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West Ridge Ranch, Calgary, AB (2026)

06/07/2026

Happy Sunday 🤎

06/06/2026

🌧️ Wet Weather Reminder: Don't Forget About Wind Protection 🌧️

With several days of rain and cooler temperatures in the forecast, now is a good time to evaluate the shelter available to your horses.

While rain often gets the blame, wind is frequently the bigger factor when it comes to cold stress. A wet coat combined with wind can dramatically increase heat loss, forcing horses to use more energy simply to stay warm.

This is especially important for:
🐴 Young foals who are still learning to regulate their body temperature
🐴 Senior or otherwise 'sensitive' horses
🐴 Thin horses or those in poor body condition
🐴 Horses experiencing significant weather-related stress

Providing access to adequate shelter from both wind and precipitation can make a tremendous difference. If shelter isn't available, appropriately blanketing vulnerable horses may be worth considering during prolonged periods of wet, windy weather.

Did you know? Research in beef cattle has shown that providing adequate windbreaks during winter can reduce body condition loss by as much as one inch of backfat. While horses and cattle have different nutritional and management requirements, the principle remains the same: protection from the elements helps animals conserve energy that would otherwise be spent staying warm.

As foaling season continues, take a few extra minutes to check shelters, monitor foals and vulnerable horses closely, and ensure your horses have are adequately prepared.

06/05/2026

🌧️ Breeding Season Watch: Wet Weather Ahead 🌧️

With a significant amount of moisture forecasted across much of the region over the next 5–7 days, mare owners may notice some unusual reproductive activity.

Rapid weather changes and prolonged moisture can sometimes influence mares' cycling patterns, resulting in:
• Cycles that speed up or slow down unexpectedly
• Ovulation occurring on smaller-than-normal follicles
Or generally speaking.. just a weird n' wonky cycle.

If you're actively breeding this coming week, keep a close eye on your mares and stay in communication with your veterinarian or reproductive specialist. A mare that looked predictable a few days ago may have different plans during a major weather shift.

Stay vigilant, monitor closely, and don't be surprised if your mares decide to keep things interesting. 🐴

06/04/2026

It’s hard to believe that we’ve officially been on our new acreage for one week.

Seven days doesn’t sound like much, but when I look around, it feels like we’ve lived a month’s worth of moments already.

In the last week, we built a half-acre pasture and brought Gunner and Pumpkin home. Seeing them grazing outside my window still feels a little surreal. The hens have settled into their temporary quarters, and next week we'll welcome meat birds, turkeys, and more heritage layers. The garden is planted - not nearly as ambitious as I hope future gardens will be - but there’s something deeply satisfying about putting seeds into the ground and the fresh vegetables, canning jars, and a pantry stocked from our own efforts that will follow.

Inside the house, we've been busy making small changes to make it our own. Every project seems to uncover another piece of this home's story. We love its character, its history, and the feeling that we're becoming part of something that existed long before us.

The truth is, this move wasn't just about buying a property.

This past winter was hard on me.
The snow seemed endless, the cold lingered longer than usual, and somewhere along the way I found myself feeling disconnected. I knew I needed to make some changes. At the end of the day, we're all responsible for steering the direction of our own lives, and I realized it was time to make some bold decisions.

I changed my personal riding direction and that brought a renewed sense of purpose. It helped. But there was still a void I couldn't quite explain...

Then, after spending far too many evenings watching Clarkson's Farm (and laughing at the similarities and hardships I faced years prior), I couldn't ignore a feeling that kept resurfacing: I wanted to get back on the land sooner than I originally planned when I bought a home in town.

I’m fortunate to work in agriculture. My career allows me to spend time outdoors and be connected to an industry I genuinely love... But there’s a difference between working in agriculture and building a life around it. I missed the personal connection. I missed caring for animals before work and after dark. I missed growing things. I missed the responsibility, the rhythm, and the satisfaction that comes from being tied to a piece of land. Hell, I even missed the dark days of it all.

So I took a chance... I made the call to my mortgage broker just to see if it was even possible. What followed was stressful, nerve-wracking, exhausting, and more chaotic than I care to admit. There were moments of doubt, moments where the finish line felt impossibly far away, and moments where I wondered if I was completely out of my mind.

Sitting here now cuddling my horses just one week in, watching horses in the pasture, chickens scratching in the yard, seedlings emerging from the garden, dogs running amuck and a home slowly becoming ours, I know it was the right decision.

For the first time in a long time, my heart feels completely full.... Not because everything is finished - far from it. There are fences to build, projects to tackle, and plenty of mistakes ahead, but I can't wait to tackle them.

Sometimes the biggest changes begin with a quiet realization that you're meant to be somewhere else.. the harder part is having the courage to listen.

Here's to the first week of West Ridge Ranch, and to whatever comes next. 🤍🌾🐴🐔🏡

06/03/2026

✨ It’s Time ✨

After much thought and planning, Fairhaven Equine is excited to announce our rebrand to West Ridge Ranch.

While our name is changing, our commitment remains the same - quality service, exceptional care, and a deep passion for raising and developing quality horses. As our operation has evolved, we felt it was time for a name that better reflects the vision of our new space, the landscape we call home, and the future we’re building - one that extends beyond breeding alone.

Nestled between a northern ridgeline and a river valley, and surrounded by Alberta’s rangelands, West Ridge Ranch represents more than horses. It reflects our dedication to agriculture, stewardship of the land, and building a thriving, regenerative ecosystem - from the soil beneath our feet to the air we breathe.

Over the coming weeks, you’ll begin to see our new name, logo, and branding come to life. We are deeply grateful for the support we’ve received as Fairhaven Equine, and we’re excited to continue this journey as West Ridge Ranch - bringing to life a lifelong dream of producing quality horses and quality food in a way that benefits the land that sustains us.

Thank you for being part of our story - we can’t wait to share the journey.

🐴 Welcome to West Ridge Ranch.

05/31/2026

✨ A New Chapter for Fairhaven Equine ✨

Many of you who know me personally already know that our family has recently made a pretty significant life change - I sold my home in town and purchased an acreage!

The past week has been a whirlwind of 16+ hour days spent moving, unpacking, pounding posts, organizing, and trying to bring a vision to life. It's been exhausting, chaotic, and incredibly rewarding all at the same time. We are so excited to now call Eureka River home.

Earlier this year, we made a small shift from Fairhaven Equestrian to Fairhaven Equine, along with a subtle logo update to better reflect the multi-disciplinary direction of the business. With this move, however, it feels like the right time for something even bigger. Since Fairhaven's name was originally inspired by Fairview - where I no longer live - a full rebrand is officially on the horizon.

This beautiful 20-acre property is full of potential, and we have some exciting long-term plans for it. The biggest project is a new barn planned for next year, which will allow Fairhaven Equine to become fully functional again for breeding, foaling, and all the things I've been dreaming about.

In non-horsey news, I'm also incredibly excited to expand my homesteading goals in a way that reflects my passion for regenerative agriculture. One of my biggest dreams for this property is to breathe life back into underutilized areas, creating productive, thriving spaces that not only provide food for my friends and family but may eventually contribute to local markets as well. Stewarding the land in a way that improves its health, biodiversity, and productivity is something that means a great deal to me, and I can't wait to see where that journey leads.

For now, we're embracing the process. We're enjoying the projects, the learning curve, and the kind of peace and quiet that only country living can provide. My heart is incredibly full. While some of my horse-related goals for this year may need to be put on hold because of this transition, I know every bit of it will be worth it in the end.

NOTE TO CLIENTS: I am taking June off to breath, reflect, relax and enjoy. I realize this is poor timing for breeders, but I'm happy to point you to others who can help!

Thank you to everyone who has supported Fairhaven Equine along the way. This move represents so much more than a change of address - it's the foundation for the next chapter, both personally and professionally.

Stay tuned. The best is yet to come. 🤎🐴🌾

05/08/2026

In the beginning, we all start riding because we love horses. It’s simple. Pure. No agenda.

But over time, as our skills develop and our balance improves, goals start to form. We start to dream bigger - Olympics, the NFR, winning at the top levels. But we start where everyone has to start: the building blocks. Local shows, jackpots, small wins, small losses.

And then reality shows up. We don’t win. Or we don’t place. Or we don’t progress as fast as we thought we would. And the barnyard gets loud in ways nobody warns you about... whispers, comparisons, opinions you didn’t ask for but somehow still carry home with you.

Slowly, without even noticing it, we start to lose grip on why we started riding in the first place. I know I did.

For a very long time, I rode for all the wrong reasons. Not because I didn’t love it - I did.... But underneath that, it became about proving something.

Proving I could beat the doubt.
Proving I could do it better.
Proving people wrong who probably weren’t even thinking about me anymore.

Every milestone started to feel like a checkpoint in a conversation I was having with other people in my head, and the strange part is, I was still enjoying the ride. I was still showing up, still learning, still improving. But it wasn’t for the pure and simple love anymore.

It was for validation.
For acceptance.
For being seen a certain way.

And I didn’t notice how heavy that became until I stepped back for a while. Life led me down a path where I took a break from riding, despite still being involved with horses. The final straw for me was when a little girl was mean to my daughter on a playground following a leadline class. There had to be more to this lifestyle than barnyard bullies and lofty goals that always feel just out of reach.

That moment catapulted me down a path that I never saw coming.

Horses have a way of reflecting that back at you if you’re willing to see it. They don’t care about timelines, opinions, or proving points. They respond to what’s actually happening in front of them, not the story you’re carrying in your head.

That was the shift for me.

I didn’t want to be good at horses for other people anymore, and I didn't want to model that behavior for my daughter. I wanted to come back to it for the right reasons... For the quiet satisfaction and the small wins that don’t need an audience.

It turns out, it’s a much better place to be.

05/06/2026

10 Real Breeding Facts That Matter 🐴💡

💡Stallion s***m takes ~55–60 days to develop
What you do with nutrition, stress, and management today shows up in semen quality nearly 2 months later.

💡Mare cycles average ~21 days
Typical range is 19–22 days, with ovulation occurring in the last 24–48 hours of heat.

💡Mares are seasonal breeders
About 85–90% cycle primarily under longer daylight (>14 hours), which is why spring changes everything.

💡Pregnancy is typically detected at 14–16 days
Ultrasound allows early detection, and early intervention for twins or issues.

💡Early embryonic loss happens in 5–15% of pregnancies
Especially in older mares, even confirmed pregnancies can be lost before day 40.

💡A stallion ej*****te can contain 5–20 billion s***m
Fertility is not just “amount,” but motility, morphology, and timing.

💡Twin ovulations happen in 10–25% of cycles
But only ~1–3% result in maintained twin pregnancies without intervention.

💡Foal heat comes ~7–10 days post-foaling
Early breeding is possible, but timing and uterine health are critical.

💡Stress can reduce conception rates by up to 20–30%
Transport, handling, and environmental stress all directly impact fertility outcomes.

💡≥60% progressive motility is a key benchmark
Below this threshold, fertility success rates generally decline significantly.

05/04/2026

Let’s talk broodmares and something that gets overlooked way too often: their feet.

The routine hoof care on required for a pregnant mare is no different than your high-end performance horse. It’s structural support for a changing, increasing load over a long period of time.

By late gestation, a mare is carrying a significant amount of additional weight. On average, a foal at term weighs 90–120 lbs, but when you factor in placenta, fluids, and uterine tissues, the total added internal weight can reach 120–150+ lbs. That weight is carried continuously, 24/7, on the same four feet she started the season with... and it doesn’t just sit there evenly. As pregnancy progresses, the mare’s center of gravity shifts forward and downward, increasing strain through the front limbs, shoulders, and hooves. That means any imbalance in the foot; long toe, underrun heel, uneven medial-lateral balance, gets magnified under load. This is where regular trimming and maintenance matter.

A broodmare that is allowed to go long between trims isn’t just “a bit overdue”, she is actively compensating for imbalance while carrying extra weight. That compensation shows up as strain through joints, altered movement patterns, and increased risk of soreness or soundness issues.

It doesn’t stop at comfort. Poor hoof balance in late gestation can contribute to:

- Increased stress on tendons and ligaments
- Altered weight distribution through joints
- Reduced traction and stability, especially on soft or uneven ground
- Higher risk of post-foaling soreness when workload changes abruptly

Good broodmare management means treating hoof care as a scheduled priority, not a reactive task. Most mares benefit from consistent trims every 4–8 weeks, depending on growth rate, terrain, and individual foot quality.

It’s also worth noting: hormonal changes in pregnancy can subtly affect hoof quality and growth patterns, which means “she’s always been fine like this” doesn’t always hold true late-term. Additionally, those who increase mineral during pregnancy can see increased hoof growth.

West Ridge Ranch

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