The Story
My family and I moved here on July 31st, 2002. We relocated from Etobicoke...and brought a little part of our old home to our new home, naming our farm after the street we lived on in the city, Braecrest Avenue. My grandfather built the house we lived in, and my father had never moved his entire life...this was a move of a lifetime for all of us...Moving day arrived... the day was much anticipated by mom, dad and myself. We had a huge support network of family and friends that helped us move that day...I think there were over 20 people here! Moving van, horse trailer, and all vehicles loaded, we headed out of the city...and would never look back!
We found our dream property in Loretto. The deciding factors of where we were going to move to included being within an hour from Markham, for my father's business, within an hour of Toronto so mom could continue her nursing job, and it sure was nice to be in a somewhat familiar area so I could stay with the same service people in the horse world...vet, farrier, feed mill...
The property was rough...but I had a vision! The barn was a disaster, but was structurally sound and definitely had potential. The land was sandy and high...it drained well. The landscape perfect for paddocks and riding. There was 1 sort of usable paddock, and well, lets just say the barn needed some serious work!
With an unbelieveable amount of hardwork, sweat, and tears, we turned this facility around. By the time our first winter was here, we housed 8 horses...the second winter, 14, plus I rented a near-by facility with an indoor arena for 4 horses in training. My training business started to take off at this point, and in 2004, construction of the indoor arena and more stabling began. Mom and I became professional fence builders, while dad kept up the role of electrician, plumber, builder, mechanic...you name it! I remember one summer, mom and dad and I were out working on the fences in the back field...we had been at it for hours, and all of a sudden the mosquitos came out! Man they sent us running! There were also many days of building fences in snow storms...oh those were the days!Life seems so civilized now! As a family, we have developed this facility to what you all know as it stands today... in the big picture, only 8 years...but it felt as if it were a lifetime. There were great times, very difficult times, and all I can say is I am incredibly lucky to be here and have those experiences with my family by my side. We're living the dream...through sickness and in health...
