Living conditions for retired horses vary widely and can be inhumane but they still need appropriate care
SASKATOON — At more than 20 years old, senior horses come with joys and challenges. Senior horses in good health can still be ridden, keep younger horses company and be used in lessons or therapeutic riding programs. Dr. Valentina Ragno, an internal medicine specialist at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, said owners of senior […] Read moreStories by Elizabeth Ireland
Owning young horses can be challenging
Weanlings, yearlings and two-year-olds require attention, protection and quality hay for long-term health
Canadian horse breeding ramped up during the pandemic when demand for horses increased. Now there are a lot of yearlings and two-year-olds around. Weanlings, yearlings and two-year-olds are curious, feisty and accident-prone. These young horses are particularly at risk for lacerations, eye injuries and becoming tangled in fencing. Dr. Nora Huaman Chavarria is a clinical […] Read more
Preparing pregnant mares for winter and foals
SASKATOON — Equine reproduction specialist Dr. Claire Card has advice for horse owners caring for pregnant mares this winter. Card, a professor with the Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine, said horses in Western Canada tend to be on the heavy side. “Keeping horses in […] Read more
Barn biosecurity key with strangles
Bacteria can live on objects that have come into contact with an infected horse, such as feed buckets and bridles
SASKATOON — Horse owners near Saskatoon are urged to keep a lookout for equine strangles following recent cases of the highly contagious disease. Strangles is a bacterial infection of the upper respiratory tract in horses caused by Streptococcus equi subspecies equi (S. equi). As the slightly sinister name suggests, symptoms relate to abnormal breathing and […] Read more
Racehorses given chance for second careers
Retired Thoroughbreds are retrained for competitions such as obstacle challenges, dressage, freestyle and hunter-jumper
Thoroughbreds have a reputation for one skill — going fast. Last month at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon, the OTTB (Off-Track Thoroughbred) Challenge aimed to dispel this reputation and show the versatility of retired racehorses. While the 2021 Equine Expo was cancelled due to COVID-19, the standalone OTTB Challenge was still held in front of about […] Read more
Horse owners struggle with shortage of good-quality hay
A boarding facility near Saskatoon says finding adequate feed supplies has been its number one concern this year
SASKATOON — With 10 horses of their own and another 28 boarding on their property near Clavet, Sask., Gayle Smith and Alf Epp of Sunny Plain Ranch run one of the largest equine boarding facilities in the Saskatoon area. Sunny Plain is busy with English and Western discipline lessons and visiting clinicians. Smith and Epp […] Read more
