In the 1720s, horses made their long-awaited return to Alberta's vast prairies, marking an extraordinary homecoming. It had been about 10,000 years since the province's expansive grasslands echoed with the sound of equine hooves. Fossil evidence reveals that North America was the original birthplace of the horse, with the species first appearing millions of years ago. While other animals, such as bison and mammoths, migrated into North America from Siberia, the horse followed a different path, eventually being domesticated by the horse-riding cultures of the Central Asian Steppes. However, the ancient horse that once thrived across Canada mysteriously disappeared thousands of years ago.

"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - When Dorothy Brooke, the wife of a British army major general, arrived in Egypt in 1930, she became aware of the fate of thousands of former war horses that had faithfully served the British army during World War I. Born in the United Kingdom, these horses were shipped overseas to serve in the war and had not returned home. Those that survived were now living a life of crippling hardship as working horses on the streets of Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt. She decided to do whatever was necessary to ease their suffering.

During the economic turmoil of 1930, when hardship shadowed nearly every industry, Conn Smythe was carving out an unusual path. A sharp-minded figure known for his dual passions—ice hockey and horse racing—Smythe had just become the new owner of the Toronto St. Patrick Hockey Club, or St. Pats, a team that had once clinched the Stanley Cup in 1922.

In March 2024, Skijor Canada will once again hold Skijordue — a skijoring event billed as “a blistering blend of snow, speed, style, and cheese with gritty cowboys, gnarly free-riders, fur, fringe, and fashionista.”