Gord Cardwell, owner of Knowlton Ridge Equestrian Centre (KREC) in Powassan, proudly shows off the centre’s newest acquisition: Greenfield, a seven-year-old Hanoverian previously owned by hockey player Dale Haverchuck. Ridden here by the KREC’s Nichole Grove during the centre’s Oct. 13 annual open house, Greenfield is expected to compete in the hunter class at the 2008 Royal Winter Fair in hopes of brining honours home to the Powassan stable.
POWASSAN – It appears there’s no stopping the expansion at Knowlton Ridge Equestrian Centre, the area’s newest and most successful riding school and boarding stable. During its annual fall open house on Oct. 13, owner Gord Cardwell said he and his wife Bobby have plans to build a new covered arena connecting directly to their already enlarged stable facilities.
“When we bought this farm two years ago, we knew there was a void here for equestrian enthusiasts, but we had no idea how fast our operation would grow, nor just how huge that demand was,” Cardwell said.
Construction of a mega covered arena and outdoor show ring were the first expansion projects undertaken in 2005. An addition to the stable was completed in 2006 along with additional outdoor paddocks. Now the couple have cleared land east of the current arena and are finalizing plans to build a new domed show ring, 240 by 80 feet, complete with a heated viewing area.
“The dome that we have now is great, but it gets a little chilly for the spectators in January and February,” Cardwell said. “What’s missing here now is a heated area that can be used in the winter. It’s a project we have slated for the coming spring.”
The decision to build a new arena is part of the soul searching process the Cardwell’s are going through in trying to determine where they want to see Knowlton Ridge’s focus in the future.
“Right now we are fully booked in terms of boarding facilities for horses, and we have a full waiting list,” said Cardwell. “We currently have 25 horses in the barns and another 20 boarded outdoors. We’re now trying to decide if we want to focus on increasing the boarding potential or concentrate on performance, show and competition.”
With 250 students of all ages attending the centre on a regular basis, and more coming on a more occasional training schedule, the Cardwells see great potential for Powassan to become the equine capital of the north, not only hosting the Trillium level show they have done over the past two years, but moving into the A Circuit, a pre-placement to Olympic standard competition.
Having started to make a name for Knowlton Ridge on the hunter and jumper show scene, both at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), last year’s Royal Winter Fair and other provincial shows, Cardwell is also looking to expand the centre’s own horses with an eye for bringing home even more red ribbons.
“We’ve decided not to compete in this year’s Royal, but we will have a double booth at the event to promote Knowlton Ridge,” he said. “Next year, we hope to qualify and compete with two new horses we feel have great potential and should do really well for us.”
New to Knowlton Ridge’s stables are two Hanoverians, two-year-old Casper and seven-year-old Greenfield, both purchased earlier this month. Casper comes from an RCMP brood mare and was expected to be trained for the famed musical ride.
“Unfortunately, as these things happen, he wasn’t born black, but chestnut which eliminates him from the ride, but doesn’t change the fact that his bloodlines are excellent,” said Cardwell. “I truly believe that he will become a high level hunter, so we’ve decided to take the plunge and step up the calibre of horses coming from our barn. We’re going to start breeding more aggressively over the next five years.
“The plan is to use Casper for preliminary training under saddle and to introduce him to the show ring next year and hopefully present him at the Royal Winter Fair in 2008 for three-year-old conformation classes,” he said. “In 2009, it is hoped he will be shown at both Trillium and ‘A’ circuit shows.”
Cardwell also has a lot of faith in the potential for Greenfield to make a name for the Powassan stable.
“Greenfield comes from hockey player Dave Haverchuck’s Grande Farms in Orangeville and has previously competed in Ocala, Florida in the spring of 2006. (Greenfield) was ridden and shown by Eryn Ballard, a member of Canada’s National Show Jumping Team,” said Cardwell. “We’re going to be training him throughout the fall and winter and enter him in competition next year as well.”
Even though there will be no Knowlton Ridge horses competing at next month’s Royal Winter Fair, Cardwell’s attempts to brand his stable among the equestrian community has already proven successful.
“We made it a point, right from the beginning of our competing, to ensure all of our entries were announced with the words Knowlton Ridge Equestrian Centre in Powassan,” said Cardwell. “Now when we talk to people and say we’re from Knowlton Ridge, they automatically say, ‘oh yes from Powassan, we know where you are.’”
Named after the Cardwell’s show champion, Knowlton, the equestrian centre has a full line up of fall and winter workshops and classes taught by well known Canadian equestrians.
“We have to plan for year-round activities,” said Cardwell. “This time of year, people are thinking of putting their horses away for the winter, but we want to ensure that there’s lots of options open for them all year round.”
The Oct. 13 open house promoted the winter activities, as well as giving visitors a chance to see area riders in action, including the new Knowlton Ridge musical ride. There were also a number of demonstration on various horse care and show preparation techniques.
During all the weekend excitement, Knowlton, now retired from active showmanship, looked on contentedly.
“Now that he’s retired, he’s just enjoying life,” said Cardwell, “but that poses another problem. As we expand the breeding stock, we’re going to have more retirees. I think that once we have built the new indoor arena, we’ll have to look at purchasing some additional land to build a retirement barn.”
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