Canadian Horse Journal - SAMPLE - Winter 2022

Common

Equine Skin Cancers

to horse around with

By Kathy Smith

Equine sarcoid

PHOTO: ADOBESTOCK/CHELLE129

Be on the lookout for the three most common skin cancers afflicting horses and contact your veterinarian promptly if you find suspicious lumps or bumps.

Skin cancer is the most prevalent type of equine cancer, accounting for up to 80 percent of all cancers reported.

Sarcoids are the most frequently diagnosed type, with squamous-cell carcinoma the next most prevalent, followed by melanoma.

Learning about these cancers and what to watch for will allow you to closely monitor your horse and seek veterinary advice promptly if you notice something that looks abnormal. While skin cancer poses a health risk for our beloved horses, many cancers are treatable, and early diagnosis will improve the horse’s quality of life and chance of survival.

Sarcoid Tumours

The most common equine cancer, sarcoid tumours account for approximately 40 percent of all equine cancers. They can occur in any breed and at any age, typically developing in horses three to six years old. Sarcoids can be found anywhere on the body, often on the head, near the genitals, and on the underside of the abdomen. They may also form at sites of previous injury or scarring. Although nonmalignant, these tumours can spread aggressively, occurring as single or multiple lesions ranging from small and wart-like to large, ulcerated, fibrous growths that can impact quality of life. Bovine papillomavirus is believed to be involved in the development of sarcoid tumours, although its precise role is not known.

Sarcoids are the most frequently recognized equine tumour.

PHOTO: PHOTOS.COM/MELISSA

The Queen’s Legacy A Passion for Horses

By Tania Millen

Princess Elizabeth, future Queen Elizabeth II, riding her pony in Windsor Great Park. She rode her first pony at age three at the private riding school at Buckingham Palace, and kept riding well into her 90s.

PHOTO: ALAMY/CLASSIC IMAGE

PHOTO: ALAMY/CLASSIC IMAGE

QQueen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, 2022 having been the longest serving monarch in British history. In the short time since, much has changed. Her son, Prince Charles, has become King Charles III. Canada’s Royal Anthem is now God Save the King. Eventually, the King may replace the Queen’s visage on Canadian coins. But for the horse world, the Queen’s unceasing passion for horses will remain a lasting legacy.

“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was a true horsewoman and a fervent advocate of equestrian sports throughout her life and reign,” said International Equestrian Federation (FEI) President Ingmar De Vos in a tribute to the late monarch. “Her passion and understanding of horses were remarkable.”

Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne following an unusual series of events. Her father, King George VI, only became king when his older brother, Edward, abdicated the throne to marry his twice-divorced American socialite lover. King George VI didn’t have any sons, so upon his death in 1952, his first daughter, Elizabeth, became Queen when she was just 25. Her passion for horses was already well established.

At age three, Her Royal Highness was plunked on a pony at Buckingham Palace’s private riding school. At four, she started riding a Shetland pony named Peggy that her grandfather, King George V, gave her and her sister, Margaret. She developed her riding skills while hacking around Windsor Castle. As an impressionable teen, Her Majesty’s father (the King) took her to see the royal racehorses training during World War II. The Queen later recalled patting them in their stables and said, “I’d never felt the satin softness of a Thoroughbred before.”

As a 21-year-old princess in 1947, the Queen attended the annual Trooping the Colour (a ceremonial military parade) on horseback and continued to do so until age 60 in 1986. Ultimately, the Queen rode well into her 90s, which enthralled and inspired Canadian riders — particularly women in the latter years of their own lives.

The Queen was highly regarded in many parts of the horse world.

“The Queen was a very good horsewoman,” says Lyn Cook, a former groom for international three-day eventing riders who were based at Gatcombe Park in England in the 1990s. “She had an affinity for horses.”

Cook was fortunate to hack one of the Queen’s horses around Balmoral Estate in Scotland one day, when its regular groom was busy, and is acquainted with the Royal family.

“Horses have played a big part in the royal family for generations,” says Cook. “All of the UK’s kings and queens have had horses in one way or another.”

The Queen embraced this royal history and became passionate about breeding and investing in horses and horse sports. “She’s an out-and-out horse addict,” said Lucy Higginson, former editor of Horse and Hound magazine, Britain’s oldest equestrian publication.

Horse Racing, Breeding and Conservation

One of the Queen’s passions was racehorses, and she bred many winning steeplechase and flat racing horses at the Royal Stud — a breeding facility in Sandringham, England which she inherited from her father King George VI.

Her Majesty’s horses won over 1,800 races including four of the five oldest and most important British Classic horse races: the Oaks, the One Thousand Guineas, the

PHOTO: ALAMY/COUNTRY

QUEEN

Lunging Horses

Leaving the lunge line in the tack room seems logical when time is of the essence. Skipping extra steps is compatible with our instant society. For many riders, lunging seems like an unnecessary step, an awkward feeling of having less control than just getting on and “riding the bugs out.” For others, lunging is just plain boring. A misbehaving horse on the lunge is embarrassing at a horse show and a menace to others sharing the arena. And isn’t lunging stressful for the horse’s legs?

I feel very strongly about the positive effects of lunging, both for the horse and for the rider. It’s worth pushing through the awkwardness and perfecting the skill!

Lunging Benefits for the Rider

I’ve learned so much about horses by watching them — from the paddock fence, or the horse show rail, or the view from the saddle. I’ve watched countless horses revolving around me on a lunge line. I’ve learned to “read horse” by studying the subtleties of body language and facial expression, noting signs of tension, distraction, and relaxation.

Surprisingly, many capable riders don’t “read horse” well — they’ve skipped the groundwork necessary to pick up the subtleties of horse language. I’ve noted

a key distinction between riding and horsemanship: having a good grasp of ground control. “Horsemen” have welltimed pressure and release. They read a horse’s inclinations and movements and are readable in return.

For me, lunging has tuned my eye through comparing the movement of hundreds of assorted horses, evaluating strengths and weaknesses in their ways of going. Like a teller who handles countless “sound” bills is quick to detect a counterfeit, by studying the profile of a lot of sound horses, even a subtle lameness will be noted by the rider who lunges. Such minor unsoundness may be missed under saddle.

More than a chance to blow off steam, lunging is an extension of your training. In fact, research and experience attest

that letting a horse rip around and “get it out of his system” is counterproductive and, because he’s a prey animal, it only winds him up like a top.

Lunging has kept me safe! I won’t climb aboard a horse that’s distracted, resistant to pressure, or way too fresh. In short, I want him to be mentally ready to answer “yes” to my every request by the time I mount up. Otherwise, I’m setting the horse up to ignore my signals like a mother who tries to talk to her teen about his exam study plans at Wonderland. Allowing a horse to ignore your cues is teaching your horse to ignore your cues.

Lunging Benefits for the Horse

Done correctly, lunging teaches a green horse to organize and balance himself at all gaits and in transitions, without the added factor of a rider. The horse learns to slip, not blast, into upward transitions. He discovers that opting for the inside lead takes less effort than the outside lead and that cross-cantering feels really awkward.

The horse learns to keep his attention tethered to the hub of the wheel: the lunger. Through the lunging process, I confirm my role as decision maker. The horse follows my

By Lindsay Grice, Equestrian Canada coach and judge

PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK/PIC BY FEMKE

initiative and responds to my body language. The onus is on me to be readable and fair.

Lunging is a useful tool in a new envi ronment to test the horse’s attentiveness before climbing aboard. Even though the horse is experiencing sensory overload in a new situation, lunging helps him remember those skills he’s familiar with, just like we practiced at home.

Reestablishing the building blocks in your training foundation at the start of a session is like a circle check before driving your truck and trailer. Are all systems working well before we take it on the road? These include voice commands and yielding to pressure — the language we use on the ground extends to the conversation under saddle. We speak the same language at home as at a horse show. Skipping training steps inevitably leads to stepping backwards in the process — it’s false economy.

Lunging Basics — Easy as Pie

Think of your positioning like a pie slice — your horse at the base of the triangle and you, in neutral position,

at the point (FIGURE 1). Your lunge line and lunge whip form the two sides of the triangle, with the tip of your whip lowered. Move sideways, slightly behind your horse and elevate your whip arm to send him forward. Slide sideways, toward his shoulder to direct him straight for a few strides, enlarging the circle. This tends to slow the horse as well. If you slide too far in front of his shoulder, however, he may turn around on you.

Lunge Line Lapses

OUT OF CONTROL The horse is oblivious to the person on the other end of the line and whirls around at his pace of choice (typically whinnying). What’s more, the horse cuts in toward the lunger. In a herd, more dominant horses move those less so. The less dominant horse defers his space and peace reigns. This language of pressure and release will make sense to your horse. When you move towards his shoulder and point your whip, make sure he steps away from you, widening the circle. Resist stepping back from the horse

to keep your lunge line taut – move him away from you. When you step and gesture your whip toward his hind end, you should expect him to accelerate promptly. Done well, lunging becomes like a dance.

I like a horse to remain perpendicular to me when he stops. Turning in from the rim of the circle, toward me, is contrary to the defer-your-space theme of our ground training. Your horse’s ears should always be tuned in to you, checking in for your measured voice signals and gestures.

MORE THAN MINDLESS MILES ON THE ODOMETER Lunging is more than simply exercise or a way to wear a horse down without thought to any training. Instead, ask your horse lots of questions in your lunging conversation to keep him connected to you. Will you move away from me? Will you lengthen your stride? Will you slow down? Change your location and shift your circle around the perimeter of the ring.

COMPLEX DIALOGUE Like The Boy Who Cried Wolf, chattering desensitizes your horse to your voice and as a result,

FIGURE 1

PHOTO: ISTOCK/JEANGILL

Craving Control IN EQUESTRIAN SPORT

By Annika McGivern

others, which is, of course, an impossible task.

No? That doesn’t surprise me.

Losing control is one of the most prevalent fears we experience as humans. At the root of this fear is the belief that if we are not able to control the present and the future, something terrible will happen. Those of us with a high need for certainty and control can live in a near constant state of stress. The stress stems from attempting to predict and control the future to protect themselves and

As riders, we grapple with control more tangibly than most. Anyone who has been on a bolting or panicking horse has come face-to-face with this difficult reality: We do not have 100 percent control over our horses.

This can be a difficult reality to accept. Often, after a traumatic experience such as a bolt or a bad fall, part of our coping mechanism is to do everything we can to feel more in control in the saddle. Ironically, however, an over-focus on control while riding can steer things in an unhelpful, possibly dangerous, direction. This article will talk you through some mental strategies to develop a healthier

relationship with control. Implementing these strategies will support you to develop confidence, manage nerves and fear, and help you create a stronger and more positive relationship with your horse.

Reframe Uncertainty

In a famous study, researchers presented participants with two choices. Option one was to go into a room and receive a small electric shock (slightly painful but not harmful) and then go home. For the second option they would stay in another room for an unknown length of time and that something would happen, but they wouldn’t know ahead of time what that thing was. Which would

Do you enjoy feeling out of control?

PHOTO: ISTOCK/ANNAELIZABETHPHOTOGRAPHY

you choose? Most people chose the electric shock, which gives us some insight into how humans feel about uncertainty: We do NOT like it!

In general, we prefer the known negative (in this case, getting an electric shock) to the unknown.

This is because when faced with the unknown, our brain usually jumps to the worst-case-scenario due to our natural negativity bias. However, this tendency can severely limit our thinking. In the study, most people assumed option two would be worse than option one, but the few participants who chose option two were simply given a cup of coffee and sent on their way after 10 minutes. When faced with the unknown we subconsciously assume uncertainty means danger, but this isn’t true.

Uncertainty simply means possibility. When we don’t know what is going to happen, that means there is an amazing range of possible outcomes from terrible to wonderful and everything in between. If you don’t know how high your horse can jump yet, then he may not get as far as you hope, or he might surpass what you currently imagine is possible. Facing the uncertainty of the future can be scary if we believe we need certainty to be okay. It is only through accepting that we can never be truly certain about the future and recognising that we can thrive without certainty — and in fact we have been doing this our entire lives — that we can start to be free of our fear of losing control.

Form a realistic understanding of what you control and what you do not.

Most individuals who have an unhealthy relationship with control sit on the extreme ends of the control spectrum, which ranges from zero control to absolute control. On the zero control end, they decide that one cannot control anything in life and accepting that is the only way to be okay. Those on the absolute control end decide that one must control everything to be okay.

Neither extreme works very well, because reality sits somewhere in the middle. Yes, we can’t control a lot of the things in our lives. But, instead of letting that overwhelm you, the most helpful thing is to recognise that the short list of things we do fully control is powerful.

What if we became exceptionally good at putting our focus and energy into this short list instead of getting constantly distracted by the things we can’t control?

When we control the controllables we can have an amazing amount of positive influence over the quality of our rides, and our lives.

Here is a list of things we DO NOT control, but which often distract us:

• The weather;

• The thoughts and opinions of the people watching us ride;

• The decisions and actions of other riders sharing the arena;

• Our horse’s reactions and decisions;

• How this moment will impact our future possibilities;

• Past events and experiences.

Here are the things we DO control that we benefit from focusing on while riding:

• Our thinking. Think about what you want to have happen instead of what you don’t want to have happen. I want to ride a balanced trot through the corner, instead of I don’t want my horse to spook at the jumps in the corner;

• Our beliefs. Choose to focus on all the evidence you have that demonstrates you are a good, capable rider. Choose to back yourself and be your own biggest cheerleader;

• Our reactions. Choose to react with curiosity instead of emotion. I wonder why that didn’t work? Instead of, Oh no, that was so embarrassing;

• Our focus. Choose to look for the calmness of the present moment by focusing on the task at hand. Notice when you’re getting distracted by the stories your brain produces and return to the present moment.

Choose an Internal Locus of Control instead of an External Locus of Control

Having an internal locus of control means deciding that you are the biggest driving influence in the outcomes of your life. From this perspective you believe that no matter what happens to you, you will ultimately be able to influence the outcome through your own actions and reactions. This belief is empowering and promotes responsibility and accountability.

In contrast, an external locus of

control comes from believing that the events of your life are more powerful than your choices. From this perspective you believe that it doesn’t matter what you do or how you react, larger forces such as luck or fate will ultimately control the outcomes of your life. This belief can create hopelessness and even a victim mentality where we believe everything is against us.

A rider with an internal locus of control is realistic and understands that she only controls a small list of things. Critically, she believes the things she does control are the most important and influential factors shaping her experience and results. Interestingly, research shows that people with an internal locus of control are happier and much more satisfied with their lives than people with an external locus of control. There is a lot to gain from taking on this perspective.

Because horse sport carries a real physical risk, it’s important to realise that striving for total control is not the best way to keep ourselves safe. This approach only leaves us increasingly tense and anxious as we inevitably do not achieve the total control we seek.

Tension and anxiety then influence the horse and make unwanted behaviour more likely. Counterintuitively, we are safest on a horse when we accept that we do not and cannot have complete control. We instead direct our energy into the things we do control, such as our state of mind and reactions, which then positively influence the horse and our ability to handle unexpected behaviour.

Any time we mount a horse we choose to put ourselves in a situation where we do not have 100 percent control over the outcomes. Yet we continue to ride horses because, as riders, we know that if we can surrender our need for absolute control and trust in ourselves and the horse, the joy and growth we get from the experience is 100 percent worth it. In this way riding is an interesting metaphor for life. It takes courage to get on the back of a horse, just as it takes courage to keep living fully in the face of an uncertain future. Ultimately, I believe that this is one of the biggest lessons horses teach us: You can still accomplish amazing things in the absence of complete control. It is only through accepting uncertainty and relinquishing control that we can create room for possibility in our riding and in our lives.

> Annika McGivern is a regular contributor to this magazine — read her bio on page 78.

Uncertainty simply means possibility.

PONY CLUB

Incubating Canada’s High-Performance Riders

By Tania Millen

Contrary to what the name may imply, Pony Club isn’t just for little kids on ponies. Pony Club is an international volunteer-based organization that originated in Britain and came to Canada in the 1930s. The Canadian Pony Club alumni Wall of Fame reads like a “who’s who” of Canadian equestrians: Ian Millar, Beth Underhill, Chelan Kozak, Christilot Boylen, Dana Cooke, Danny Foster, Gina

Smith, Jim Henry, Jimmy Elder, Joni Lynn Peters, Karen Brain, Leslie Reid, Liz Ashton, Lorraine Stubbs, Lynn Larsen, Rebecca Howard, Rob Stevenson, Sandra Donnelly, Tik Maynard, and many more. Some of those alumni still compete at top level; some no longer ride. But they all struggled through a series of written, stable management, and riding tests, then put those skills and

knowledge to use to become some of Canada’s best riders.

“From a very young age, Pony Club impressed on me the importance of properly caring for an animal — down to the nitty gritty details,” says Jill Irving, who won a team gold medal for Canada at the 2019 Pan American Games and was a travelling reserve for Canada’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic dressage team. “It was

Alberta North Pony Club members at the 2022 National Rally.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KELLY BROUWER

PHOTO: ©CEALY TETLEYWWW.TETLEYPHOTO.COM

Jill Irving, riding Degas 12, was a member of the gold medal-winning Canadian Dressage Team at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

PHOTOS: JILL IRVING COLLECTION

Jill Irving was about six years old when she became a member of the Sudbury Pony Club. She is pictured during her Pony Club years competing at a Preliminary 3-DayEvent (left), and a Pony Club C level rally (above).

WINTER

:: CANADIAN HORSE JOURNAL

Canada’s WILD Horses

AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

By Tania Millen

PHOTO: SANDY SHARKEY

Sable Island Horses

Imagine a sandy island surrounded by the fierce Atlantic Ocean where waves endlessly crash on white sand beaches, dune grasses are flattened by the wind, and wild horses run free. That place exists and it’s in Canada, 160 kilometres east of Nova Scotia where approximately 500 wild horses roam free on Sable Island in a National Park Reserve.

“It feels like you’re on the moon with wild horses,” says Sandy Sharkey, a pro fessional photographer who has been to Sable Island 16 times to photograph the island and its wild horses.

Today’s horses originated from mares and stallions that were purposefully shipped to the 49-kilometre-long cres cent of sand in the 1700s. Some horses were rounded up and sold from 1801 to 1940, but in 1960, the wild horses were protected under the Canada Shipping Act In 2013, they were subsequently protect ed under the Canada National Parks Act

The island is uninhabited, although scientists, parks’ staff, and limited num bers of tourists spend time there along with the horses, over 320 bird species, and the world’s largest breeding popula tion of grey seals.

“There are barracks that Parks Canada staff stay in but after you hike away from them, it’s just this incredible expanse of sand, horses, grassy dunes, and seabirds by the thousands,” says Sharkey.

Visitors to the island can only stay for the day — there are no overnight accom modations — and must remain 20 metres away from the horses, which are not fed or cared for in any way.

“The entire island is essentially a beach with grassy dunes in the centre of it,” says Sharkey. “I don’t know any beach that could match the pure white sand. It’s spectacular.”

Visitors are guided, hiking up and down grassy dunes then down to the shoreline and beaches.

“You smell the ocean,” says Sharkey, “and it doesn’t matter how far inland you are, you always hear the waves crashing on the shore.”

“You hear the sea birds and there’s always a beautiful breeze,” Sharkey contin ues. “The horses have these iconic, incredi bly long tangly manes and the breezes are always lifting their manes up in the air.”

Genetic research indicates that the horses are most closely related to Nordic and Mongolian horse breeds, sharing genes with Shetland, Icelandic, Exmoor, Mongolian, Finn, and Norwegian Fjords. But due to their isolation, the horses have developed unique genetics, different from all other horse breeds. Since they had lived wild and unmanaged for over 50 years when Sable Island came under Parks Canada management in 2013, they were deemed “wildlife” and hence considered wild horses rather than feral.

“They’re fairly small in stature,” says Sharkey, who has travelled the world photographing wild horses, “only stand ing about 13 hands high.”

“They also have, without a doubt, the longest manes of any wild horses I’ve ever seen. Plus, Sable Island’s horses often have tails that reach the ground.”

The horses have no predators or com petitors and are well-adapted to their storm-thrashed island, eating beach

“Their existence stirs our imagination. We feel their energy and their pure, unbridled spirit. To spend time with wild horses is to reach deep into your own soul and find your own freedom, whatever that may be.”

— SANDY SHARKEY

Wild horses on Sable Island.

PHOTO: SANDY SHARKEY

Crossing Mongolia for Charity

By Tania Millen Photos by Heidi Telstad

The route of the Blue Wolf Totem Expedition took riders 3,640 kilometres across Mongolia from the southeast to the northeast in 84 days.

Ulaanbaatar

MONGOLIA

From May to August, 2022, 17 adventurers aged 27 to 70, rode over 3,640 kilometres across Mongolia in 84 days as part of the Blue Wolf Totem Expedition. It was the longest charity ride in recent history and combined exploration, fundraising, and adventure.

Five Canadian riders, including Heidi Telstad, took part in the ride which was organized by Julie Veloo, anoth er Canadian. She’s the founder of the Veloo Foundation which supports impov erished children in Mongolia.

“The expedition wasn’t just about riding from one end of Mongolia to the other and taking the shortest route possible,” says Telstad, an endurance rider based in Langley, British Columbia. “It was about trying to see something special every day.”

“Almost all of the zigzaggy points on the map are a place that somebody on the team had never been,” says Veloo. “We weren’t thinking about the length of the ride [when creating the route], we were thinking about the beauty, about special places to visit.”

Mongolia has extensive human history but many of the country’s historical locations haven’t been researched. So, when planning the trip, Veloo drove around the country asking local people about significant and historical places in their area. She also asked the Mongolians involved in the ride — guides, herders, and their families

— what they’d like to see and which areas of the country they’d like to visit. Then she’d research the location and add it to the planned expedition route.

Altered Routes and Long Days

“We were supposed to start in the Gobi Desert in southeast Mongolia where it was nice and warm,” says Telstad.

But a few days before the ride started, there was an outbreak of hoof-andmouth disease, which meant the horses couldn’t be trailered into the Gobi Desert.

“The whole plan went out the win dow,” Telstad explains. “We had to com pletely reinvent the first 30 days.”

Subsequently, the trek began just out side Mongolia’s capital city of Ulaanbaatar, where it was still very cold. The horses and riders endured regular snowstorms, wind, and rain during the first weeks of the trek.

“A lot of us weren’t prepared. But Julie had lots of deels — long Mongolian coats — so we were all wrapped up like Starship Troopers,” Telstad says.

The riders had to cover a minimum of 700 kilometres every 14 days, to stay on schedule. “We rode 50 to 80 kilometers a

Two of the guides and members of the support crew, Munkhjsaikhan (left) and Ryan Kertanis.

elcome to the 31st edition of our Celebration of Horses Photo Contest, the longest-running equine photo contest in Canada.

This year our contest attracted a record number of photos with entries pouring in from our much-loved regular contestants and an avalanche of new contenders. Thank you to everyone who shared their special images and memories with us.

Our primary sponsor again this year is ThinLine Canada, who deserves HUGE THANKS for their generous donation of the grand prizes in the six main categories. The Quarter Horse category is kindly sponsored by the Canadian Quarter Horse Association, and the runners-up in all categories are sponsored by Horse Community Journals Inc., publishers of this magazine.

Now… we are pleased to present the Winners and Runners-Up in this year’s Celebration of Horses Photo Contest.

STABLE STORK

Beautiful Babies of 2022

1ST RUNNER-UP

Everything is Brand New Daphne meets the world! WWS Million Dollar Dreamer (aka Daphne) is a 2022 Gypsy filly just minutes old when photographed by Morgan Gibb of Wawanesa, MB.

WINNER

A Canadian Surprise

“This Canadian filly, born September 14, 2022, is from the rare Lou bloodline,” says photographer Kate Saunders of Pembroke, ON. “She will become part of the Locksley Canadians breeding program to help promote this rare breed.”

2ND RUNNER-UP

Logan

“Logan has a friendly and engaging personality,” says photographer Nancy Leask of Brooklin, ON. “Whenever he spots me from afar, he hurries over to greet me. Here he gives me the most imperious look because he knows he is special enough to have his own personal portrait photographer.”