Our Farm

We named our farm after the former whistlestop of Pendennis situated to the east on the old Great Northwestern Railway line. The old rail bed crosses our property and some days imaginary trains still chug their way past our yard. The fastest steam engine in England during the 1920s was the "4079 Pendennis Castle". The Town of Rivers, which is named after Sir Charles Rivers Wilson (president of the Grand Trunk Railway from 1895 to 1910), also has a railway theme. We couldn't resist having a railway theme for our farm and website also. The background image of the website banner is the Pendennis Castle locomotive.

Our farm nestles up against 480 acres of mostly-forested Crown Land which a retired wildlife biologist referred to as the "Pendennis hills". We presumed that was a local name, but the neighbours looked puzzled when we described the area that way. The Crown land is leased by a neighbour for grazing and is humming with activity during the deer hunting season. However, once the snow flies it becomes our own personal playground. The fence lines make superb riding and sleigh trails.

Hills in Manitoba, you ask?! No, that's no joke! Much of western Manitoba is blessed with rolling hills, a stark contrast indeed to the flat Red River floodplain, which is often the first impression visitors get when driving on the Trans Canada Highway from Winnipeg. Randy and I were immediately drawn to the Rivers area when we began to search for an acreage to buy.

The Pendennis Hills are the highest point of land in the area, with more than a 100-foot drop in the half a mile width of our quarter section (160 acres). There are 200-foot cliffs along the Little Saskatchewan River in places with spectacular views of the valley. Wild crocuses adorn the hill tops in April after the snow disappears. Recreational opportunities abound, with tubing, rafting and canoeing popular in the spring, as well as good walleye fishing and endless riding possibilities.

We rent 50 acres of cropland and hire someone to cut and bale our 60 acres of hayland. As we’ve come to realize over the years just what easy keepers these Canadian horses are, we find it essential to ration their feed to prevent them from becoming too fat. The horses live outside year round. Following a winter in the yard, they are gradually introduced to grass in spring. They are only let out into the pasture for half a day, usually at night as the sugar content of the grass is at its lowest then. If costly farrier and feed bills are getting you down, get a Canadian Horse!