Staff
The long days filled with demanding jobs, the shared victories and losses, the interconnected workings of the everyday ranch, and living on the property all make for a tight and close-knit community at River Bend. Our main goal when hiring staff is to find a likable, knowledgable, and easy to get along with person. Skill level comes second. We get to know each individual extremely well because all our staff members live on the property with us, sharing every emotion and thought that rolls through the stables.
Emmaline and Laurent Moreau, OWNERS
Hi, I'm Emmaline. I'm the proud owner of River Bend along with my husband, Laurent. We came over from Champs Les Sims, France, almost 3 years ago. We came with a dream that at the time, I thought was going to only ever be just that, a dream. But here we are now, building up what I hope will one day be a well-known breeding operation. I've always been passionate for the horse. I've been around them since age four, when my parents bought me a stubborn little shetland pony by the name of Buttercup. Needless to say, she taught me how to ride. And I'll be forever thankful of that little bundle of golden fur.
All through my school years, I rode as much as I could at a stables who did teach lessons, but mostly focussed on their breeding program. I helped out around the yard and got my first job at age twelve, when they hired me as stall-mucker. The job paid next to nothing, but I couldn't be happier. I then got upgraded to groom, and eventually I got to help out with the care of the pregnant mares. I still remember how intrigued I was when I watched a mare give birth for the first time. After that, I knew what I wanted to do. After graduating from high school, I went to university and studied Equine Sciences. The courses were hard and the days were long, but I plowed through it and eventually graduated with a masters degree.
I then went on to train and compete in eventing with my past trainer and best friend, Hettie. I rode one of Hettie's mares, Soleil. She did me good and she's one of the horses I will definitely remember. I competed up to Preliminary level with Soleil, and had an amazing time doing it. She was also the horse I was riding when I met Laurent at an event. I was twenty four at the time. As Soleil got older and I got more pre-occupied with the future, I gradually stopped competing. Three years after meeting Laurent, we got married. And all I can think about after that happy time was plunging into the big plans for an equine facility that was the dream of both Laurent and myself. Laurent is an equestrian facility architect, so he was drawing plans and blueprints right from the start. All our buildings and layout at River Bend were designed by him. I couldn't have done it without him.
So, after making all these plans, we needed to see some of it in the flesh. So we moved to Canada two years ago and started to build our life. We had been saving money forever, and finally our chance had come. We bought a plot of land in Merritt, BC, a year after moving. River Bend was then built, slowly but steadily, and is still incomplete as of now. I think in my head, it won't be "complete" for a long time, if ever.
Our first Selle Francais horse who was officially in our breeding program was my beloved stallion, Bari. Laurent and I bred him out of a mare that we were leasing for the show circuit, by a stallion that we had admired for a long time. Bari is now the main stud of our program, along with our dressage star who we imported from France, Russ. We've also accumulated a few Selle Francais mares who I've fallen in love with. I think we've got a great start to a program that will hopefully go on for my whole life, and generations to come.
So I'm up to the present day now, where I'm a crazy, multitasking soon-to-be mom. I'm thirty one years old and I feel like I've started something with my life. I'm a seed who's roots have finally found a tight hold in the soil. The future looks beautiful to me, I'm excited to see where my family, and that includes all the horses and people at River Bend, will go from here.
Hi, I'm Emmaline. I'm the proud owner of River Bend along with my husband, Laurent. We came over from Champs Les Sims, France, almost 3 years ago. We came with a dream that at the time, I thought was going to only ever be just that, a dream. But here we are now, building up what I hope will one day be a well-known breeding operation. I've always been passionate for the horse. I've been around them since age four, when my parents bought me a stubborn little shetland pony by the name of Buttercup. Needless to say, she taught me how to ride. And I'll be forever thankful of that little bundle of golden fur.
All through my school years, I rode as much as I could at a stables who did teach lessons, but mostly focussed on their breeding program. I helped out around the yard and got my first job at age twelve, when they hired me as stall-mucker. The job paid next to nothing, but I couldn't be happier. I then got upgraded to groom, and eventually I got to help out with the care of the pregnant mares. I still remember how intrigued I was when I watched a mare give birth for the first time. After that, I knew what I wanted to do. After graduating from high school, I went to university and studied Equine Sciences. The courses were hard and the days were long, but I plowed through it and eventually graduated with a masters degree.
I then went on to train and compete in eventing with my past trainer and best friend, Hettie. I rode one of Hettie's mares, Soleil. She did me good and she's one of the horses I will definitely remember. I competed up to Preliminary level with Soleil, and had an amazing time doing it. She was also the horse I was riding when I met Laurent at an event. I was twenty four at the time. As Soleil got older and I got more pre-occupied with the future, I gradually stopped competing. Three years after meeting Laurent, we got married. And all I can think about after that happy time was plunging into the big plans for an equine facility that was the dream of both Laurent and myself. Laurent is an equestrian facility architect, so he was drawing plans and blueprints right from the start. All our buildings and layout at River Bend were designed by him. I couldn't have done it without him.
So, after making all these plans, we needed to see some of it in the flesh. So we moved to Canada two years ago and started to build our life. We had been saving money forever, and finally our chance had come. We bought a plot of land in Merritt, BC, a year after moving. River Bend was then built, slowly but steadily, and is still incomplete as of now. I think in my head, it won't be "complete" for a long time, if ever.
Our first Selle Francais horse who was officially in our breeding program was my beloved stallion, Bari. Laurent and I bred him out of a mare that we were leasing for the show circuit, by a stallion that we had admired for a long time. Bari is now the main stud of our program, along with our dressage star who we imported from France, Russ. We've also accumulated a few Selle Francais mares who I've fallen in love with. I think we've got a great start to a program that will hopefully go on for my whole life, and generations to come.
So I'm up to the present day now, where I'm a crazy, multitasking soon-to-be mom. I'm thirty one years old and I feel like I've started something with my life. I'm a seed who's roots have finally found a tight hold in the soil. The future looks beautiful to me, I'm excited to see where my family, and that includes all the horses and people at River Bend, will go from here.
This is a Sims 3 stable. Any resemblance to real-life horses, people or facilities is purely coincidental.