Boisvert Farms started with a small shed and a baby pool of koi minnows about 15 or 16 years ago.
Today, the farm is having tremendous success with its performance horses. The farm expanded from a six-stall barn to a 22-stall barn and owns more than 60 horses.
Boisvert Farms breeds, trains and competes Arabian horses and boasts a large koi fish breeding and showing facility. Joel Gangi, a horse trainer, said he met Scott Purdin, the farm’s owner, during a horse show.
“He would go to horse shows with Amanda [Purdin-Standish, his daughter] and I would go up to the stands and sit with him, and he would start picking my brain, and I started picking his brain about the koi, and we sort of got along,” Gangi said.
Purdin-Standish said she was riding and showing horses from a young age. Her father decided to start the horse farm for her so she could have her own horses to compete.
“When I drove up, Scottie was under this shed right here with a hat sitting by one of these baby pools, [the koi] looked like minnows,” Gangi said.
Purdin asked Gangi what he needed to do to turn his farm into a place where he could breed and train horses, and Gangi gave him a simple answer — place gates on the fences.
“From there, he bought another gray horse from me, then another gray horse from me and his daughter started having success and at that point,” Gangi said.
The farm has heavily progressed over the years, especially with the 22-stall horse barn and koi showcase barn. The horse barn includes high beams, a spiraling staircase and a metal chandelier. The koi barn includes deep fish pools with a second level for viewing purposes — something surprising to find in Port Allen, Louisiana, Gangi said.
Gene Guidry said Purdin-Standish, Rhein Standish and Gangi work with the horses every day, and the best get chosen to compete.
“If they see something in a horse when they’re young, they’ll put a lot of effort into it,” Guidry said.
The barn’s trophy room is covered with shelves of awards, but those aren’t all of them Guidry said.
“A lot of the horses that are in this barn currently, these are the ones we still show,” Guidry said.
Boisvert Farms has won a U.S. or Canadian national championship or reserve in a competition every year since 2002. As time has gone on, it’s won multiples in competition. In 2012, Boisvert Farm’s total was 29 championships and 41 reserves.
Guidry said Purdin-Standish’s competitions, along with Standish and Gangi, take place all over the country
“They just got back from Tulsa where nationals was. Sometimes they go as far as Canada, Texas — Dallas, Fort Worth, all over the place,” Guidry said.
However, the farm’s success doesn’t end at horses. Purdin has expanded his koi breeding from the baby pool where it began.
Gangi said Purdin is one of the top breeders in the country. He said Purdin goes through half a million fish in a season and is heavily involved in every step of the process.
Purdin keeps the koi separated by age groups. As the koi age, they grow in size. The beginning pools house small koi and the older pools house the larger koi.
Along with the breeding pools, Purdin has a showing barn, similar to the horse barn, to showcase the koi for sale. Gangi said he will bring buyers in to showcase his fish and sell them for a high price tag.
Gangi said the koi breeding and the horse breeding go hand and hand for Boisvert Farms. Purdin has learned about horse breeding from Gangi and Gangi has observed koi breeding from Purdin.
One without the other, at this point, would seem strange.
You can reach Meg Ryan on Twitter @The_MegRyan.

Gallery • 19 Photos

Emily Brauner

Boisvert Farms, owned by the Purdin family, specializes in breeding Arabian horses. The stall pictured enables stablehands to saddle horses for training.