About
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Kismet Canadian Horses is owned and operated by husband and wife team Matthew and Keisha O'Connor; a family owned and operated boutique style breeding farm dedicated to promoting and preserving the Canadian Horse breed around New England and the U.S.
The Canadian Horse is one of Canada’s best kept secrets; In 2016 I (Keisha) had attended the Equine Affaire in MA with a few friends; this was my first time hearing of the breed "Cheval Canadien" or Canadian Horse. Love at first sight is an understatement... the very beautiful shiny black coats, thick wavy mane and tail, and draft like build was really too much to resist, but their temperament and charisma was really what sealed my appreciation for the breed. Since then I have engrossed myself in learning about the breed, the breed standard, and breeding; this has included networking with other Canadian Horse owners and master breeders in the U.S. as well as Canada; becoming a member of various breed organizations, as well as volunteering my time at local events in order to promote and preserve our new found treasure. We want to be as informed as possible in order to produce exceptional horses true to breed standards.
In 2017 I purchased my first Canadian mare Pineview D'Heritage Lucy, the foundation mare for Kismet Canadian Horses. Lucy is the true definition of the breed; she not only has a very typical “Little Iron Horse” appearance, but she also possesses nearly all of the specific characteristics that make this breed so special; she is versatile, powerful, charismatic, intelligent loyal and safe... she has proven to be an amazing trail and family horse; and also my heart horse. Since owning Lucy I decided that I could not just let this amazing breed slip further into the critically endangered status; I feel as though the breed crossed my path for a reason, like finding this horse was fate, which is why we decided to name our farm Kismet (destiny).
The Canadian Horse is one of Canada’s best kept secrets; In 2016 I (Keisha) had attended the Equine Affaire in MA with a few friends; this was my first time hearing of the breed "Cheval Canadien" or Canadian Horse. Love at first sight is an understatement... the very beautiful shiny black coats, thick wavy mane and tail, and draft like build was really too much to resist, but their temperament and charisma was really what sealed my appreciation for the breed. Since then I have engrossed myself in learning about the breed, the breed standard, and breeding; this has included networking with other Canadian Horse owners and master breeders in the U.S. as well as Canada; becoming a member of various breed organizations, as well as volunteering my time at local events in order to promote and preserve our new found treasure. We want to be as informed as possible in order to produce exceptional horses true to breed standards.
In 2017 I purchased my first Canadian mare Pineview D'Heritage Lucy, the foundation mare for Kismet Canadian Horses. Lucy is the true definition of the breed; she not only has a very typical “Little Iron Horse” appearance, but she also possesses nearly all of the specific characteristics that make this breed so special; she is versatile, powerful, charismatic, intelligent loyal and safe... she has proven to be an amazing trail and family horse; and also my heart horse. Since owning Lucy I decided that I could not just let this amazing breed slip further into the critically endangered status; I feel as though the breed crossed my path for a reason, like finding this horse was fate, which is why we decided to name our farm Kismet (destiny).
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Here I am riding Lucy on Hampton Beach in N.H.; this was a first for me and for my mare (riding on the beach at the ocean), and she really took it as all Canadian's would as a great adventure!
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After Matthew and I decided to become an official breeder of the Canadian Horse we knew we wanted to start small and focus on quality, so we had been searching in Canada as well as the U.S. for another mare to start up our farm. In March of 2018 we purchased a beautiful chestnut filly, Soul Ridge Taboo Destiny. We know she will add something special to our future breeding program, and the fact that her name was already "Kismet" well how could it not be meant to be!
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The newest addition to our farm Champagne Zurick Edith came from Quebec as a yearling! She has already won the hearts of many Kismet followers including our daughter Kinsley who says Edith is forever "her horse"!
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Our farm is located in New Hampton N.H., a highly forested area that has mild summers and cold winters. We are right outside of what is known as the Lakes Region, although our area is composed of mountains, forests of pine and maples, brooks, creeks and hardy grasses. Our property encompasses 10 acres worth of wooded, rocky, mountainous terrain, although not lush with flat green pastures, we do find that between the land and climate these happen to be ideal conditions for hardy easy keeping Canadian Horses! Although we have shelters, our horses prefer to live naturally as possible with 24/7 tunout and they usually choose to be outside in the elements! Our property guarantees that our horses remain healthy and in tip top shape!