Endurance.Net: Consider this...: 08/2021

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Quesnel Canadian Rangers familiarize themselves with historic Gold Rush terrain

REBECCA DYOK
Aug. 20, 2021 5:30 a.m.

On horseback, members of the Quesnel Canadian Ranger Patrol (CRP) trotted through an area with a rich history of gold mining last month in a mission stimulating what it would like when they are called to deploy for a ground search and rescue.

Exercise Goldfield Sojourn got underway Thursday, July 15, with a convoy of trucks and trailers driving from Quesnel to Wells where a reception centre was set up. Rangers met with village residents, community officials, members of the local RCMP detachment and the Wells Volunteer Fire Brigade.

From there, the rangers drove to a new location and set up an administration area and camp where they spent the night, said Captain Natasha Tersigni, public affairs officer with 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol (CRP).

The group departed on horseback in the morning and rode through Barkerville Historic Town and Park up to Groundhog Lake, riding a rocky, steep trail that follows the old Cariboo Wagon Road and a historic ditch line.

“When called upon to assist, members of the CRP typically have less than an hour to gather their equipment, including their horses, and begin deploying to the location where the search will occur,” Tersigni said...

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Bute vs Banamine – what's the difference?

HorseAndRider.com - Full Article

The two pain-relieving prescription medications that most horse owners keep on hand are Bute and Banamine – but do you know the differences between the two?

JILLIAN SINCLAIR
UPDATED:AUG 4, 2021 - ORIGINAL:AUG 4, 2021

Both Bute and Banamine are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that are used to reduce inflammation and pain in horses. While these drugs sound similar and seem like they could be interchangeable, there are actually several different situations for when you should use one or the other. Read on to see the main differences between Bute and Banamine, and when the right time to use each one is...

Sunday, August 08, 2021

Staving Off Summer Weight Loss in Horses

TheHorse.com - Full Article

Don’t forget horses require calories to keep cool in the heat.

Posted by Clair Thunes, PhD | Aug 2, 2021

Q. With the extreme heat this summer I’m struggling to keep weight on my horse. I’m not used to dealing with summer weight loss. Our pastures are pretty dried out, so we are feeding a good amount of hay. Typically, I just feed a balancer, but this doesn’t seem to be enough. Do you have any advice?

A. We often think of weight loss in horses as a winter issue, when they need more calories to keep warm. However, we don’t often consider that horses also require calories keep cool in hot weather.

Thermal neutral zone (TNZ) is the range of environmental temperatures horses need for minimal metabolic regulation to maintain their internal temperature. When horses are within their TNZ, the basal rate of heat production equals the loss of heat to the environment. They neither heat up nor cool down...

Wednesday, August 04, 2021

Equine Air Scenting: Are Search-and-Rescue Horses a Thing?

Horse-Canada.com - Full Article

Horses have unique qualities which enable them to detect scents, which anyone can try at home to give your horse a chance to problem-solve.

By: Kim Izzo | July 28, 2021

Search and rescue teams, the military and police, border patrol officers, all employ the unique talents of “sniffer dogs.” We’ve seen footage of these dogs in the news, searching for survivors at catastrophic events like the recent condo collapse in Surfside, Florida, or we’ve witnessed them firsthand being walked through baggage claim at airports. The dogs are highly-trained professionals. And now, they have competition: sniffer horses (and ponies).

The practice of “equine air scenting” is used by various organizations in Western Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, where some horses are also trained in drug detection. Currently there are no ‘professional’ equine sniffers in Ontario, but that might soon change.

The Ontario Mounted Special Service Unit (OMSSU), a non-profit organization made up of volunteers, is currently training horses in the air scent division with the hopes of being given work in the fields that require such a service. Cindy Fuerth, director of OMSSU, told Global News that the group is planning to expand and hire in the coming year by recruiting around 20 riders to the program. The program will involve the owners/riders and their horses to complete intensive training. Riders will also take online and in-person classes...