ZEHNER, Sask. – The horses calmly chewing the grass on Claudia Duncan’s front lawn don’t know how much their owner is depending on them.
Duncan moved from Germany to this farm, north of Regina, four years ago to realize her dream of raising horses that she could sell back to her homeland.
Not just any horses would do, however. For the German market, Duncan is concentrating on smooth-gaited breeds – North American Curly horses, Tennessee Walkers and part-bred Peruvian Pasos. They do stand out a bit.
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“This is Quarter horse country, and Paints,” she admitted of the horse population near the 160 acres she and husband Ian Gardner purchased in 2002.
But she believes offering something different will eventually bring her the business she needs to make a go of it.
The unique Curly horses, for example, aside from being gaited, are considered hypoallergenic and many people who are allergic to horses can ride them. Gaited horses are also good for people who have back problems but still want to ride, she said.
Duncan’s involvement in the horse industry began when she was a teenager in Europe and got a job working with a Thoroughbred breeder. She gained a valuable education in pedigrees.
As an adult, she had a horse but that’s as far as it went.
“It’s not so easy there,” she said. “You can only have so much land and so many horses.”
It’s much cheaper to raise them in Canada, she said. There aren’t a lot of pastures for horses in Germany and boarding costs are high.
“You can rent land, but you can’t build on it,” she said.
Portable container stables are available but permits are required and owners are restricted to two horses.
“Here you can have all these breeds and they’re affordable,” said Duncan.
However, she struggles with the idea of horses being outside in cold Saskatchewan winters. In Germany, they would be inside.
Shining origin
Duncan called the Canadian farm Rancho Tres Estrellas, or three stars, after her first three horses. They were all bays with stars.
She has 16 horses now, but doesn’t want more than 20 on the farm’s land base. Duncan and Gardner have been fencing and making improvements as they can afford it.
A neighbour rents 80 acres for hay land.
Because her main target market is outside Canada, Duncan set up her own internet web page to promote her horses. There is a German version of the page as well. She also plans to market in on-line magazines.
Her future rests largely on a new classic cream champagne Tennessee Walker stallion she has on lease. The rare colour of Topaz Merry Go makes him the only horse of his kind in North America, said Duncan.
Breeding Topaz with the Curly horses should produce curlies with unusual colour, and that would bring business her way.
One of her Tennessee Walker fillies is heading to Germany this fall, sold to a buyer who has only seen the horse on a computer screen. The transport costs alone will be about $6,000.
But the breed is in demand there.
“They have to import and they’re willing to pay,” Duncan said. “Once I have one over there and they can see what I’ve got …”
It probably helps that Duncan is German and speaks the language, she added.
With four or five foals expected this year, Duncan’s horse business will grow slowly.
“When you like horses it’s fun,” she said. “I hope it stays fun.”
But it hasn’t been easy.
It’s a financial struggle to establish a new breeding operation. And in December she lost her 19-year-old Peruvian Paso stallion, the main breeding stallion, to kidney failure.
The first foal of 2006, and the last foal from this stallion, was born last week to Miss Mahogany Bell, a Tennessee Walker mare. Duncan said she probably won’t sell the Tennuvian colt, named Tanto Carinoso.
Duncan has resisted the temptation to board horses, saying the farm is probably a bit too far from Regina for most owners who want to drive out for an evening ride. But she doesn’t rule it out in order to help pay the bills.
“There is a lot of investment in mares and stallions,” she said.
