Two equine additions to a Foothills historic site are attracting Canada-wide attention.
Parks Canada put a call out to the public to name the two male Percheron draft horses, after staff at the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site bought the five and eight-year-old black beauties. They received more than 300 emails in the first week.
“We’ve been having fun going through some of the names that have been coming in so far,” said Mike McLean, Bar U Ranch acting site manager. “We’ve been really pleased with how many people have been interested in trying to help us come up with some names for our Percheron horses. We are seeing lots of local people getting their names in, as well as from across the province and Canada.”
The person who submits the best names will receive a Parks Canada Family Discovery Pass, giving them access to 27 national parks and 77 national historic sites across Canada.
Names will be accepted until Feb. 29.
McLean encourages people to select short, simple names with a historical connection to the Bar U Ranch, Foothills or ranching.
“It’s easy for the driver or the handler of the horses to relay instructions if it’s a nice short simple name,” he said.
Percheron horses have had a history at the Bar U Ranch since it was established in 1882. The ranch relied on teams of the horses to haul feed to cattle, harvest crops and cultivate fields and by the early 1900s the ranch was known for having some of the largest Percheron herds in the world. At one time the numbers totaled more than 1,000.
“They are definitely part of the team at the Bar U,” said McLean. “They are more like colleagues than pets. They are a real important part of commemorating the importance of ranching, not only here on the historic site but outreach things we do too like taking them to local parades and the Calgary Stampede.”
Now that the Bar U is a historical site, McLean said their eight Percherons play a critical role in its operation, taking visitors via wagon from the visitor centre to the ranch-related buildings on the site.
“This type of horse is important to the Bar U as it’s a milestone in history as we continue to use Percherons,” he said.
“The Bar U established the largest Percheron breeding of its kind in the early part of the 20th century. It was world renowned for Percheron horses.”
The new pair will help take the load off the other three teams, one of which is getting older and will retire in the near future, said McLean.
“They usually have a day on and a day or two off,” he said.
“With another team in the mix they will have a longer rest break.”
Unlike the ranch’s newest pair of horses, McLean said the others came with names: Licorice, Smudge, Skoal, Bandit, Hawkeye and Radar.
Submissions of names for the two horses can be sent via email to [email protected], mail to Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, Post Office Box 168, Longview, Alberta, T0L 1H0, Twitter to @BarURanchNHS or Facebook at Friends of the Bar U.
The Bar U Ranch National Historic Site is the only national historic site commemorating the importance ranching played in Canada’s development, and is still a symbol of the west.
