As property values increase and everyday equine management expenses go up, keeping horses on your own property is becoming more costly. All across Canada, horse and property owners are undertaking myriad activities to make money from their farms and acreages without operating commercial boarding stables or becoming professional coaches. While every potentially money-making activity has benefits and drawbacks depending on the property’s size, layout, and infrastructure, as well as the owner’s interests and talents, there are many options for creating additional income. By implementing a few of the 24 innovative ideas summarized below, owners can start earning additional income from their property to help pay the bills.

Rotational grazing can help you take better care of your pastures and provide more feed for your horses.

Equine botulism occurs when horses are exposed to botulinum neurotoxin, an incredibly powerful toxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. The most common way a horse becomes exposed to this toxin is by eating feed that has been contaminated with bacterial spores and subsequently having conditions that allowed for growth of those bacteria and release of the toxin. Clostridium botulinum spores can be found in soil almost anywhere, making contamination with these spores extremely common. High risk feeds for equine botulism include haylage, silage, and round bales. Any feed, however, can become contaminated and reports of equine botulism caused by square bales, pelleted feeds, sweet feeds, and even pasture clippings have been received.

The horse will teach you if you listen - Spanish cowboys (vaqueros) who came to North America over 500 years ago left a lasting legacy — not only in words such as chaps (from chaparreras) and rodeo (rodear) which are engrained in today’s Western lifestyle — but in their riding and horse training skills, too. In the early 1500s when Spanish cows and horses were imported into what is now Mexico, cattle ranching and bridle horses were introduced to North America. Vaquero bridle horses were highly trained, handy stock horses that worked as partners out on the range and were in tune with their riders’ every aid. Making a bridle horse was and is a multi-year process whereby horses are started in a hackamore (bosal), then advanced through a two-rein bridle (small diameter hackamore beneath a spade bit bridle each with a set of reins) until they are ready to be ridden “straight up in the bridle” in a spade bit.

Diagnosis and Treatment - In recent years the addition of the back examination to a routine lameness exam has become commonplace. With vast amounts of information available on the internet and social media pages, it can be daunting to understand and clarify “back pain” in the sport horse. This article will organize the clutter of information into a clear picture for riders and owners.