About Us

The Horse Cottage Stables is situated on 11 acres in the Niagara Greenbelt of Pelham Ontario Canada. It is conveniently located between Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto and Fort Erie Race Track in Fort Erie Canada which is near the Peace Bridge by Buffalo, New York. This location provides easy access to the highway in either direction.

Originally established in 2002, the Carpenters expanded their operation in 2010 and re-branded
Horse Cottage Stables as a Horse Athlete Lay-up, Foaling, and Rehabilitation Centre .  The Carpenter's now welcome broodmare's for foaling in addition to accepting horse athletes needing time off for rest or rehabilitation. They accept yearlings needing to be saddle broke (or more accurately "started") with a focus on handling in a calm and relaxed atmosphere. 

Depending on the requirements of the individual horse, Trainers and Owners have the option to have gradual conditioning on the
Horse Exercise Machine or to have their horse totally laid-up with minimal activity. The small quiet focused atmosphere will ensure that the horse athlete receives a relaxed pace away from the bustle of the race track or the show ring while recuperating, and that yearlings and foals receive hands-on handling from the time that they are delivered.


Denise's background with horses began in Mount Hope Ontario at Concordia Riding Academy in 1970. 
Shortly after, Denise was working under the watchful eye of Trainer Carl Chapman "Chappy" at the tender age of 16 years old with her heart set on being a jockey.
First employed as a Hotwalker, Denise quickly moved on to groom and eventually exercise rider but with a dad over 6 feet tall, that wasn't meant to be. She continued working at Thoroughbred Race Tracks in Toronto (Woodbine & Greenwood) and Fort Erie gathering valuable horse experience over time with Trainers such as Jimmy Nemmet and Larry Moorhead.   Denise later joined ranks with the very successful Sam-Son Farms throughout the early 1970's at their Oakville farm and also with their Trainer Art Warner while travelling between Canadian Race Tracks and the United States.


Her early horse years were then followed by a career in the merchant marine in the later part of the 1970's. Denise lived aboard ships and worked as a Helmswoman steering large 730 foot ships through canals, on the lakes and deep-sea. Denise used her sea-time to enter into Marine School to obtain her License as a Navigational Marine Officer allowing her be become a Watchkeeping Mate in the early 80's. However the passion for horses never left as Denise once again returned to handling horses in the 1980's after returning ashore to get married and raise a family. Denise took a job relieving the Farm Manager at a breeding farm in Niagara-On-The-Lake and from there began the search for a farm of her own.
Horse Cottage Stables completed that circle.

Denise and Howard Carpenter, proprietors of Horse Cottage Stables take great pride in their farm and its evolution over the last 2 decades.  They have tremendous passion in their mission to establish a very unique environmentally responsible farm with the firm objective for using their resident horses as part of the plan to merge livestock care with composting, heirloom vegetable production, orchard, vineyard, berry patch and field gardening to truly make their farm a flagship for SUSTAINABILITY.

"ITS TIME TO SEND YOUR HORSE TO "THE HORSE COTTAGE"