International Society for Equitation Science
A recently published study reports that it is possible to identify fearful horses at an early age — prior to weaning from the dam — by means of an objective fear test. This offers a better opportunity to ensure that the most fearful horses are trained by experienced people from the beginning, which may help reduce riding accidents and improve horse welfare.
Fearfulness is an important aspect of horse temperament that is relevant to the horse’s usability for various purposes, and of particular significance to the welfare and safety of both rider and horse. Fearful animals are often difficult and dangerous to handle. One of the most frequent causes of riding accidents is the horse being frightened. According to statistics from the Danish Accident Analysis Group at Odense University Hospital, riding is the most dangerous leisure activity when looking at the severity of personal injuries, and victims are often children and teenagers. Some riding accidents are purely accidental, such as when the horse stumbles and falls. This kind of accident can be difficult to foresee. However, we can actually do something about the large number of accidents that happen when
horses get frightened. If we can identify the horses that are most likely to show fear reactions early in life, we can place them in capable hands to give them the correct training from the beginning. In that way, it will likely be possible to avoid many serious accidents.
In principle, all horses can be trained not to take flight when frightened, but it takes a lot of training, time, and knowledge about learning theory and appropriate habituation methods. Therefore, it often ends badly if the very fearful horse finds itself in unexperienced hands and thus is not met with the correct understanding and training.
The study was conducted over three years during which a group of stallions was studied from foal to adult. The aim was to study whether the behavioural and physiological fear reactions that foals show during fear tests when they are around five months old are similar to their reactions in fear tests during their adult life.
The study included 25 Danish Warmblood stallions from a private stud. The foals were kept with their dams on large pastures until weaning and remained relatively unhandled until training for the first test at five months of age. All foals were weaned together at the age of seven to nine months and were kept in groups in a loose housing system with stallions and mares together. At one-and-ahalf years of age, the stallions were moved to another stable and were housed in littered boxes with five stallions in each box. The horses were still handled only for veterinary or farrier treatment.
The study is the first of its kind to examine fearfulness in horses over such a long period of time, and from such an early age. The researchers were fortunate to be able to study this relatively large group of horses housed together from foal to adult. When these kinds of studies are done, it is crucial that the horses are kept under the same rearing conditions throughout. Otherwise, changes in housing, management, and training could affect the horses’ reactions and thus, the results.
In the study, all stallions were introduced to a fear test — a “novel object test” (NOT1) — three times at different ages: five months, one year, and three years.
Before the first test, each foal was trained to enter a test arena on their own and walk to their dam who was placed at the other end of the arena. In the NOT1 test, a white plastic cover with boxes of different colours was
Parenting is a difficult job. Parenting while working is even tougher. But parenting while working as an equine professional has unique challenges.
“Horses are as demanding as kids,” says Carmie Flaherty, an upper-level dressage rider and high-performance coach based in Langley, British Columbia. “So, it’s a lot to juggle. You’re at the beck and call of both, all the time.”
Flaherty’s two children are now in their twenties but when they were young, the family moved around the United States following Dad’s hockey career. She developed a riding and coaching business while parenting full-time, as her husband was away eight months of the year. When the kids weren’t in school, they joined Flaherty at the barn.
When her children were young, and with her husband away eight months of the year, dressage rider and high-performance coach Carmie Flaherty developed a riding and coaching business. She made the decision not to pursue top level competition rather than sacrifice time with her children.
PHOTO: CARA GRIMSHAW PHOTOGRAPHY
PHOTO: DIVINEEQUINE.CA
By Tania Millen
Youth riders are the future of Canada’s equestrian teams, but not every horse sport has dedicated programs to bring along competitive riders aged 12 to 30. Equestrian Canada’s (EC) Long-Term Equestrian Development document provides a road map for athlete development — from those new to horseback riding to riders competing on Canada’s senior teams. Yet there’s no one-stop-shop that describes pathways and programs for youth in unique horse sports. Every sport has different divisions and opportunities to advance, but some lack systematic activities that encourage advancement. Regardless, many riders who have represented Canada internationally have honed their skills through the youth programs and competitions that are available. Here’s a brief summary of programs available for Canadian youth riders, along with insight from those involved.
For youths keen to develop a show jumping career or ride on Canada’s senior teams, working their way up through the youth divisions is paramount.
Youth show jumping classes are organized by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and divided by age and
height. Divisions include children (ages 12 to 14) jumping 1.25 metres, pre-junior (14 to 16) jumping 1.3 metres, junior (14 to 18) jumping 1.4 metres, young riders (age 16 to 21) jumping 1.5 metres, and under 25 (U25) jumping up to 1.45 metres.
Dayton Gorsline is EC’s Show Jumping Youth Development Program coordinator and helps select riders for Canada’s youth show jumping teams.
“There’s a big difference between being on a team and riding as an individual,” Gorsline says. “We don’t have much depth at the senior level, so the young rider experience is invaluable. It allows the younger riders to step up.”
Many young show jumpers aim for the annual FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC) which attracts junior and young riders aged 14 to 21 years from Canada, the USA, Mexico, and Central American countries such as Panama, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica. Competitors vie for team and individual medals in the FEI disciplines of dressage, eventing, and show jumping. It’s the first international team event that many youth riders experience and has launched the careers of Olympic medalists.
In 2022 in show jumping, Canada’s
Horse events are expensive to host, so event managers love to have sponsors help fund their events. Top events put on shows with good prize money that competitors, spectators, and sponsors flock to. However, attracting and retaining sponsors can be challenging. We asked the sponsorship managers for The Royal Winter Fair Horse Show and Angelstone Events to share how they do it. Plus, we asked a smaller company which has provided sponsorship to share their perspective. Here are the eight steps they recommend to help garner top-notch sponsors for your next horse event.
“Start seeking sponsorship six to 10 months in advance,” says Danielle Kendal,
the director of sponsorship for Angelstone Events, which hosts hunter/ jumper and dressage shows at Caledon Equestrian Park and Angelstone Tournaments near Toronto, Ontario. “Then companies can think about their budgets and what they’re willing to allocate. Plus, it gives you a chance to come up with ideas about how you’re going to give them exposure.”
“Essentially, we provide return on investment and communication opportunities,” says Christine Reupke, Director of Equestrian & Breed Sport for The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, Ontario. “For example, if a company is announcing a new product or
initiative, we can act as a conduit for companies to talk to the general public.”
“We also provide ways for sponsors to give back to the community,” says Reupke. “We try to come up with unique ideas to help them do that.”
Every event has different benefits, but sponsors have some basic expectations.
“Signage is really important,” says Kendal. “So is social media exposure.”
Horse events with larger budgets may host breakfasts, dinners, and meet-andgreets with sponsors. Alternatively, they might provide logoed t-shirts or swag bags for riders, or product samples to share sponsors’ services or products with competitors and spectators.
“The opportunities are endless,” says Kendal.
Sponsorship is a powerful marketing tool for businesses, and makes it possible for venues like Spruce Meadows in Calgary to attract world class competitors and provide premier events that benefit the entire horse community.
“We utilize two methods to attract and secure sponsors,” says Reupke. “The one that’s most successful for us is to have event champions. It’s like a referral system — leveraging contacts and relationships.”
In this case, volunteers, parents, board members, and committee members approach people they know at companies they think would be a good fit with the horse event.
“We also make cold calls to companies that we think may fit with the horse show to see if they’re interested,” says Reupke.
Kim Gaudry is an equine photographer based in Calgary and says she has only sponsored events when she’s been asked. When the sponsorship manager of Rocky Mountain Show Jumping (RMSJ), who she knew personally, approached her in 2021, she decided to sponsor the one-metre jumpers.
“I ended up sponsoring the class all summer, mainly as a way to give back to the horse show that I had grown up going
to,” says Gaudry. “It was a good way to get my name out there as a photographer and give back to a group of riders who I don’t think get enough money.”
“It’s really important to understand how an industry fits with your horse event,” says Kendal. “I create a whiteboard full of dream companies to work with and then do some research to see if there’s a good fit for the event.”
After making a specific list of potential sponsors, Kendal says, “I’ll reach out to the marketing person, someone in human resources, or whoever runs events at those companies and tell them a bit about our horse show and why sponsorship would benefit them.”
Both managers suggested starting local, by asking a bakery to provide croissants for judges, for example. If the
Dressage, show jumping, and three-day eventing are the only Olympic sports where men and women compete against each other. They’ve been doing so for over 50 years, but it’s an aspect of equestrian sport that receives little public recognition.
Most sports are divided by gender — men in one class and women in another — to prevent one sex from having a physical advantage over the other. But the gender of horseback riders and drivers is not considered an advantage or disadvantage. Hence in equestrian events there’s no need to level the playing field by segregating men and women.
Opportunities to equally access riding lessons and compete at the highest echelons of equestrian sports can be empowering, but they don’t necessarily translate into gender equity.
“Equality means everyone is treated
the same way, regardless of individual differences,” writes Rise to Win, an American organization. “Equity means everyone is provided with what they need to succeed,” — there are no social or cultural barriers preventing one gender from having greater opportunities than another.
The lack of women winning top level equestrian competitions suggests there are gender barriers to reaching the pinnacles of horse sport. Meanwhile, there’s a dearth of boys entering English horse sports and men competing in dressage. Perhaps the equestrian playing field isn’t as equal as we think.
English lesson barns in Canada report that the vast majority of their junior clients are girls; few boys are involved. It’s the same in Canadian Pony Club. Most members are girls.
Only about one-quarter of adult provincial sport organization members in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, identify as male (see chart below). There are even fewer boys who are members.
A 2012 article by Birgitta Plymoth found that in Sweden, women are “active in a full spectrum of roles from grooming to mucking out, to training and competing at elite level. However, boys and men are considerably less engaged in caring for horses in riding schools and elsewhere.”
At international level, the prevalence of men and women depends on the sport. At the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, USA, 60 percent of the dressage competitors were women while 78 percent of the show jumping riders were men.
In the last 18 years, Canada’s Olympic dressage teams have typified the dressage-for-women divide. Since 2004, 19 riders have competed or been reserve riders on Canada’s Olympic dressage team. Only two of them (11 percent) were men. By comparison, since 2004, 18 riders have competed or been reserve riders on Canada’s Olympic show jumping team. Ten of them (55 percent) were men and eight (45 percent) were women.
The percentage of women competing at International Equestrian Federation (FEI) levels now outstrips men. In 2019, approximately 83 percent of FEI dressage riders, 73 percent of eventing riders, and 61 percent of jumping riders were women, which is comparable to the malefemale divide in Canada’s provincial sport organizations.
Western horse sports have greater percentages of male participants than English horse sports. But most Western sports are connected to the rodeo community where many professional events are solely open to men. Events where women are allowed to compete, such as team roping, cow work, and cutting, remain male-dominated. In 2021, 98 percent of the top 50 National Cutting Horse Association open horses were ridden by men.
Barrel racing and breakaway roping are
At Canada’s English lesson barns the majority of riding students are girls, with few boys entering English horse sports. But at the top levels of show jumping the men greatly outnumber the women.
primarily designated for women although men are permitted to compete in these events at some venues. At the 2022 Canadian Finals Rodeo, the barrel racing and breakaway classes were solely for “ladies.”
“Barrel racers are the most visible women competitors in western Canadian mainstream rodeos,” write Desirea Weninger and Christine Dallaire in their 2017 article The gendered barrel racer-horse relationship in Western Canadian rodeo “Although free to register for other rodeo events, women are funnelled into barrel racing as a societal norm in Western rural culture. The sharp line between feminine
and masculine gender norms could explain why women are excluded, for all practical purposes, from other rodeo events.”
A predominance of FEI-level female competitors doesn’t mean women share the podium equally with men. At the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, women won only one-third (32 percent) of the medals in dressage, show jumping, and eventing combined. A woman finally won the individual Olympic gold medal in eventing, 57 years after women were first permitted to compete. Also in 2021, a woman won the Grand
One of the biggest challenges for equine entrepreneurs is viewing their business as a business. Many riders and horse lovers get into business as an extension of their love of horses, but a horse trainer, coach, or rider who is paid for their services is a self-employed professional. They’re operating a business just like anyone else selling goods or services.
Additionally, horse businesses often require specialty skills and knowledge. Selling, training, or boarding horses involves caring for animals. Coaching involves teaching, educating, and developing riders. Equine businesses that use horses have much higher financial outlay than businesses that don’t require horses. Also, equine businesses often provide a luxury service — not a necessity — so they may be affected by societal economics beyond their control. However regardless of the goods or services that a horse-related business provides, it’s still a business.
Here are eight keys to making that business profitable.
The horse industry is affected by trends, styles, and consumer whims like any other industry. Riding attire, horse blankets, and even horse breeds go in and out of fashion. Equine entrepreneurs need to figure out who will buy their products or services in the current economic climate.
“The biggest pitfalls for equine businesses are timing, location, and demographics,” says Julie Fischer, who teaches Equine Business Finance & Risk Management at Equine Guelph and lives in Allenspark, Colorado.
Timing relates to when the business starts. For example, starting a horseback riding lesson business that caters to lower income families may not be successful during periods of high unemployment.
“Assess family income and whether luxury horse-related activities are within financial reach,” says Fischer. “Find out what other facilities [there] are nearby and whether the needed resources (vet, farrier, feeds) are available. Being isolated can hurt your business. More populated areas tend to have more customers, can operate year-round, and can charge higher prices.”
You also need to know who the competition is and how your product or service will stand out. That means offering a slightly different product that satisfies the unmet needs of customers.
For example, a riding coach may specialise in teaching dressage to beginner adults, but after researching the potential customer base, could find there’s a higher demand for children’s lessons in Western tack.
Horse welfare is complex, partly due to the myriad uses, values, and husbandry arrangements for horses. They’re backyard pets, ridden and driven in competition, raced, raised for meat, and used for therapy, recreation, and rodeo. Horses are regularly transported, kept in rural and urban areas, stalls, pens, fields, and pastures, plus managed according to their use. Many horses live on individual properties and their welfare relies on individual owners, making poor welfare difficult to identify.
“We can have all the regulations in the world but if nobody is turning in the neighbour that’s starving their horse or if nobody sees the abused horse in somebody’s backyard, then our regulations aren’t any good,” says Jennifer Woods, a certified animal welfare auditor. She inspects Canadian equine operations and competition venues to ensure they meet acceptable welfare standards, including the Calgary Stampede, as well as rodeo and chuckwagon locations.
“I don’t think the system has failed horses,” says Woods. “I think we have areas of welfare that need to be addressed on individual farms where nobody sees what’s happening. There’s over-breeding. There are people who aren’t feeding their animals properly or providing health care.”
It’s in the best interests for high profile equine professionals such as show jumpers, as well as rodeo and racing connections, to ensure their horses’ well-being. It is what happens where nobody is looking that concerns Woods.
“People who are a problem don’t read horse magazines,” says
By Tania MillenWoods. “They don’t go to educational symposiums. They aren’t members of an association. They don’t engage and I don’t know if we can reach them. We don’t have a map that tells us who owns a horse. We don’t even know who they are.”
She explains that some horses sent to auction are in horrific condition and may be bought by the “meat man” for slaughter. But the buyers didn’t neglect those horses.
“That neglect is occurring on farms with people who don’t understand how to care for their horses, who have no intention of caring for their horses, and who just leave them out in the field to fend for themselves,” says Woods.
Fortunately, Canada has laws with enforceable rules.
Legislation is laws that determine acceptable horse management and care. They’re enforced by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), or the Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, following applicable regulations.
The Criminal Code (the Act) is the overarching legislation that addresses animal welfare in Canada. Part XI: Wilful and Forbidden Acts in Respect of Certain Property describes offences towards animals and applicable punishments (five years in prison or $10,000). It also describes “cruelty to animals” — causing unnecessary suffering — and the punishment for that, plus states that “failure to exercise reasonable care” can be used as evidence.
Equines (horses, donkeys, and mules) are considered livestock
under current Canadian legislation. But the Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada website states, “The designation of equine as livestock within provincial and federal legislation, regulations, policies, bylaws, and rules is inconsistent. This causes confusion.”
There’s also work afoot to define school horses at lesson barns as “working equines.” Others feel that therapy horses should be classified as pets or companion animals, equal to dogs, but this re-designation would prevent livestock laws from applying to those horses and leave a gap in their protection.
However, the Criminal Code defines cattle as “cattle or an animal of the bovine species and includes any horse, mule, ass, pig, sheep or goat.” (According to Encyclopedia Britannica there are two species of wild ass and one domesticated species: the donkey).
So, according to the Act, horses are cattle.
“Canada has very strong regulations, including one of the most comprehensive transport regulations in the world,” says Woods. Federal regulations pertaining to equines are upheld by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the CFIA. The AAFC is tasked with developing Canada’s agricultural industry. That includes tracking equine infectious anemia, which is identified by a Coggins test.
The CFIA enforces the Health of Animals Act, which regulates the transport of animals and summarizes the feed, water, and rest requirements for animals being transported. Performance riders hauling horses across the Canada-USA border will be familiar with the CFIA’s health paper requirements. The CFIA also regulates humane slaughter and the transportation of live horses from Canada to Japan.
“I think our regulations are effective in maintaining horse welfare,” says Woods. “But there are people who believe horses should not be used for entertainment purposes [jumping, dressage, rodeo, etcetera] at all. So those people may not think our regulations are strong enough.”
“There’s a difference between animal welfare and the ethical use of animals,” says Woods.
Neglect occurs where people don’t understand how to care for their horses or have no intention of caring for them. This severely underweight mare with a nursing foal has badly overgrown hooves and must not be left to fend for herself.
Ethics are moral principles that guide our personal actions. They address whether horses should be used by humans and under which circumstances. For example, some people are ethically opposed to racing horses or slaughter.
Welfare refers to basic physical and social well-being. The five internationally recognized freedoms of horse welfare are:
• Freedom from hunger and thirst
• Freedom from discomfort
• Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
• Freedom to express normal behaviour
• Freedom from fear and distress
In the horse industry, welfare and ethics have started overlapping as scientific evidence continues to challenge norms regarding horse use and behaviours. For example, from a welfare standpoint horses require social interaction because they are herd animals. As a result, questions have arisen about the acceptability of keeping horses in individual stalls or pens with minimal opportunities to socialise, something that’s common in horse sport to prevent an injury that sidelines competition.
In addition to federal legislation and regulations, several organizations provide standards and guidance for the day-to-day management, care, and handling of horses.
The National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Equines is the overarching code of practice for horse welfare in Canada. It has ten sections which summarize duty of care, facilities and housing, feed and water needs, health and reproductive management, handling, transportation, and euthanasia of horses. Each section lists requirements, such as “horses must have some form of exercise or turnout” and recommended practices, such as “turn horses out with companions.” The code also has 13 appendices which cover everything from body condition scores to diagrams of how to euthanize by firearm.
Animal welfare audits are written using codes of practice, which provide requirements and recommendations, plus other established animal welfare standards.
The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Equines requires that in muddy conditions horses must, at a minimum, have access to a mud-free, well-drained area in the pasture/yard on which to stand and lie down.
It’s common for riders to compete at high levels today without advanced horsemanship knowledge. A rider’s success in the show ring seems to have greater value than their horse management skills, but that wasn’t always the case. Many of Canada’s former top riders credit Canadian Pony Club (CPC) for their horsemanship knowledge and acknowledge its importance to their success. The horse industry has since changed and now, riders rely on coaches to know what’s best for their horses.
“The need for riders to have horsemanship skills has decreased as coaches have taken a more active role,” Michelle Gilbert writes in her chapter titled ‘Sociocultural Changes in Canadian Equestrian Sport’ in Equestrian Cultures in Global and Local Contexts
That changing focus — from individuals learning horsemanship skills to care for their own horses to a reliance on coaches — is just one of the challenges CPC is facing today. But Pony Club is still considered one of the most affordable ways for kids to get involved in horse sport — an increasingly expensive hobby.
For almost 90 years, CPC has educated children and youth about horses, riding, and stable management while promoting lifelong friendships and teamwork. It’s a volunteer-driven organization, with parents, alumni, grandparents, and youth members teaching lessons, managing shows, conducting testing, administrating clubs, and fundraising. It’s one of the few places where children, youth, and now adults can advance their horsemanship and stable management knowledge through a standardized system.
“By the time you get through your A [the highest level], you’re an expert,” says Kelly Brouwer, CPC’s Alberta South Region Rally Chair. “You’re a veterinarian and a farrier and everything else. You’re a lot more informed, and a lot sooner than if you’re trying to glean the information yourself.”
That’s consistent with the organization’s origins. Pony Club began
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Iceland is a small island nation located at the juncture of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, between Greenland and Norway. It has a population of around 364,000 people, many of whom live in the capital city of Reykjavik in southwest Iceland. The country has a unique geography, characterized by volcanic mountains, glaciers, plains, waterfalls, geysers, hot springs, black sand beaches, and is also
home to a diverse array of wildlife. Yet one of the most notable features of Iceland is its horses.
The Icelandic horse has a rich history and culture dating back over a thousand years. The first horses arrived in Iceland with the settlers in the 9th and 10th centuries, and have been bred in isolation on the island ever since. This isolation has led to the development of a unique breed that is
well adapted to the rugged terrain and harsh, subarctic climate.
In the past, Icelandic horses were essential for transportation and farming, as they were the only means of transportation in the country for centuries. They were also used for herding sheep and cattle, and were an important source of food and clothing. The breed’s unique natural gait, the tölt, allowed them to cover large distances
Sergeant Reckless was a small Mongolian mare who held official rank in the United States military. She was estimated to be three or four years old when purchased by the United States Marine Corps for $250 in October 1952. She was trained to be a pack horse and used to carry ammunition and supplies for the Recoilless Rifle Platoon of the 5th Marine Regiment.
But it wasn’t long before Sergeant Reckless proved herself to be much more than just a pack animal. She quickly learned to navigate the treacherous terrain of the Korean War, carrying supplies and evacuating wounded soldiers to safety without hesitation. She often travelled to deliver supplies on her own, without a handler. In fact, she became so vital to the unit that they renamed themselves the “Reckless Rifle Platoon.”
On one particularly harrowing day, Sergeant Reckless made 51 trips to the front lines, carrying over 9,000 pounds of supplies and ammunition. She was hit by shrapnel twice, but she refused to stop working. She even made the trip up and down the steep and rocky hills with a wounded soldier on her back.
Sergeant Reckless was also known for her incredible ability to sense danger. On several occasions, she would refuse to move forward when she sensed an incoming enemy attack. Her instincts saved countless lives.
Sergeant Reckless was more than just a loyal and brave animal. She was also a beloved member of the unit. The Marines were very fond of her, feeding her treats like beer, Coca-Cola, and scrambled eggs. They even built her a special tent to sleep in, and she was allowed to roam freely through the camp.
After the Korean War, Sergeant Reckless retired to Camp Pendleton, California, where she lived out the rest of her days. She passed away in 1968, but her legacy lived on. She was the first animal to be officially promoted to the rank of Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, and she received many awards
Sgt Reckless, a highly decorated US Marine Corps artillery horse in the Korean War, with a 75mm recoilless rifle. During one battle she was loaded with six recoilless rifle shells and the first time one was fired she went straight up in the air with all four feet off the ground. When she landed she was shaking, but her handler calmed her down. The second time the gun fired she merely snorted. By the end of the day she was calm and even took an interest in the operation of the weapon.
including two Purple Hearts. She was recognized by LIFE Magazine as one of America’s 100 all-time heroes.
In 2013, a bronze statue of Sergeant Reckless was unveiled at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. The statue, which was donated by the Semper Fidelis Society, depicts Sergeant Reckless carrying a wounded soldier to safety. It serves as a testament to the incredible bond between humans and animals, and the sacrifices that both are willing to make for each other.
Today, Sergeant Reckless is remembered as a true hero and an inspiration to all those who knew her. She will always be remembered as a symbol of the bond between humans and animals, and the incredible things that can be achieved when we work together. b
