Pemberton blood will be flowing through the veins of some of the top performers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Musical Ride in the coming years.
Five inspectors with the RCMP's world-famous horse riding display came to Dreamcatcher Meadows' Hanoverian stables in Pemberton Meadows on July 29, during the stable's annual foal inspection, to look at DMV Windfall, a champion stallion that has won 23 grand prix.
The stallion is black, which is the only colour used by the RCMP for its horses.
Windfall's sperm would be used in the artificial insemination program for mares at the RCMP's national breeding farm just outside of Ottawa.
Windfall is already a very successful sire, with over 60 foals bred in North America. Dreamcatcher Meadow's co-owner Jill Geise said they expect seven foals from the stallion in their own breeding program in 2014.
Supt. Marty Chesser, who oversees the RCMP Musical Ride, came to Dreamcatcher Meadows during the Musical Ride's British Columbian summer tour with four of his colleagues.
"It was suggested that there were two stallions in western Canada, one them here in Pemberton, that would be used in our program. We're very pleased with what we've seen here with Windfall," Chesser said.
"One of the reasons we went for a Hanoverian is that they have impeccable breeding records that go back 130 years. When we invest in horses we buy black in the hopes they will throw (deliver) black. Last year we had 17 babies and 15 were black."
One team of 36 black horses performs for the Musical Ride across Canada, including four on standby.
The closest they will be to the Sea to Sky region is at the North Vancouver Block Watch on Aug. 21. They are also performing at the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver from Aug. 30 to Sept. 3
