Canadian Pacer

Canadian Pacer : The Canadian Pacer is a horse breed that is developed in Canada in the late 18th and the early 19th centuries. In some opinions, they are now extinct, and in another, they still live but in small numbers in the North Canadian Provinces.


It is not sure, but probably the Norman French horse was crossed with a strain of pacers, perhaps the Narragansett horse that is now extinct, or some other pacer that were shipped from England. The result was a small gaited horse that was somewhat larger than the Narragansett horse. This horse had a too long head, compared to the rest of the body, which was fine, lean and bony.

The eyes were small and the ears were set well forward or too far apart. The Canadian Pacer had a gait that was described as an extremely comfortable and incredibly fast version of a walk, also known as Amblers, Single-Footers, Rawal or Indian Shufflers. The gait was characterized with each hoof hitting the ground separately, yet still reaching a speed of over than 20 miles per day. In the past, it was believed that the Palfreys horses from the medieval times had this smooth gait and were pacers.

Today horses born with pacing abilities still exist. The word pacer means that a horse is able to perform a gait called the pace. It is mostly used in North America for the Standardbred racer and the Tennessee Walking Horse TWH. The Canadian Pacer had great influence on the horse breeds from North America.

It is considered to be one of the foundation stocks of the Tennessee Walking Horse, the American Saddlebred, and the Standardbred. Tom Hal is the most famous stallion that had an impact on the abovementioned horse breeds and many stories are told about him, initially founding a breed called Tom Hal Saddler. This blue roan sire was foaled in 1806 in Canada and later was taken to Philadelphia and then to Kentucky.