Starting strong
I started 2024 with a commitment to significantly improve my fitness before spring. Strength and balance are easy to take for granted when you’re younger, especially if you’re keeping horses at home. Moving hay, cleaning stalls, and general barn work provide a decent full-body workout. But like any sport, riding well requires fitness. Winter and advancing years require a more proactive approach to “using it” – so not to “lose it.” I’m hoping the extra work in the fitness department will act as an insurance policy to avoid aches and pains, and increase my stamina when the footing improves and riding ramps up again. We shall see.

The other benefit of getting fit is improving mindset and mood. The past few years have been challenging. So many things have become more difficult, with new concerns and an increased level of uncertainty in almost everything we do. A flexible mindset and resilient attitude can be helpful in minimizing the stress this can cause.

Currently, our northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton friends are still digging out from last week’s heavy snow fall. Managing record amounts of snow to access barns and paddocks, in addition to driveways and door yards, is a daunting task. I hope the remainder of winter is kinder.

In this issue we tackle two timely horse-keeping challenges – guarding against equine viruses and managing hay supply.

Many events were cancelled in the fall of 2023 due to strangles and then EHV-1. Equine viruses have always been a threat, but it feels like they’ve cropped up more often in recent years. Nicole Kitchener’s “Biosecurity concerns” story covers managing the risks and making a plan for infection control. A checklist of good practices is included.

Teresa Alexander-Arab provides tips on making the most of your forage in “Precious resources.” Good hay-making weather was hard to come by in many parts of our region in 2023. Sourcing a winter’s supply of quality hay was not easy. There has never been a better time to learn tricks and tools to maximize the value of our forage.

We also have a story on the legacy of breeding horses with “Blessed be the horse breeders.” The need for resiliency is nothing new to the folks involved in this industry. Erica Saunders caught up with well-known hunter-jumper trainer Lindsay Bradshaw as she expands her focus to breeding sport horses at her new farm near Brooklyn, N.S.

In closing, I’d like to pay my respects to the many valued members of our horse community who died in 2023. It was a costly year. The horse world is a mostly collaborative space. People help each other, and share stories and advice, and more importantly their time, across disciplines and breeds. Experienced horse people are cherished mentors and teachers, whether they know it or not. Their legacies will live on because of their generosity. My condolences to family and friends.

I’m wishing you all the best in 2024.