Northernhorse.com Blog

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency sent us the following news release:

OTTAWA, December 24, 2008 – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has launched an
investigation after confirming that horse semen was imported into Canada from a United States stallion
subsequently determined to be infected with contagious equine metritis (CEM). There are no human health
implications with this disease. Continue Reading »

Due to the recent outbreak of CEM in Kentucky, we have a new article on our web site about Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM). It can be found in the articles section

The biggest concern is if the US should lose its CEM free status. If that should occur, it will have a SERIOUS impact on breeders shipping semen into Canada, as well as any horses being shipped into Canada as they would have to undergo quarantine and testing for CEM – a serious financial burden for all parties concerned! Continue Reading »

We have received 2 more updates on CEM from Jos Mottershead of the Equine Reproduction site.

CEMO-positive Stallion Number Increases

The number of stallions reported as positive for the presence of /Taylorella equigenitalis/ the causative agent for Contagious Equine Metritis in the Kentucky USA outbreak has risen to six the index farm reports. Seven stallions are shown as “believed negative”, with ten more having results still pending. The OIE (Office international des épizooties) – the international reporting agency for infectious animal diseases – is however currently reporting seven positive stallions, with 320 more potentially affected (exposed) animals. It is unclear where this  number discrepancy originates, but we will update the information as applicable once confirmed.
*12/30/2008* Continue Reading »

We had just started our horse business and thought we would breed our black/white tobiano mare to a solid sorrel stud. We thought we might get a buckskin out of the combination. We ended up with a solid bay filly. She wasn’t the prettiest filly but we fell in love with her anyway.

We went and woke up our daughter who was four at the time and she looked out the window and the first thing she said was Hi Sky. Needless to say we named the filly Poco’s High Sky. We also gave this filly to our daughter. She was a constant companion to her. This filly followed our daughter whenever she went out to see her.

This filly turned out to be a very big mare and we all loved her. We got her broke and my husband started to ride her on a regular basis. My daughter was very excited that one day she would be riding this big bay mare.

We left the house for errands one day in 2006 and when we came home we noticed Sky was far away from the other horses. My husband walked out to her and noticed she has a massive slice in her leg. We got her to walk into the barn area but with each step we knew she was in alot of pain. It was a hard thing to see. We knew taking her into the vet it was going to be too much money to keep her and we were right. She would also never be sound again and so our daughter would never be able to ride her. Our daughter who was only nine at the time told us that she did not want to see Sky in pain so she said to put her down. This was one of the saddest days for our daughter but what a mature decision she made. We will always miss seeing her out in our pasture and our daughter will miss the connection she had with this mare. We will always miss her and she will always be in our hearts especially for our daughter. To this day our daughter has yet to have that connection with any of our other horses or their foals. Hopefully one day she will find that great connection again. Continue Reading »

It was just a week before Christmas when two starving horses were discovered in the rugged mountains of the B.C. Interior – hip bones protruding, backs blanketed in ice, weakened bodies teetering between life and death.

Logan Jeck, 21, came upon the pair while retrieving two tourists’ snowmobiles in the snow-covered terrain. He went home and told his father, David.

David Jeck, a horse owner, sent his daughter back the next day with two things: a .44 Magnum rifle and a bale of hay.

Read more at the Globe & Mail

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued a warning late Friday, Dec. 26, that semen from one of the four Quarter Horses confirmed positive for contagious equine metritis (CEM) had been shipped to farms in Ontario and Alberta. It had begun an investigation on Dec. 24.

Frozen semen from the stallion was sent to Ontario and Alberta in the spring of 2008. CFIA and provincial animal health officials are currently tracing the shipments to identify potentially exposed animals. As a precaution, the CFIA will place these animals under quarantine until they have tested negative for CEM.

Read more at The Horse.com

Hot Lopin Sensation, Indian Artifacts, Repeated in Red and Potential Investment standing at Degraff Stables/Liberty Farm Equine Reproduction enter LLC have all been identified as having tested positive for Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM). Officials had considered this highly contagious venereal disease eradicated from the United States until it was identified during routine testing of a stallion earlier this month to qualify semen for exportation. Read more at The Horse.com

I thought I would brag about achieving a New Years Resolution for a change. Every other year I resolved to lose weight and it never happened. Even with a broken tooth to keep my holiday eating to minimum I am sure I wouldn’t be able to qualify for saying I achieved success for that resolution again this year. Continue Reading »

I found this on the Wild Horses of Alberta Society website:

It was confirmed that the dead horse found was indeed shot. As a result, the  Alberta Sustainable Resources Department and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are working together to try to solve it.  Don Livingston, land management planning officer with  the SRD in Rocky Mountain House said that the latest horse was shot West of Bearberry sometime between November 30th and December 6th.  The Hendersons’, along with a Journalist/Photographer discovered the gruesome find on December 7th.  They had been touring the area in search of wild horses to photograph for a magazine and came across the remains of a wild horse instead.

Authorities have found no connection at this time between this horse killing and the previous 20 equine shooting deaths.  All of which occured within a mile of eachother over the past five years.  Another four were discovered about ten miles away from this kill site in 2007.  This makes a total of 24 horses that we are aware of that have been gunned down in the area.

RCMP livestock investigator Cpl. Don Heaslip the lead investigator urges the pubic to contact them if they have any information about this or the previous horse killings.  They can contact Crime Stoppers or Report-A-Poacher at 1-800-642-3800.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife has also been in touch with WHOAS, Bob Henderson, in regards to the headless remains of a deer discovered the same day.  The buck had likely been poached for its prized antlers, just as elephants are poached for their ivory.  Fish and Wildlife is investigating this incident.

We are urging people to contact us as well if they have any information and may do so by emailing bob1603@telusplanet.net

More about this and other interesting articles on the Wild Horses of Alberta Society website

Stolen Horse, from Fanny Bay, Last seen at Happy Pet Lodge where she was boarded on Artela Road, off Cougar Smith Road, November 30, 2008. Paint Mare, 3yrs old. 10 yr old child has raised this horse from a weanling and is devastated. Would love her horse back for Christmas. Please contact David Peel at 250-483-3961 or Nicole Morris at 1-250-245-3145 or e-mail horsaffair@hotmail.com.
Shonika is sorrel paint/brown and white, mostly white
Stands around 14.3 15hhs
3 years old