In the Autumn season, beautiful leaves and cooler temperatures are a reminder that winter weather will soon settle in. Horses have already shed their summer coats and are busy growing thicker winter ones, and their environment is adjusting to seasonal changes too. The arrival of fall is a great time to assess your horse’s overall health and body condition, and determine what he needs for winter.

Lingering effects of COVID-19 - Much of Canada’s horse community is still suffering financially, mentally, and emotionally from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the horse industry is expected to continue recovering during 2023.

The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) announced on October 9, 2023, that it has suspended Eric Lamaze for four years because of his submission of fabricated documents in relation to his alleged cancer treatment.

Little Horses of the Big Woods - Sitting in the trees, the boys could feel warmth in the air, the breath of the herd rising to their feet. Pounding hooves echoed through the oaks like a warning bell, chasing Bill and his friends into the low branches. Here they sat watching dozens of horses pass below. Through Ontario’s Carolinian woods, the boys often followed snake-like “miikaans,” the little roads created by the horses. Emerging from the trees, the herd would wade across the shallow waters of the river to a small island, cooling themselves while they escaped the bugs. When the drumming of hooves had faded, the boys would drop from the branches like apples in autumn and continue on their way.

“From an insurance perspective, it doesn’t matter whether you’re riding a 15-hand Quarter Horse out in the back country or off a 17-hand Warmblood in the show ring,” says Mike King, National Practice Leader and Partner at Acera Insurance (formerly CapriCMW). “The potential for injury to yourself or damage to property is still there. There’s always some risk associated with being in proximity of, or managing, a 500-kilogram animal.”

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.

Twenty years ago, the Oregon Horse Center in Eugene, Oregon held an indoor trail competition using log obstacles, water ponds, and dirt embankments to transform their arena into mountain trails. That event was the beginning of competitive mountain trail, where neatly dressed riders navigate an untimed, subjectively-judged course of obstacles typically found on wilderness mountain trails. In Canada, two organizations promote the sport — International Mountain Trail Challenge Association (IMTCA) Canada and the British Columbia Mountain Trail Association (BCMTA)— and each has their own rules, judging criteria, and obstacles.

Horses and their people can be found almost everywhere in Canada from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east, and every region offers unique opportunities for riding, driving, and horse ownership. So, when adventurous equine enthusiasts move across Canada for work, lifestyle, or adventure, they will undoubtedly need to navigate a new horse fraternity. Planning a new life on distant shores can be a massive undertaking, but no amount of planning will answer every question, and sometimes just going for it — enthusiastically gambling that moving across the country will work out — pays off.

I work with a large variety of horses and have worked with thousands of horses and riders in the past eight years. This has given me the opportunity to work with some fairly complicated horses. Although more difficult and sometimes seemingly impossible to train, the complicated ones teach us the most and challenge us to work the horse as an individual.