It would be some 700,000 years before Duane Froese, an earth sciences professor with the University of Alberta in Edmonton and his team excavated a metapodial (cannon) horse bone from permafrost in the Thistle Creek gold mine in west-central Yukon in 2003. The team was hunting fossils embedded in permafrost while gathering data on the sediments that preserved them. Many other horse fossils found in Yukon had been pony-sized, but Froese and his team knew this find had come from a larger horse.

Warmblood Fragile Foal Syndrome Type 1 (WFFS) is an inherited defect of connective tissue characterized by hyperextensible, abnormally thin, fragile skin and mucous membranes that are subject to open lesions. Affected horses may also have hyperextensible limb joints, floppy ears, accumulation of fluid (hydrops), subcutaneous emphysema, hematomas, and premature birth. The disease is present at birth and affected newborn foals are euthanized shortly after birth due to the poor prognosis of this untreatable condition.

The fall is a time of lovely colours, family get-togethers and winding down the busy show season. However, fall is often a time of increased colic calls to veterinarians. While not all colic can be prevented, paying attention to your management of the horse can go a long way to decrease the incidence, and the suffering of episodes.

In December, 2008, the Town of McBride, BC came together to dig a kilometre long trench through thick snow to rescue two starving horses trapped on the side of a mountain. Now the two horses, Belle and Sundance, are back at full health and doing well.

Testing Now Available - Researchers at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine have identified a genetic cause for the fatal condition, equine familial isolated hypoparathyroidism (EFIH), in Thoroughbreds, marking the first genetic variant for hypoparathyroidism identified in any domestic animal species. Additionally, this is the first widely available genetic test for Thoroughbreds.

In this next series of articles, I will share with you a very special horse of mine named Camaroon LXXXIV, or “Cam”, an eight-year-old Andalusian stallion. I’ve had Cam for two years and we’re really starting to connect. It’s been quite a journey to get here, however, and I want to share some of the gems I have learned along the way.

When the days start getting shorter, horse owners know that winter is just around the corner and it’s time to start thinking about winter feeding regimes. Feeding horses in virtually all parts of Canada during the winter months involves a need for increased energy intake because of cold temperatures and inclement weather. The amount of additional energy required by your horse will be even greater in extremely cold climates.