We invite you to come in and have a look around
 

We are a family operation that is nestled in the rolling hills of Southern Saskatchewan, where there is plenty of wide open space, wildlife, and some of the most spectacular sunsets.  Our province is called  "The Land of Living Skies" ... which, if you ever get the chance to visit, you will understand why.
       

You will see us showing in Halter, HUS, and Western Pleasure, with the vast majority of our horses. 
Those that have the talent/ability will also be shown in Dressage or Reining.

We feel that we have a wonderful broodmare band that, when crossed on our stallions, have the potential to produce future AQHA Champions, and God willing AQHA Supreme Champions.  We are constantly improving our herd, & purchasing horses that, we feel, will help us attain our goals. 
 

We are proudly the home of AQHA Stallions:
Score Me A Touchdown, A Noble Tradition, Ima Bo, Sirs Ohsocool, and AQHA/APHA Stallion Scotch N Chips.
 

ZQH Ranch - Zavaduk Quarter Horses is comprised of Shannon & Trevor Zavaduk, our daughter Kyla McMartin-Zavaduk, Jennifer & Jason Dayringer and their son Atli, and Chad "Lopez" Cayer. 

We presently operate on 360 acres, with a 100 x 60 heated indoor arena, a 30 x 60 heated barn with 8 stalls - all but the stallion stalls break apart for foaling.  We are also set up with foaling cameras for the safety of our mares.  We are in the process of setting up our breeding "room" so that we will be able to collect/evaluate semen from our stallions for on-farm insemination.  We hope to have the room complete, for on-farm use, in the 2010 breeding season.  The spring of 2011, will hopefully, see us in a position to offer Cooled Semen to the public.
 

We, at ZQH Ranch feel that there is room for improvement within the quarter horse industry.  That's why our motto is "Learning from Yesterday & Breeding Today for OUR Tomorrow".
 

We sincerely believe that The American Quarter Horse IS the most versatile of all the breeds.  We also believe, over the last 15 - 20 years, within the AQHA, that our beloved horses have become specialized.  They have strayed away from what the "ideal" breed standard is.  Unfortunately, in today's AQHA more emphasis has been placed on instant gratification, accolades, & winning World Titles rather than an AQHA Superior Championship - where points are needed in not only the Halter division, but also in several Performance divisions.

Fortunately, changes within the AQHA ARE on the wind!  This can be seen with the introduction of the Performance Halter Class, and rule changes within the pleasure divisions in regards to headsets, movement, and overall body carriage.  To take this one step further, the AQHA is strongly pushing OVERALL conformation regardless of discipline or division shown in.  Exquisite form & structural conformation equals optimal performance regardless of discipline/division.

History has shown us that when breeders want to reproduce what they consider desirable traits/characteristics in a very short timeframe, they usually breed closely related animals that express those traits/characteristics desired.  In an endeavour to magnify those traits; however they also increase the chance of magnifying the undesirable traits/characteristics as well. Subsequently the quarter horse industry has been involved in controversy concerning descendants of Impressive (HYPP), and Poco Bueno (HERDA).  When we say "undesirable traits/characteristics", we are NOT just talking about HYPP and HERDA, but also other physical characteristics/traits that have roots in genetically inherent markers, such as: excessive white, parrot mouth/monkey mouth, bone & foot structure (that may cause premature lameness), monorchidism (the absence of one testicle), cryptorchidism (hidden or undecended testicles), respiratory issues, & poor dispositions/temperament.  Some of these conditions in the past were considered "flukes" and thus ignored.  Today individual horses are able to be genetically traced back to their founding bloodlines, which helps us as breeders, to see where these traits/characteristics are coming from & make the appropriate crosses to eradicate the "undesirable traits" from the  gene pool.