Whether you’re a serious back country rider, or simply interested in learning practical trail tips, Blue Creek’s Trail Riding and Packing DVD is for you. In this DVD, Stan Walchuk Jr., author of the Trail Tips column in Canadian Horse Journal, takes the information from his articles and extensive experience in trail riding and condenses it into an entertaining four-hour-long video.

Interviewed by Emily Penn - Emily George is one of Canada’s up-and-coming riders. The 26-year-old made her debut on the Canadian Show Jumping Team at the Nation’s Cup in Buenos Aires on November 25, 2011. Her teammates were Jonathan Asselin, Angela Covert-Lawrence, and Tiffany Foster. George was the only one of the four to go clear in the first round, and the team’s performance in the second round was enough to secure the Gold Medal for Canada.

Think "Chernobyl" and pictures of the nuclear meltdown from hell spring to mind. In the quarter century since, surprising things have been happening in the exclusion zone around the Ukraine’s notorious nuclear power plant. Plants and animals have returned and in some areas are thriving. But the region screams many vexing questions, none the least of which is the reason for the gradual disappearance of Przewalski’s horses that were released into the area in the late 1990s.

It was just a moment. From exhilarating triumph to devastating loss in a second, Eric Lamaze was faced with a torment like no other when Hickstead, his beloved stallion, died upon completing a World Qualifier round at Verona, Italy, on November 6, 2011.

A small herd of Konik horses have found a curiously fascinating job in Scotland: They are eating some habitat back to health. At the Loch of Strathbeg nature reserve in Aberdeenshire, this unique herd of wild horses is grazing wetlands, opening up nesting areas for ducks, geese, swans, and wading birds.

The Brooke Hospital for Animals, a London, UK based charity that provides free veterinary care to working equines in third world countries, has launched a Pakistan emergency appeal to help thousands of horses and donkeys affected by the worst floods in Pakistan’s history. They estimate that over 75,000 animals have been affected by the floods in one province alone.

In early 2010, the Governor of New Mexico announced that he would use stimulus funds to purchase 12,142 acres of land known as the Ortiz Mountain Ranch adjacent to Cerrillos Hills State Park and create a state-owned wild horse sanctuary. While there are a number of environmental, economic, and public input hoops to jump through before horses are acquired, likely from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), now should be a perfect time to look at how these horses are going to be managed in the long-term to keep their numbers in check with the available range.

It’s a rare person in the Canadian equine community who hasn’t heard of Bill Collins. An exceptional horseman, Collins has done more for the horse industry in Canada than perhaps any other individual. Not only has Collins been a great competitor, winning multiple events in roping, cutting, and other disciplines, he has been a judge, a teacher, a leader, and a visionary.

It was devastating when we lost Zona. At 32, our palomino Anglo-Arab, who had been a champion show horse on the prairies in her youth, was still pretty much the boss of the herd. Everyone deferred to her. Yet we knew there was something wrong.