“The latest fight with the Ontario Liberal Government has taught us that most of the public is unaware of our fine sport and the impact it has on the rural economy. We want to help people to become aware and to fall in love with the Standardbred like we have.” explains Bob Ladouceur of St. Lads Farm.

Ladouceur is the owner-operator of St. Lads Farm in Ruscom, and along with High Stakes Farm, Seelster Farms, and Twinbrook Farms, will open their gates and farms this Sunday, May 13 from 2 to 4 p.m. for a special FREE Mother’s Day Open House event that is open to the general public. Most importantly, they will all be sharing their love of the horse, their anecdotes about their farms, and promoting standardbred breeding and racing in a positive way despite the challenges the industry is currently facing.

The Ladouceur and McNiven families are looking forward to inviting their community behind the scenes of their farm. Here’s a closer look.

St. Lads Farm in Ruscom, Ont. – Robert Ladouceur

Operating a successful Standardbred breeding farm was not on Bob Ladouceur’s radar for many years. He graduated from the University of Windsor with a business degree and worked as a corporate tax analyst at Hiram Walker for 10 years before becoming a store owner of Home Hardware and Home Furniture stores for the next 20 years while raising his young family.

Ladouceur’s three children, Dianne, Nicole, and son Kim were involved in riding and showing Morgan horses in their youth, which rekindled his equine interest and inspired his purchase of St Lads Farm in rural Ontario, a scenic 75 acre property. As they grew up, Bob made the switch from Morgans to Standardbreds, and purchased a sociable trotter named Special Steed. He bred his first mare in 1993.

St Lads Farm is now home to 49 mares, 13 yearlings, and 9 foals, with 22 yet to come in 2012. The facility was the first home to superstar pacer St Lads Popcorn, who earned an impressive $654,606 during her racing career and, more recently, Machal Jackson who, after his 2012 campaign, is sitting pretty at $358,541 in lifetime earnings.

Twinbrook Farms in Embro, Ont. – Tammy & Rob McNiven

Twinbrook is owned by Tammy McNiven and her husband Rob who have operated the establishment for the past two decades. Their three children, Maddi, 18, Jenna, 16 and Robert, 13, are all very involved in the breeding farm which at the moment is home to 30 mares, 28 yearlings and 20 foals.

During that time their commercial breeding enterprise has progressed from relative obscurity to achieving Top Three Consignor status at last fall’s prestigious Harrisburg, PA yearling sale.

McNiven, who is also Chair of Standardbred Canada and a board member of the SBOA, admits that they learned a great deal about the breeding business from their Uncle Jack (McNiven), a member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and owner-operator of the esteemed breeding farm Killean Acres in Ingersoll, Ontario, for over 40 years.

There have been a lot of great horses bred at Twinbrook including Zooka who made over $1.3 million and held a world record as the fastest free legged pacer. Twinbrook owned both his mother and grandmother, who were pillars of their broodmare band. Twin B Warrior, a winner of over $607,000 was another standout that was bred at the farm.

McNiven is looking forward to Sunday’s Open House. “We are really excited about Sunday and the whole family is involved. We have no idea what to expect for a turnout but everyone in our area knows about it and our uncles Jack and Don (McNiven) have been helping out in a big way to help promote the event in the community.”

Ontario’s horse racing and breeding industry employs close to 60,000 people. The industry contributes $2 billion into Ontario’s economy annually with 80% of that amount being spent in rural communities. There are over 2,500 Standardbred breeders in Ontario, and last year, there were over 4,000 foals born.

The Open House will give the general public an opportunity to see the mares and foals up close, pet a foal, see breeding and farm equipment, and talk with the people involved about a day in the life of a Standardbred breeder.

“Our goal is to give visitors a snapshot of Standardbred breeding and demonstrate the importance of the standardbred industry to the rural community and Ontario’s economy”, said Anna Meyers, president of the SBOA.

“We’ve designed an event that’s both fun and educational,” said Meyers. “This is a great opportunity for people who wouldn’t normally have a chance to visit a horse farm to connect with the horses and the people in the industry.”

The event, coordinated by Standardbred Canada and the SBOA is free to the general public.

All guests who visit any of the participating farms will receive a complimentary I Love Canadian Harness Racing package, which will include a brochure on the Ontario Standardbred Breeding Industry, an I Love Canadian Harness Racing gift as well as coupons and discounts for local racetracks.

Here is a complete list of the farms, addresses and contact information:

Seelster Farms

33618 Roman Line
R.R. # 3 Lucan, ON N0M 2J0
(40 minutes from London)
Tel 519-227-4294

St. Lads Farm

1078 Countryview Lane
Ruscom, ON N0R 1R0
(40 km east of Windsor)
Tel 519-975-2067

Twinbrook Farms

R. R. # 4 Embro, ON N0J 1J0
25 miles east of London, 3 miles north of Hwy #2 (Dundas St.)
Tel 519-475-4276

High Stakes Farm

9685 FIRST LINE
Moffat, ON L0P 1J0
(5 minutes from downtown Milton)
Tel 905-854-5074

(with files from the SBOA)