"I worked in Australia for 3 months and trained some of these horses myself as well as competed at campdrafting events on them. I hope this works out for you as I think they are an incredible animal and very durable!"
—Kim Dampier, Western Horse Review

So, why did the McArthur family choose to import the Australian Stock Horse breed when Canada already possesses many well bred quality horses? It all began when we were first introduced to the ASH breed at the inaugural Polocrosse World Cup event in 2003. Since that time we have been researching the potential of the Australian Stock Horse import into Canada. Our experiences with the ASH breed throughout the World Cup event confirmed the breed's versatility and performance, but even more importantly for us was their mild temperament that captured us. In the years to follow and another visit to the World Cup event in 2007 the breed and its qualities solidified the McArthur's interest. And so began their journey to import and begin breeding the Australian Stock Horse to their home located near the picturesque Rocky Mountains, home of the Calgary Stampede and Spruce Meadows in Alberta, Canada.

After much research and lengthy consideration about the Australian Stock Horse breed and pedigrees they have imported horses that will not only represent the breed well but will also provide the marketplace with a quality ASH stud offering out cross potential for existing well bred horses available in Canada. Our foundation horses have an unmistakable combination of traits including; a quiet trainable temperament, versatile size (14. 3 - 15.2hh), refined eye appeal, natural agility, stamina, hardiness and a natural cow ability. It is our belief that these horses will offer value to other equine breeders who also value similar attributes; to be gained or sustained through out-crosses with our Australian Stock Horse studs.

Our facility and breeding program is to short and long term plans to promote and encourage the growth of the breed in Canada and North America. Complimenting existing horse breeders programs within Canada and North America with the same or similar breeding goals.

For the immediate future, our focus will consist of showing (within the Working Cow Horse) and breeding future Heritage pedigree ASH stock, while offering breeding opportunities with both of our studs, CADABRA and STONEBROOK FINNO plus offer embryo transfers from our foundation ASH mares.

sponsors

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!! We'd like to say thank you to the following companies for lending their expertise, resources and time to assist our efforts to present the Australian Stock Horse in Canada for the first time:

HAVE-DOG-WILL-TRAVEL PRODUCTIONS design / web / print www.have-dog.com 'have-dog-will-travel' is a new media/graphic design company specializing in distinctive, scalable websites. With experience in print (including logos/branding, posters/billboards, dvd box/cd cover art, t-shirt design, magazine ads, etc.) and multimedia we can fully build your presence, on and off the web.

COW TRAC The Ultimate Mechanical Cow www.cowtrac.com The ultimate system for training your horse to work a cow, stop straight, improve roll backs and maintain proper position.

glossary

ASH	Australian Stock Horse
ASHC	Australian Stock Horse Canada
ASHS	Australian Stock Horse Society
Campdrafting	Australian sport involving a horse and rider working cattle. Similar to North American events such as cutting, working cow horse, and team penning. Click here to watch a short clip* of the ASH campdrafting. [DURATION: 03:02 *clip requires quicktime]
FM	Foundation Mare: Registered ASH Mares with over 500 Registered Descendants within five generations.
FS	Foundation Sire: Registered ASH Stallions with over 1,000 Registered Descendants within five generations.
IS	Impact Sire: Progeny of Foundation Sires or Mares, which are Registered ASH Stallions with over 1,000 Registered Descendants within five generations.

Credits

Special thanks to photographers Narelle Wockner (nwpstudio.com.au), Tracey Bavinton (horsephotography.com.au) and Natalie Jackman (photography.have-dog.com) for graciously allowing us to use their photos.