History & Heritage

vancouver police mounted unit, stanley park police horses

Job Description: In many cities, the police force mounted unit plays an essential role in crowd control at demonstrations and large events. Horses add height and visibility, and act as ambassadors with the public. On patrol for over a century, the Vancouver Police Mounted Unit was first formed in 1908 with 11 officers and 12 horses. A year later, the first patrolman on horseback was assigned to patrol Stanley Park. While the stables were originally based in the downtown area, a second stable was established close to the entrance to Stanley Park where the Mounted Unit continues to be centered today.

Racetrack Outrider Horses, Rachel Alexandra, Janice Lea Rocky Mountain House, Racetrack Outrider equine, Century Downs Racetrack, horse jobs Racetrack Outrider Horses

Job Description: Racetrack outriders and their horses provide the valuable service of helping to maintain a safe environment during workouts and live racing.

horses for therapy, mental health horses, horses to heal

Job Description: Therapy horses are used in a range of programs to promote physical improvements and address mental health issues. Somewhere in the rolling high country plains of southeastern Montana in the early 2000s, a buckskin colt was born. But in the harsh reality of life in a wild herd, he lost his dam when he was just a few days old. Somehow he stayed attached to his band struggling to survive but, without his mother’s milk, his growth was slow.

riding with bison in canada, bison in the canadian wilderness, horse riding with bison, Bison in Grasslands National Park

Canada’s prairie country always seems barren to me, as though something is missing and the ecosystem is incomplete. Probably because it is. For tens of thousands of years, as many as 30 million bison formed the cornerstone of a complex ecosystem, which dominated the Great Plains. In 1890, bison were perilously close to extinction, with less than 1,000 animals scattered across the continent. Today, largely due to conservation efforts by Parks Canada, bison thrive in parks and private herds, worldwide.

maclay horsemanship, canadians at the maclay championship, canadian equestrian show jumpers, canada's history of equine athletes

The ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay Horsemanship Championship, known simply as “the Maclay,” is the most prestigious equitation class for under 18-year-olds in North America. Held every fall since 1933, the championship is considered a proving ground for future champions and many teens tailor their junior riding years specifically toward the class. The winners' list is a who’s who of the North American hunter-jumper world and includes American riders William C. Steinkraus (1941), Frank Chapot (1947), George Morris (1952), J. Michael Plumb (1957), Conrad Homfield (1967), Leslie Burr (1972), and Jessica Springsteen (2008), among others. Four Canadians have also won the coveted championship trophy — Laura Tidball (1980), Erynn Ballard (1998), Brian Walker (2001), and Sam Walker (2018) — and all four of them have subsequently represented Canada in show jumping competitions.

eric lamaze's hickstead, show jumping canada, best canadian show jumping horses, hickstead horse

In the July/August 2017 issue of Canadian Horse Journal, we celebrated Canada’s 150th anniversary with stories of 20 exceptional horses that have reflected our values and fired our national pride. One of those horses was Hickstead.

Clydesdale horse, Delvin Szumutku, Clydesdale Creeks Conroy, Clydesdale Creeks Princeton, Terragold Farm, Boulder Bluffs Maxwell, clydesdale breed, equine giants

Delvin Szumutku was stressed. It was 1983 and he was living on the family farm in Saskatchewan where they grew grain and had been breeding Clydesdale horses since the 1960s. But his father was sick and in urgent need of heart surgery. He had been ordered by his doctors not to lift even so much as a suitcase, a tough call for a farmer.

police horse brigadier, canadian horse, constable bradfield brigadier, police horse death

February 24, 2006 was a routine day when Police Constable Kevin Bradfield saddled Brigadier and, with Constable Ron Gilbert on Blue Moon, rode out of the Horse Palace on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds, home of the Toronto Police Mounted Unit, on their way to patrol the Scarborough area on the east side of Toronto.

the morgan horse, buying a morgan horse, temperament morgan horse, canadian morgan horse association, should i buy a morgan horse

“I had a home-bred [Morgan] gelding named Duncan,” says Tina Collins, office administrator, Canadian Morgan Horse Association. “Duncan was the type of horse that had to investigate everything. He not only had a humorous personality, but he was incredibly trustworthy and a superior trail horse.

Draft horses, horses harvesting ocean, horse jobs, horses harvested sea plants, North Atlantic Organics

Job Description: Draft horses guided by riders pull baskets through the surf to harvest sea plants from ocean beaches. Did you know that on the east coast of Canada, horses pull baskets through the surf to harvest sea plants from ocean beaches?

Pages