Black Lightning Horses Inc. is located in Rockwood, Ontario on Fifth Line Nassagaweya in a beautiful rural area on a quiet side road within easy commuting distance to Milton, Guelph, Fergus, Kitchener, Mississauga, Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. Located just minutes from Highways 401, 25 and 7 our location is accessible in all seasons.

Black Lightning Horses Inc. puts a very strong emphasis on the well being of all the horses at our facility. Everything is set up to provide the animals with the best possible care. A bright, well-ventilated barn, home grown horse feed, large, lush pastures with all day turnout and excellent health care make our stables unique. Our customers are happy because their horses are happy. To meet our boarders competitive needs European German certified coach and trainer Petra Buttner offers high quality advice and service in equine care, coaching, training of horses and clinics.

Black Lightning Horses Inc. is recognized member of Equine Canada and Ontario Equestrian Federation as well as member of the Dressage organization of Canada, Cadora.

The facility is surrounded by 150 acres of fields and bush with several ponds and creeks that can be used all year round for hacking.

 

 

The main barn was finished in 2002 and is built in an open concept. Lots of windows, the clear ridge, the open ceiling and stalls with grill tops all around make this barn exceptionally bright and airy. Four huge vents and climate controlled fan keep the building well ventilated and the insulation throughout the entire barn provides even and modest temperatures in summer and winter.

Tack room, separate feed room and the washroom are well lit and heated. Three extra grooming stalls (10' x 12') of which two also serve as wash stalls with hot and cold water give enough space to groom your horse without blocking the aisles.

The facility is under 24/7 supervision. A monitored alarm system with fire detectors and intrusion detection together with a closed circuit television system with several cameras installed throughout the barn help protect you and your horse.

 

In the barn 25 stalls with a size of 10' by 12' are arranged in three rows. The stalls with a stone dust base and rubber mats wall to wall are bedded with lots of shavings and straw to give the horses a comfortable home. Feed doors in each stall allow easy and fast access at feeding time.

We feed grain twice a day which consists of home grown organic oats, beet pulp and mineral supplement and if needed with addition of corn or soybean meal. On top of that each horse gets approximately 1/3 of a bale of hay (at least four flakes) in the evening. Growing our own hay gives us the choice of green first cut Alfalfa/grass mix for easy keepers and normal horses or very rich second cut pure Alfalfa for hard working and hard-to-keep horses. During the winter the horses munch on big round bales in their paddocks and in the summer they feast on our lush pastures all day long. Each horse's individual ration is calculated to best meet his needs and is adjusted throughout the year depending on the season, the horse's age and his work schedule.

The stalls also feature automatic waterers that get checked every day. To animate the horses in the wintertime to drink more water and thus preventing colic and impactions the waterers supply warm water. The water comes clean and fresh from our own well.

 

 

The most impressive feature of our facility for visitors is always our 200' x 80' indoor arena. Extremely bright during daylight and very well lit in the evenings it offers incredible space for dressage and jumping. Great ventilation even during the hottest summer days and an excellent dust free footing consisting of oiled sand and hardwood shavings on top of a 5" thick stone dust base make this arena enjoyable through the whole year. Two big automated overhead doors, ten vents and a huge fan in the gable provide a well- ventilated atmosphere in the summer. The 5' high kickboards all around the arena give horse and rider a good and visible barrier and a safe feeling.

 

In the summertime our horses love to get turned out on over 20 acres green pasture seeded with grass and white clover. Small groups of up to 4 horses eat all day long on the 10 large pasture fields each between 2 and 3 acres. Having so many fields enables us to rotate the horses every month so that the old pasture can recover and grow lush grass again for the next rotation. 24 hour water supply is guaranteed by the automatic waterers installed in each field.

To rest our beautiful pastures and prevent the horses from getting hurt by galloping in deep snow or slipping on icy patches they are turned out in smaller all weather paddocks in the winter. Big round bales of our quality hay still give them ample food and occupation.

Fencing with electric cord powered by solar fence chargers and cedar rails keep the horses safely contained in their fields.

Daily turnout throughout the whole year from dawn till dusk keeps our horses happy and relaxed. If the weather is good in the summertime horses are even allowed to stay out 24-hours getting fed grain mornings and evenings.

 

 

But excellent care, extensive turn-out, an awesome barn and a huge arena are not our only features:
A well drained 20 x 60 meter sand ring gives our dressage riders the opportunity to practise in a full size outdoor ring. Our hunter/jumper riders can work their horses on our 180' x 200' jumping ring with a wood chip footing that provides good traction even after a heavy thunderstorm. You can either school your horse over our well-maintained hunter/jumper fences or over natural obstacles like bank, ditch or stone wall. For our eventers we provide a 200' x 200' grass jumping ring with cross-country fences and a 1/4-mile gallop track for conditioning. Two round pens (60' and 80' diameter) can be used for groundwork or for lunging and free running. And simply everybody loves to go for a hack or some galloping on our 150 acres. Trails and a full cross-country course will soon round up the facility.

 

Here is a list of services we proudly provide:

• Carefree boarding with daily hoof picking and health check, dewormer, vaccination schedule and basic medical care included

• Coaching with lessons for our boarders at home and full service at shows

• Training and schooling of boarded horses and sales horses

• Preparing and showing of our sales and training horses

• Horse sales: We always have several horses for sale, be it our own homebred Trakehners or horses in commission. Petra Buttner already has a very good reputation of matching buyers with the right horse and dealing in an absolute honest and professional manner with horse sales.

• Breeding: With the imported stallion Hymnar at stud we offer best European bloodlines for breeding.

• Shows: The shows run at Black Lightning Horses Inc. have increasingly become popular due to an interesting show concept that especially encourages inexperienced riders and horses to show.

• Clinics: We offer several clinics throughout the year in dressage and jumping at the facility or you can book our coach Petra Buttner as clinician for your clinic.

• Trailering: Trailering horses to shows or from barn to barn has become a fairly big part of our business in the last year. Providing outstanding skills in handling difficult horses and a great flexibility in the use of the horse trailer makes Black Lightning Horses Inc. the first choice for many horse owners.

• Consulting: Horse owners who keep their horses at home but do not want to miss professional help and coaching can hire Petra Buttner for consulting and teaching at their facility.