Canada’s Longest-Running Equine Photography Competition! This year, participation soared with an impressive increase in both the quantity and quality of entries, making it a tough but rewarding challenge for our judges. We were thrilled to see many familiar contestants return and to welcome hundreds of new participants. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who shared their unique images and stories.

Canada is facing a significant veterinarian shortage that is adversely affecting horse owners. The shortage is particularly acute in rural areas, where equine veterinarians are often unavailable.

Vitamin E deficiency can lead to distinct health conditions; Shivers can occur in the front limbs, but only if the hind legs are also affected; A horse’s brain weighs 1.5 pounds, but is still one of the largest brains among land mammals...

First Aid in Equine Emergencies - Almost every horse owner will encounter an equine emergency at some point. Whether it's caused by a horse’s natural curiosity, a mishap on a trail ride, or interactions with herd mates, accidents can lead to cuts, bruises, kicks, and bites. Scrapes, stone bruises, punctures, sprains, and sores can happen unexpectedly, while more serious conditions like abscesses, colic, or bacterial infections can arise without warning.

4 Key Principles - As the shorter, colder winter months settle in, brief but purposeful groundwork sessions become critical for a horse’s physiology. Granted, fitness-based groundwork will not keep a horse at peak performance level, but it will prevent total erosion of neuromuscular and metabolic fitness during times of abbreviated schedules.

On October 22, 2024, at the Arboretum Centre, University of Guelph (U of G), in Guelph, Ontario (ON), Director Gayle Ecker was honoured for her more than 20 years of leadership at Equine Guelph. She was also recognized for inspiring a transformative bequest of approximately $7 million from the Estate of Donna Moore designated for the centre’s operations and equine research.

Just get on and ride! Leaving the lunge line in the tack room seems logical when time is of the essence. Skipping extra steps is compatible with our instant society. For many riders, lunging seems like an unnecessary step, an awkward feeling of having less control than just getting on and “riding the bugs out.” For others, lunging is just plain boring. A misbehaving horse on the lunge is embarrassing at a horse show and a menace to others sharing the arena. And isn’t lunging stressful for the horse’s legs?

Confusion is an emotion that we do not always allow our horses to feel. When you work with your horse, think about the horse as being always right. Most horses want to please us, so when they respond to a cue, they respond the way they think we want them to.

As I write this article, I am days into the arrival of my new pony Gwynna, the third member of my little herd, with a herd integration in our near future. It seems somehow fortuitous to be riding the various waves of emotion that this transition can present — trepidation, fear, anticipation, and uncertainty — as I unpack what it takes to successfully introduce a new herd member or move from a barn with horses on their own to one where the herd lives together.