Howdy! My trainer and I are going horse shopping in the of Canada to look for a horse 3-6 yrs old 1.30m jumper prospect. Does anyone have any recommendations of barns that might have what I’m looking for? We’ll be there for 4 days so we’ll have plenty of time to travel and try horses.
prolly should specify what part of Canada
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I’m so confused - I thought our boarders were closed and there was a two week quarantine? Unless you mean once boarders open… which I will be shocked if that’s any time soon.
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Hello! We plan on going mid spring early summer of next year if the border is open but right now we’re trying to find as many barns to go look at in the couple days that we’re there.
We’re not looking any place in particular but we would like to stay closer to ON, MB, QC.
I don’t know anything about the central Canada scene but I do know my Canadian geography and have driven across Canada.
If you want horses that are trained and showing, you will find the highest concentration in Southern Ontario and then probably within reach of Montreal. Don’t count on folks speaking fluent English in Quebec, especially outside of Montreal in smaller towns.
If you are looking for young horses from breeders, then yes there are reputable breeders in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, taking advantage of the great farming country and lower land prices. But you are probably not going to find a concentration of competitive show barns in Manitoba.
Also have a look at the map. To drive from Ottawa to Winnipeg around the top of the Great Lakes on Highway One is a two day drive. To drive from Toronto to Montreal is a good 5 hours if I rightly recall. I don’t think you are going to be able to fit all 3 provinces into a 4 day trip.
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Thank you for your insight! We will be flying so drive and then driving from the airport. If we need to we’ll stay longer.
Nothing against Canada as a source of sport horses, but is there a particular reason you have chosen to shop there? Is there a specific barn that you’re planning to look at and you just want more suggestions? This just seems like a very vague question. But perhaps it’s just a COVID armchair travel question…
We have chosen to shop there as we haven’t been real impressed with what we’ve been finding in the US lately so we’re going to look at 2 barns once the border opens up but we would also like to look at others while we’re there.
Okay that makes a little more sense.
Definitely seems like the latter, given how far out the trip is, but to answer your first question, with the exchange rates the dollar can sometimes go a lot further shopping in Canada than in the US. So, if you aren’t finding what you wanted in your budget in the US, it can be a good alternative.
To the OP, the fact that you are flying and then driving from the airport doesn’t really change the fact that your idea of what you can accomplish in a four day trip seems to be a little unrealistic. I have done a Canadian shopping trip and with the additional travel time that it takes to go through customs, depending on available flight times, how much you can accomplish on your travel days will be limited. Take it from someone who was scrambling to change our return flight and throwing miles at the problem because we desperately needed more time the last day! If you have two barns already picked out, the best thing to do is to build around the location of those, because there is a fair amount of driving time between barns even in the same province, and you have to allow time to try however many horses they have for you to try. Additionally, on a trip like that, you really want to save time at the end of the trip to go back and ride the serious contenders a second time. You don’t want to have to make a cross-border decision based on one ride. So, I think geography and travel time will play a larger role than you are anticipating. Also, it is true that if no one on the trips speaks French, it will be harder to navigate around in Quebec once you venture out of Montreal. We shopped in Quebec and had a French speaker with us and I wouldn’t want to do that without one, way too many places with directional signs only in French, hard to ask for directions, and spotty navigation signals can make it stressful! Additionally, don’t be afraid to ask the barns you are interested in if they have other suggestions, many people are willing to suggest other stops to help make it worth your while to take the trip.
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What are you looking for and what state are you in? I am sure there are horses in your budget in the US especially considering the economy is slowing down.
If you have any interest in a Canadian Warmblood you might consider looking at the breeders who have horses available in this upcoming Alberta auction: https://www.fallclassicsale.com/
There are a few breeders that I first came across via the auction that I have kept my eye on in case I ever have a windfall that leaves me rich 
I’m sure there are similar groups with regular sales in ON/QC/MB as well. I’m located in the Canadian prairies so I look at the market in Western Canada more than Eastern.
Galten Sales in Ontario has some nice horses.
You will need a LOT of time to travel to Ontario/QC and MB. Driving from central Ontario to Quebec alone is over 5.5hrs. That’s just to the border.
I am located in Michigan.
Also seconding the https://www.fallclassicsale.com/
If you want to expand your search further, perhaps to Alberta, Klondike Victory Farm has an absolutely amazing high quality breeding program and would have exactly what you are looking for. https://www.kvf.ca
They have 2 spectacular 3 years olds in the online sale linked above happening this weekend, both meet your criteria. Lot 30 Maestro and 37 Meer Kat.
That’s quite a ways away. I would pick a region ie central/southern Ontario, and then closer to spring start contacting barns and searching the Ontario facebook sale groups. Check out the results from the last couple years of the Young Jumper classes. Here’s a link to this years 6yo final https://showgroundslive.com/angelstone/results/Detail/id/3973/ch/1
