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Moffat, Ontario
Nominated as: Breeder Director, Ontario Region
Joanne Colville is one of the most well-known participants in harness racing in
Ontario. She is equally known for her horsemanship in addition to her business
savvy.
During her career Joanne has worked at Standardbred Canada, Woodbine
Entertainment Group and is now the Administrator/Events Co-ordinator for the
Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society. The latter role requires handling the
administration of OSAS in addition to co-ordinating horse shows and ‘meet and
greet’ events. Joanne, who served as outrider on the WEG circuit for six years,
can often be found at major events on the harness racing calendar acting as
outrider.
In addition, Joanne owns and operates High Stakes Farm, a 30 acre property
specializing in breeding, boarding, rehabilitation and racing stock. The operation
serves as headquarters for High Stakes sale services.
Joanne established High Stakes, now the largest Standardbred consignment
company in Canada, 15 years ago and has become a major player at yearling
sales on both sides of the border.
Having ridden in every discipline, and won numerous awards for speed events,
Joanne also worked at the Hendervale Equestrian Complex covering the Olympic
trials.
For the past several years she has also raced several performers on the
competitive WEG circuit.
Always willing to give of her time to industry organizations or events, Joanne is
also a Director of the Central Ontario Standardbred Association and a member of
the Standardbred Canada Sales Committee.
For the past several years the administrative job has been capably managed by Joanne Colville who is uniquely suited to the all encompassing role.
As a Standardbred breeder for many years and past chair of Standardbred Canada, Joanne has a farm near Moffat, where most of the OSAS horses arrive before transferring to a foster facility. In addition, Joanne serves as the outrider at Mohawk where she interacts with horse people across the province on a nightly basis and she is also a board member of the Central Ontario Standardbred Association.
Every horse that comes into OSAS is given a thorough assessment prior to going to a foster home. Currently OSAS has several foster farms as well as two training facilities operated by Shelley Higgins and Susan and Bert Mollica. A horse’s secondary career (trail riding, competitions, companions, etc.) is based largely on their soundness and temperament. Once it is determined that the horse has completed its training and is ready for a new home, Joanne makes arrangements for potential adopters to visit and ascertain if they would be a good fit.
People wanting to adopt an OSAS horse are required to fill out an application on the OSAS website and a site inspection of their facility is done to ensure its suitability. After a horse is successfully adopted, guardians will continue to follow up with inspections and submit their reports to OSAS.
OSAS is guided by Joanne and a board of dedicated directors with a myriad of skills in the business – Jim Evans, Bill O’Donnell, Heather MacKay, Ian Fleming and Kelly Spencer.
