My colleagues sometimes ask about my commitment to overseas riding holidays. Why would someone who rides horses all day travel overseas to do more of the same? Why not go sit on a beach in Cancun and sip fruity beverages? Let me answer that, but first I should confess that as I write this, the buttery evening light slants across the trellised hillsides of a classical riding school in Tuscany wrapping up a good day in the saddle.

Laminitis and insulin-resistance (IR) are troublesome conditions in and of themselves, so it is all the more frustrating that they tend to travel together. So while fresh, rich springtime grass beckons winter-weary horses, the insulin-resistant ones must stand resigned and glum on the wrong side of the fence as their well-intentioned owners toss them last year’s browning hay.

An adult horse’s body is comprised of approximately 70 percent water, and all bodily functions depend on the conductivity of fluids in and around cells. Because electrolytes conduct electricity and manage all bodily fluids, good health depends upon correct electrolyte levels working properly in order to maintain optimum balance in the body. Proper electrolyte activity keeps horses hydrated for improved general health and performance.

A healthy joint in the limb of a horse provides a frictionless system and facilitates movement with ease. Each joint depends on the function of each of its components to serve this purpose in an equine athlete. Bone, articular cartilage, synovial fluid, synovial membrane, fibrous joint capsule, and ligamentous structures make up these components.

With the permission of the Board to whom I am accountable and whom I serve, I would like to weigh in on the current situation regarding Equestrian Canada and the Canadian equine community at large. As a recognized Builder organization, and a historically stable and respected member of an international grassroots equestrian youth education and training organization, CPC is deeply invested in the existence of a healthy and competent national structure for the development, protection and promotion of the future of equestrianism in Canada.

Every day, thousands of horses are shod as part of normal maintenance of foot care. But have you ever wondered whether the placement of a horseshoe affects foot skeleton stress in racehorses and performance horses? At Australia’s University of Queensland School of Biomedical Sciences, research team leader Dr. Olga Panagiotopoulou says that musculoskeletal injury is one of the main animal welfare concerns in the racehorse industry.

Common Conditions, Challenges and Pain Recognition - Keeping a horse comfortable into their senior years requires an attentive caretaker backed by a knowledgeable team. It is important to seek the input from your veterinarian and farrier to help maintain the health of an elderly equine and to spot conditions that will need special treatment sooner rather than later. Recognizing changes and not just dismissing them as “old age setting in” is a large part of the responsibility assumed when caring for the senior horse.

One Million Horses, One Million Heroes, One Million Dollars - In 2017 the United States is commemorating its World War One Centennial by marking the 100th anniversary of its entry into the bloodiest war of the century. As part of the commemoration, Brooke USA will remember the one million American horses and mules who served alongside their brave soldiers, by raising one million dollars to improve equine welfare around the world through their Horse Heroes campaign.

A haven for working animals in Morocco - October 11, 2009, was a warm Sunday evening in Marrakech, Morocco. The clatter and babble of the colourful markets was subsiding as bikes, buses, horse-drawn caleches and donkey carts made their way home. But one cart clattered on with an urgency of its own. It was heading for the veterinary clinic of the UK-headquartered Society for the Protection of Animals Abroad (SPANA), which provides free veterinary care for working animals in some of the world’s poorest countries. On the cart was a distressed jenny donkey in the final stages of tetanus. She was rigid, recumbent, and barely breathing. And she was also in the final stages of pregnancy.