O’Hanlon at the 2014 WEG in France and the Pan Am Games in Mexico in 2011. ‘Woody’ and Selena made history in 2018 by being the first Canadians to win the Fair Hill International CCI***.

Fellow eventer Waylon Roberts campaigns Lancaster (Yavari x Indorado), bred by Ashland Farm and owned by John and Michelle Koppin. The pair earned two top-10 placings in the US at the CCI4* level in 2019.

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