History

Horses of Canada was officially opened in June of 1999. We were the first online equine marketing agency in North America to serve as an actual agency as opposed to an advertising website.

In 2000, the company's success continued to grow and we participated in a Canadian Business program that profiled innovative new businesses on a TV series. We also continued to get media coverage by having an article in a major Canadian newspaper. In 2000 we introduced our weekly 'New Horse Update' E-mail newsletter which continues to increase in subscribers. We have found it to be a very effective way to keep in touch and update our buyers. Even buyers who have already purchased a horse stay on our mailing list for fun so that they can keep apprised of the new horses listed!

In 2001, we continued our reputation of innovation. We created a new niche in the industry by providing on-line video clips and sending out high quality digital CDs rather than VHS tapes to buyers.

In 2002, we made the shift from online video clips of each horse to full length online video for DSL users. This eliminated the need for waiting for a video in the mail and made our company very efficient and convenient for our online users.

2003 - 2005 marked the start of an industry trend; we shifted our online video format to make it flexible for both dial-up and DSL users. We also presented our innovative new website. Our aim was to have a very professional website and to continue to grow our reputation for being forward thinking and consumer oriented. New features of the site upgrade include comprehensive profiles of each horse listed, all with the following sections: General, Training, Showing, Health, Videos and Pictures. These sections are very detailed and will ensure buyer satisfaction and owner disclosure. The site also features a 'Horsebox' for each signed in member. The Horsebox is basically a member account where members can save horses in which they are interested, make requests, and keep track of the status of their listed horses. The site will also provide partnership opportunities for Shippers, Vet Clinics, and Insurance companies.

2006 and beyond - We released another version of our website in 2006. We wanted to increase the transparency of our sales process by moving away from a commission based structure, there by connecting buyers and sellers directly. Our new system includes a Feedback Rating System that allows buyers and sellers to rate each other; it also includes Want Ads from buyers which will again provide more information through the sales process. Other features of the website upgrade include a more functional account for buyers and sellers, where updates to want ads, feedback and horse listings can be made by the member directly. We are also offering multimedia service for those clients that require any sort of video/photo editing, duplicating, digitalization etc. All of these new features in addition to the great features that clients have come to enjoy already, such as the horse box, detailed horse profile and full online videos etc. Our future plans include continuing to improve the functionality of the website and maintaining our reputation as industry leaders.

Christy Sarafinchan, is the founder and CEO of Horses of Canada. She has 13 years of active showing and training experience. Her primary focus has been dressage, although she also has a background in eventing and hunter/jumper. She has training experience in starting young horses as well as dressage training up to the Prix. St. Georges level. As a hobby she is currently teaching beginners to Basic IV Level dressage riders and lower level jumping students. Her educational background consists of a Degree in Environmental Sciences, Webpage Design and Business.