Draft-E-Knoll Farm is located in the Ottawa valley at Kars Ontario.
The Ottawa Valley Region is the heart of Eastern Ontario's draft horse
owners and breeders, with all breeds being represented with extraordinary
quality.
The Percheron breeders in this area represent some of the best show
quality horses, and strongest show ring competition in Canada, or
North America for that matter. Some of these breeders have sold and
exported their horses all over the World.
Draft-E-Knoll
Farm is owned and operated as a family hobby business, by Randy &
Heide Lavier, and their niece Sarah Bond. The farm keeps on an average
four to six brood mares, with a total number of horses running from
six to twelve.
We have been active in raising and working with horses over the past
twenty five years, however, it is only in the last ten years that
we have been showing Percherons, and developing our breeding program.
We have always had a keen interest in the draft breeds and in particular
the Percheron horses. We like the flash of the Percheron and we were
drawn to their typical colours of black and grey. Before purchasing
our first mares we were very fortunate in showing horses for the Lackey
family owners of The Mini Ponderosa. Through that association, we
met a number of other wonderful breeders and exhibitors. For this
we will always be very grateful.
When we were ready to build our own stock, it wasn't an easy task.
We had certain blood lines we wanted and they weren't easy to find.
My wife, Heide and I went to numerous sales in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois,
just to mention a few. We searched over two years to find the right
horses, however, when we found a horse we liked we were always out
bid . We then kept looking, and as luck would have it one of the mares
that had sold in Illinois in February came up for sale that summer
at Carson's Invitational Sale. So off I went again, and to our good
fortune, we found three more Percherons with the breeding we had been
looking for. 
I
checked out these mares and confirmed they too had what we wanted
in a Percheron. Later on that afternoon Heide called on my cell phone,
and asked if we got the mare. I told her yes but she'd need to make
up a few more stalls. I'd be coming home to Draft-E-Knoll with four
new Percheron mares. This was the start of our breeding program, and
has proved to be what we had strived for.
The main objective at Draft-E-Knoll Farm is to build and improve
the quality of today's Percherons. Our personal goal is to take a
mare of good breeding and conformation, and select a stud with the
same qualification, that has the features that will improve on the
offspring. Our aim is to produce foals that are better than the Stud
and the Dam, an should we accomplish this then we feel we were successful.
We
want our Percherons to be alert, have snap and most important be gentle
natured. As for conformation, we breed for the show ring with the
intent of producing superior hitch horses, which require a good sloped
shoulder and pastern. Put this all together with a mare and stud of
good background and conformation and you should produce outstanding
stock. Our intention is not to be a big breeder, but a quality breeder.
We feel it is very important that the Percheron horses are bred for
the purpose they were intended and to try to maintain and improve
on the foundation lines.
In the near future, we would like to obtain a Percheron stallion
in order to infuse a new blood line into the Ottawa Valley.
We hope this website will be enjoyed by those thinking about getting
involved with Percherons, people who simply want more information
on the breed, and be a useful tool for many Percheron owners.
Happy Hitchn'
