Welcome! Velcommen! Ciao!
We are Laura and Carm.
Laura has been an animal lover all her life, constantly pestering her parents for a pony! Carm did not grow up with any pets, but has discovered a love of animals since being married to Laura.

 
For 18 years we bred parrots and for 10 years we also bred Norwegian Fjord Horses, however, due to many reasons we have scaled back completely and are no longer breeding at all.

We used to breed on a small scale so that we could give each new baby the attention and training to get them off to a great start. We partnered with Ruth Wilson for the hand-feeding of our baby parrots. She and her family spent alot of time socializing and playing with the babies. Our Fjordhorse breeding herd was choosen with the aim of producing Fjordhorses with wonderful Fjord temperaments as well as athletic ability making them suitable for any equestrian endeavour. We wanted a horse that was easy to handle, calm, yet still athletic enough for using. Each foal was greeted into this world by Laura and Carm. They were lovingly imprinted and trained extensively in the first few days of their lives.

It was a wonderful experience and we enjoyed all the people we met and of course the babies and parents. Time moves on though and it became time to try other things in our lives!

We called our farm Skjenna Gård (Skjenna Farm) after the farm in the Gudbrandsdalen Valley, Norway where Laura's ancestors originate. The Norwegian farm was given to Audon Skjenna by the King of Norway in 1612 for his role at "Massacre of the Scots at Kringen".
Skjenna Gård is visited by Kristen in Sigrid Undset's "Kristin Lavransdatter" books!

Our version of the farm is in eastern Ontario, Canada. Its much smaller and flatter than the Norwegian version!

 

We chose Norwegian Fjord horses for their great temperaments and beauty. As a child, Laura had seen some in Norway and was enchanted by them. The dream of someday owning such a lovely animal was finally realized in 1997 when we purchased Dora, our first Fjord. From there is was just a matter of time before our herd started expanding. The Fjord Horse character was a delight! All of our horses have been rehomed (including Britt who is now owned by TROtt, a local thereputic riding centre). Their absence has left a big hole in our lives!

 

Our first parrot arrived in the fall of 1990. Buzz, an African Grey Congo, totally took over our hearts and our home! We couldn't believe how much personality, intelligence and character were packaged up in such a small, neat package! We were hooked. The following spring we added Zack, a Blue & Gold macaw. After some consideration, we decided to create a small breeding flock of birds to ensure their future survial and also to help ease some of the pressure on Wild flocks. Our flock has since been re-homed with other breeders but we continue to miss them every day.

 

Much of the Artwork on this site has been created in 1905 by my Great Grandfather - Olaf Skjenna, or in some cases by myself.