Trillium Equine Complex

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Trillium Equine Complex Located in Orono, Ontario A full service breeding and equine foundation training facility, as well as an equine educational center. We hope you enjoy your visit!

Owners and breeders of champion Morgan horses breeders for 42 years. The door is always open and you are welcome to come in, pull up a chair and sit a spell. Explore all things horse related at Trillium and be sure to join our groups. Accomplished Horse Trainer, Equine Care Specialist, Breeder of Champion Morgans, Clinician, Published Writer, Competitor. Co-owner of Trillium Morgan Horse Farm and

the Trillium Equine Complex
Catherine has also recently published her memoirs "Between the Irons", a beautifully written book of her life with horses. Please check out the page "Between the Irons" for more information.

THE farm in winter...
16/01/2026

THE farm in winter...

AFTER the storm... Julie couldn't take herself away from the paddocks today as she was so enthralled in capturing all th...
16/01/2026

AFTER the storm... Julie couldn't take herself away from the paddocks today as she was so enthralled in capturing all these images to share with you.

THE mood of a winter's storm captured by Julie today at the farm.
16/01/2026

THE mood of a winter's storm captured by Julie today at the farm.

ZAYDA was covered in snow after much shoveling before helping indoors.
15/01/2026

ZAYDA was covered in snow after much shoveling before helping indoors.

MARY pulled up her hood and stood patiently waiting for the stock tank to fill with tepid water.
15/01/2026

MARY pulled up her hood and stood patiently waiting for the stock tank to fill with tepid water.

ZAYDA and Julie shovel out the gates this morning.
15/01/2026

ZAYDA and Julie shovel out the gates this morning.

CHORES go ahead despite a raging snowstorm in the category of 'orange' warnings from Environment Canada. I managed to pl...
15/01/2026

CHORES go ahead despite a raging snowstorm in the category of 'orange' warnings from Environment Canada.

I managed to plow my way down the laneway to the farm this morning. I quickly threw all horses a flake of hay before heading back out to pick up feed at the Coop. The roads were very slick so I drove accordingly. I was only the second customer to brave the storm and arrive at the store. With feed loaded, I took the highway route this time, again driving according to road conditions. It was comforting to see the snowplows out on the roads. As a quick sidenote: There is no safety salt available and any new order will be rationed out to customers.

I arrived back at the farm and continued to do morning feed not expecting anyone to chance the roads. Shortly after I arrived, Julie and Zayda drove in followed by diehard Mary. She drove the furthest not wanting to miss her day of volunteering at the farm. With extra hands to help, We got the outdoor stock tanks filled, gates shoveled out, horses fed and watered and finally, turned out for the day. You can just feel the thermometer sliding lower and lower with each passing hour. Currently -13 feeling like -21. It's going to get much colder!! The snow continues to fall heavily with a vengeance.

I managed to click a few photos today and a video (posted on the farm video page) of this morning's business.

JULIE and Penny share a moment after distributing evening feed to the empty stalls. So glad to be able to get the horses...
14/01/2026

JULIE and Penny share a moment after distributing evening feed to the empty stalls. So glad to be able to get the horses outside today before the big snow and tumbling temperatures arrive later tonight. What a wicked winter this has been.

THIS is a long post so bear with me. Funny thing happened tonight at the barn. While I was doing evening feed, I walked ...
14/01/2026

THIS is a long post so bear with me. Funny thing happened tonight at the barn.

While I was doing evening feed, I walked down the aisle to the boarder's section and noticed a strong scent comparable to cheap perfume. It seemed to be most evident around Mattie/Breezy's stalls. For those who know me, I have a very sensitive sniffer and can smell anything regardless how slight it is. I glanced around and wondered where it was coming from. It wasn't that usual sickening sweet smell of soaked horse urine, but rather more of a dollar store perfume. I started to get a bit concerned.

I know that horses suffering from from liver/kidney issues can have different smelling urine. Since Triumph has been off of his beet pulp the last while, I thought it might be him. When I got home I texted Marie and Marilyn to see if they had put any type of stall freshener in their stalls, to combat all the wetness and moisture in the air. I impressed upon them that I needed to know if they had added anything that might cause an odor. They assured me they hadn't added anything to their bedding. I further asked them to let me know if they witness any horse's peeing that looks dark in colour. That is a telltale sign of trouble.

Upon reflection, Marie was so concerned, she was going to have the vet run some tests on her Breezy just in case. You see Julie, Marie and Marilyn had noticed the same smell as I did and thought it was just some weird stall freshener. As Marie cleaned Breezy's stall tonight, she even convinced Julie to sniff her horse's soiled bedding to see if that was the source. Nope! I went back to the aisle and as I started down it, I caught a whiff of 'the smell' in the air. It was strongest near Mattie's stall. Marilyn was working away, painstakingly cleaning her stall when I went over and had a sniff of Mattie who was patiently waiting in the crossties to have her stalled cleaned. Nope, not her. I went into Precious' stall and had an intense smell of her too - Negative! I then asked everyone if they had put any conditioner in their horse's manes and tails. Nope again. Then I asked, did anyone wash their horse's blanket. BINGO!!! Marie said that Donna had taken Abbey's blanket home to repair and wash it. Ah ha....

I let my nose follow the strong scent which led me to Abbey's stall and blanket. Mystery solved. Well we all had a sigh of relief that it wasn't a sick horse, and had a good chuckle to boot. (Abbey's stall is back-to-back with Mattie's.)

P.S. Thank you Donna for your excellent laundry cleaning service. You had us all fooled. Her blanket looks immaculate. However, I do not advise using fabric conditioner on laundered horsewear. It's not a recognized smell of the barn. (giggle)

I know it is a big "no no" for using towels on newborn foals that have had fabric softener in the rinse cycle or dryer. It disguises the natural scent on the foal and in some cases, causes a mare to reject or hesitate in bonding with her foal if it has been rubbed down with such a towel. This is just another great learning opportunity and lesson at Trillium.

13/01/2026

BLAST from the past. Sarah mounting without stirrups on Trillium Royal Assent. Our Sarah will soon be known as Dr. Sarah, DVM. It's so rewarding to see my former students develop into wonderful men and women with careers that make us proud. Click on the reel and enjoy.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1306713156009300

ZAYDA working Rosie in the arena last night. A bit more ice slowly creeping away with the milder temperature today but t...
13/01/2026

ZAYDA working Rosie in the arena last night. A bit more ice slowly creeping away with the milder temperature today but then the rain has started to be followed by snow. Hopefully it will help speed up the crawl of ice to disappearance before the sudden drop in temperature. Dipping to -16 by Thursday. The rollercoaster continues. We will see what conditions are like in the morning. If good, horses will go out tomorrow.

MY senior volunteers were busy this morning taking my wheelbarrow out to Mount Trillium while I mucked out 8 stalls. Bre...
13/01/2026

MY senior volunteers were busy this morning taking my wheelbarrow out to Mount Trillium while I mucked out 8 stalls. Brendan was the ringmaster this morning exercising horses while their stalls were being cleaned. With feed done and lunch served to the horses, my crew began to sweep up the aisles. No turnout today as the weather conditions have not improved. A warm up this afternoon with possible snow and rain, then another plunge in temperature, hopefully will cause the snow to stick to the ice and we will be able to turnout again. Fingers crossed.

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