Lighting candles, changing lives, and bringing hope to Canadian Forces veterans - Canadian Armed Forces veteran Paul Nichols who, with his wife Terry, owns Pen-y-Bryn Farm Equine Facility in Quesnel, BC, had no idea that a chance encounter with a cashier in a gift shop several years ago would change his life. Thousands of kilometres away, Sylvain Nadon, who lives in Victoriaville, Quebec, had no idea that a chance encounter with a man on a horse would save his life.

University of Saskatchewan (U of S) biologists have made a significant advance in understanding the ecology of Sable Island and its iconic wild horses - one that underscores how intimately connected living systems are.

Meet your Canadian Equestrian Team athletes heading to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, September 7 to 18. The all-female team includes two Paralympic veterans and two athletes making their debut in Rio. At 33 years of age, Robyn Andrews is making her debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. She hails from St. John’s NF, and will be competing on Fancianna.

Adults with asthma struggle to breathe when they are exposed to dust and allergens. They can exhale without too much difficulty, but their inflamed lungs with narrowed airways make it hard to inhale enough oxygen, and the mucus in their airways leads to coughing.

Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON had the crowd on the edge of their seats as he sped to a bronze medal finish in a six-horse jump-off on August 19, 2016 at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, BRA. Nick Skelton of Great Britain won gold after riding Big Star to a clear jump-off in the fastest time of 42.82 seconds. Peder Fredricson of Sweden and All In were close behind with a clear performance in 43.35 seconds.

In a dramatic end to jumping team competition on August 17 at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, BRA, the Canadian Show Jumping Team forced a jump-off with Germany for the bronze medal, but were edged into fourth place. Individually, Canada’s Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON was the only rider of the Games to maintain a perfect score of zero after three rounds of individual qualifiers.

Germany clinched team Dressage gold in considerable style at the Olympic Equestrian Park in Deodoro on August 12, 2016. Germany has now won eight of the last nine Olympic team Dressage contests - with only Great Britain spoiling the party on home soil in 2012 - and today’s result brings the Germans overall tally to 13 sets of Olympic team golds.

Rebecca Howard took the maple leaf all the way to the eventing individual final on August 9, 2016, finishing in 10th place individually and contributing to Canada’s 10th place overall as a team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, BRA. As the third and final phase of eventing, show jumping encompassed two rounds - the first to decide the team standings, followed by a second round for individual titles. The Canadian Eventing Team, comprised of Howard, 37, from Marlborough, GBR; Colleen Loach, 33, of Dunham, QC; Jessica Phoenix, 32, of Cannington, ON; and Kathryn Robinson, 31, of Kettering, GBR, moved up one spot from their cross-country team standing into the final position of 10th on a team score of 339.10.

Little has been known until now about effects of short, intense, powerful exercise on draft horses’ physiology - Draft horses competing in the Calgary Stampede’s Heavy Horse Pull are so strong they can pull a load five times their body weight — as much as 5,000 kilograms. The workload demands of this intensive competition are drastically different from other disciplines and little is known about how it affects the health of these giant equines.