Dawn Watts

For those that may not know me, here is some background information. I started working with animals from an early age and always felt a special affinity with the odd, obscure, rare – call them what you will. I also have a great interest in medieval things. It then made sense to combine my interests, so I now run my own businesses. Dragon Xanctum provides grooming and training services, consultation and pet supplies. The dragon is a rare powerful creature and xanctum is a play on sanctum – a place of sanctuary. So “your rare gem of a pet can feel safe in our care” is basically the gist of it. Dragon X kennels also breeds and trials working Catahoulas and Malinois. Iron Sun Horses is “a strong foundation for a bright future” and provides lessons, clinics, camps, leasing and training services for horses. Our training however, is somewhat different in that we train you to train your horse. I also breed Curly Horses and hope to add Shires and sport horses to that list soon as we now have our first Shire mare. My real dream is to eventually have these businesses operate under the umbrella of Medieval Manor when we can move to a larger place. I would like Medieval Manor to operate as a self sufficient organically oriented working rare breeds farm. Currently we have 3 Catahoulas, 2 Malinois, 2 Curlies, 1 Shire, 1 Paso Fino, a few Harlequin rabbits, a Sugar Glider and of course our little hunting machine, a Siamese X. I would also like to add rare breed cattle, hogs and more to our livestock outfit when we can move to our dream location.

I’m not exactly the “office” type, and much prefer working with the critters or outdoors, but I can generally find my way around a computer. I used to edit and publish Dragon Tidings, a newsletter about all kinds of rare breeds. I ‘m also the Curly Horse liaison for the Light Horse Committee of the Calgary Stampede, and volunteer with various other groups. My husband, Tim is probably my greatest asset as he is a machinist and does everything from design to build anything involving metal. He has built our horse trailer, fencing, dog kennels, and just about whatever else we’ve needed for our animals on top of all his regular work. Tim and I are the Equine and Canine leaders and trainers for the Delacour Horse & Hound 4-H and we run the Prairie Sharks Working Dog Club. Tim is the president of the Canadian Ring Association and I am also a member of the Canadian Curly Horse Association, the American Bashkir Curly Registry and the National Association of Louisiana Catahoulas. I’m sure more will come up as we get more involved with other breedsJ! To add to that, I’m a distributor for Precise Pet Foods, Pine Stall Products and many other high quality, Canadian owned and/or sometimes hard to find products.

I have over 20 years of animal related experience including an Equine Science Diploma – Western Major from Olds College, a Pet Grooming Certificate and lots of hands on experience working out in the horse and pet industry. I continue to take part in seminars and clinics in order to stay in touch with what’s going on out there and to remind myself that it’s all about the animals and they will always come first. I hope others will also think about the animals and what they can offer so that these breeds will not become a thing of the past but rather an innovative part of the future. If you would like to help rare breeds how about:

*Purchasing or using a rare breed in place of a more common one if you are looking for livestock for your farm?

*Purchasing rare breeds products?

*Becoming a member of a rare breeds association like Rare Breeds Canada or the Canadian Curly Horse Association?

*Writing an article for the Legacy and/or Genesis or other publications regarding a rare breed, related product or service that you are familiar with?

*Becoming or locating a sponsor for rare breeds organizations? (one time donation of product, service or money, or an ongoing corporate sponsor)

*Volunteering your time for a rare breeds event?

*Spreading the word to others?

Please contact me with any other ideas, information or questions you may have regarding rare breeds, or any of the products and services that we offer at:

mail – RR6 Calgary, Alberta, Canada

T2M 4L5

Email – dragonx@efirehose.net

Fax – (403) 640-7619

Phone – (403) 640-7619 or (403) 861-2809