We did it! Rose and I enjoyed dashing thru the snow today. Although we only went about 2 miles(it is still pretty darn cold out!) our ride was beautiful. With snow up to her knees, Rose made a fine sight trotting and loping effortlessly thru the drifts. By the time we made it back to the barn, even though I had on all my winter riding gear, my toes and fingers were cold. It didn't bother Rose any though, she didn't even hardly work up a sweat. I gave her a rubdown, put on a blanket, gave her a treat and she was a happy horse.
Chelsey lunged Carma this afternoon, (she said it was too cold to ride!) and once again Carma worked wonderfully for her. Wednesday is our next opportunity to ride and I am hoping for a few degrees warmer, even close to minus 5C would be like a heatwave!
Wherever you may be.... enjoy your horses, stay warm and Happy New Year!

Busy weekend, frigid temps.

The big news of course is that Rapture has been sold and has found a home with some very nice people in Saskatchewan. She has 3 day eventing in her future and maybe even some driving too. I wish Lisa and Rob all the best with her, she is their first Canadian horse. I know she will do the breed proud.
Finally after another week of frigid temperatures, the weather has finally moderated out and yesterday I was able to work Carma and we were even able to take some video and have posted it on youtube. If you are interested in seeing it just type in her full name in the subject box( Woodmont Dynamo J-Carma) and you will have three videos to choose from. Enjoy.
After working with Carma I was even able to have time to saddle up Rose and go for a short ride on her as well. After having been off for 3 months, she was amazing. Just got on and had a nice ride, even though she was full of P&V she was incredibly well behaved. I was so proud of her. Walk/trot/lope. Hope to get out this weekend and go for a longer ride and go dashing thru the snow!

Frigid temperatures arrived this past month and have been sticking around longer than we would like. Weather forecasts are for moderation mid week, for which both people and animal alike will be Thankful for. Looking forward to getting in the saddle and getting out on Carma and Rose while the weather is somewhat better. The horses, being Canadians, have handled the cold just like everything else they do, with absolutely no problems. The 4 mares out on pasture seem to relish it. As long as I show up with water and their vitamin/mineral, they are happy horses.Stay warm Canadian Horse Lovers.

What do you think of our cover boy? I had a great time hanging out with Duc taking his photo after we had a snowfall on Friday. He is such a big love bug, just enjoys hanging out and getting some attention. He must have been scratching a tree or something and some snow landed on his forehead, it made for a great shot!
Hope you enjoy the photos that have been added on the photo page as well and also the new ones on the For Sale page. Enjoy looking at them and feel free to write a comment, would love to have some feedback on what you think of the website , etc.
Stay warm...its cold in Alberta. Winter has arrived,brrr!

Hello Canadian Horse Lovers,
It has been awhile since I have given you any new information.I've been sick with a cold since arriving home from Italy on the 6th and have been busy with the horses. The horses were all brought home from fall pasture November 8th, the farrier came on the 9th and everyone got a trim except for the fillies, Winnie and Willow. Jewel, Jeanne and Mystique received their Pneumabort shots.
November 14th was the big day, Winnie and Willow were weaned, much to their dismay. What do you mean my mom is not coming back!
Since then all the horses have been wormed and the mares are back out on fall pasture. The vet was here on the 23rd and the weanlings were microchipped and Jewel and Mystique were preg checked. Mystique is pregnant but unfortunately Jewel is not. So we will only be expecting foals from Jeanne and Mystique in the spring.
The weanlings are doing very well, stand tied nicely and are leading quite well.They are enjoying being brushed and fusssed over, love going into the barn each night. Working on picking up their feet and they are getting much better about that.
Their registration papers were sent in today, so before too long they will be officially Registered. Our first foal crop to carry the Diamond A name.

Ciao from Italia

Buon giorno from Italia,which means Good day from Italy. I am having a fabulous time visiting Roma and now Firenze(Florence). The incredible history, art,and sculptures is awe inspiring and a person can not find enough words to describe it all.Amazing!! We have enjoyed beautiful weather and friendly people wherever we go. Friday we rent a car and go exploring Tuscany,should be another grand adventure.
Arrivederci...Goodbye

October arrived and with it winter. It has moderated out somewhat and the snow has melted but gloomy skies and rain prevail. Not ideal weather unless you are a duck. Did get a chance to ride Carma on Saturday. She was pretty frisky for Carma, as she hadn't been rode in awhile, so she was quite happy to get moving!
I am off to Italy for a holiday with my sisters, starting Oct.25 for 11 days, so am leaving my husband in charge of the horses. Everyone better behave themselves while I am gone!!
Upon arrival home, mares and foals will all be brought home, everyone will be wormed, pregnant mares will receive their first pneumabort vacciantion, farrier is coming to trim hooves and Willow and Winsome will be weaned. That will be a big week.
In the meantime enjoy whatever nice weather we have left and go riding:)
Karen

Hello All,
September just seemed to fly by and here it is already Thanksgiving this weekend. Beautiful weather in September, but not much time to ride as we were busy getting the crop off. Rose and I were able to get out a bit and have some nice rides. Now that October has arrived the weather has taken a nasty turn for the worst, so have not ventured out to ride. Still hoping for some nice fall days to put on some miles.
I have decided to do some drastic herd reduction, as much as it will hurt to see them go, I have decided to offer most of the mares for sale. If I can find them good homes where they will be loved and utilized for the good of the breed, I can be happy about that.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Spruce Meadows

Spruce Meadows enjoyed gorgeous summerlike weather for its entire tournament.It made taking in all the events both day and evening most agreeable.Many people came to visit the Canadian Horse booth and watch our breed demos. Rose was surrounded by black horses, for some it was their first time seeing a Bay Canadian. She handled herself well, she was quite leary of all the golf carts, but by weeks end she had grown accustomed to them along with all of the other sights and sounds of Spruce. A great week, very busy, but once again met more Canadian Horse enthusiasts.
Happy Riding Everyone.
Karen

Heading to Spruce Meadows

We're off to Spruce today, in preperation for the start of the Masters at Spruce Meadows tomorrow. Looking forward to meeting people from all over and showing them what Canadians are all about. I hope to find some who may even be interested in purchasing one or two!
Have a great week everyone, will let you all know how we made out once we get back home on Sunday.

She's Staying!

After months of begging and a few tears, I have relented to Chelsey, and Carma is no longer "For Sale". I have made Chelsey very happy and probably Carma too as they are quite the pair together. Hard on Mom's pocketbook but the smile she wears is worth a million dollars!

Rose is getting some serious saddle time this past week, and I am hoping to ride her daily from now until Spruce Meadows. The only thing I have come across that she does not like is vehicles coming up behind her, and we are working on that! She is used to Justin's 250cc dirt bike ripping thru the yard and all about the place , just don't come up behind her on 4 wheels. Does a little dance, nothing serious , after all she is a Canadian!
Last week I was palying with her on the ground with a blue tarp and an umbrella, no worries says Rose!... So I saddled her up, mounted her with the umbrella in a closed position, played with it a bit opening and closing it and ended my ride with umbrella open, holding it in one hand above us, reins in the other hand and standing on the blue tarp. She thought that it was all in a days work! Good girl Rose!

Life is just better with horses in it. Canadian horses!
Karen

Pocket Ponies!

Hello Canadian Horse Lovers! August is flying by and summer seems to be going with it. The drought is over! Lots of rain this month, just this past weekend we had 3 inches, unbelievable! Where was it in May and June when we were desperate for moisture?? Making the grass grow green and now the mosquitoes are trying to make a show. Hopefully there won't be many.

On our front page now being featured are our 2009 fillies. In the foreground is Willow and slightly behing her is Winnie. It was near impossible to get a photo of them beside each other as they wanted to be as close to me as possible getting scratched! No one could ever accuse them of not being friendly! My pocket ponies!

Chelsey has started working with Carma when she is home on weekends, starting her to harness. Doing some ground driving, all seems to be going well.

Live, Laugh & Ride

Karen

Beautiful day today! On the weekend of our big party we had 2 big storms. Saturday night a big wind hit and had over 1/2 inch of rain and Sunday after an extremely hot 32 degree Celcious day we had and inch of rain and big hail stones(golf ball size!)
The horses all came thru the storm with no problems. As predicted I introduced my horses to some new fans, everyone loved them!
Chelsey and I took Carma and Rose on a 3 hour ride this past Sunday. Had beautiful weather, no bugs and only one crazy driver passed on a narrow counrty rode. Rose was not impressed and did a quick turnabout and tried to jump into steep ditch. Some people are clueless about livestock even out here in the country, even after I held up my hand to get him to slow down! For a young green horse that was the only slight mishap, Rose is doing wonderful under saddle. Walk/trot/ canter with no worries. Hopefully this week my outdoor arena is dry enough to work in and we can do some exercises in there.
Happy Riding Everyone:)

This weekend we are celebrating our farm's 100th year of farming. Tom's Grandfather homestead in 1909 and this weekend we have family coming from all over to help us celebrate this milestone.
I will be able to tell people all about the Canadian breed and show them my horses too!

Hot, hot and more hot. So far this summer we have seen some scorching temperatures and very little rain at Diamond A Canadians. The horses are all doing well, although I am sure they would wish it to cool off into the 20's C instead of the 30+ degree weather we have been experiencing.

I hope you all like the new website and visit often. On our front page, being featured this month is Rapture and her filly Willow. Each month will see a new picture and different horse being spotlighted. That way they all get a turn being a star!

My daughter Chelsey and I have been riding each night after it cools off. Chelsey is giving Carma some exercise and I have been putting on some miles on Rose. She is going nicely under saddle and I am planning on taking her to Spruce Meadows in September to take part in the breed demos happening there. Let people know that Canadians come in something besides black!

Happy Tails,
Karen

Well its June and Love is in the air....horsewise anyways! Duc has been put to work and he couldn't be happier about it:) Jewel, Jeanne and Mystique have been his love interests this spring and I hope that we have three beautiful foals next spring as a result of their liasion.

Both new fillies Winnie(Jewel's foal) and Willow(Rapture's foal) are growing and doing well. Both of them are in your pocket and absolutely love attention. Winnie received her first halter lesson today and thought that was not too big of a deal, just as long as she still got a scratch too.

Praying for rain in Rumsey. Not a drop of moisture all spring, we desperately need the rain. Pastures, crops and hay fields, not to mention my garden and are in dire need of a big drink.
Karen

Hello Everyone, Welcome to the first blog from Diamond A Canadians! An update on our latest additions to the herd. We have two new fllies on the ground in May. Jewel and Duc produced a black filly with a star on May 6. We have named her Winsome aka Winnie and she is thriving, quite a strong resemblance to her dam at this point.
Our second addition arrived ten days later on the 16th out of our young mare Rapture.She was bred to Canadream's Manhattan, and once again another beautiful black filly with a star. She has been named Willow and is quite the friendly girl. Will post pictures within a few days.