Horses 

Horses are very well loved in Alberta.   Almost every child dreams of owning their own horse some day!  Nearly every holiday site has horseback riding available for one and all.

Horses used to be the farmer's helper - to pull the machinery, to plough the soil, to mow the hay, or to pull the wagons to town.   But now we have motorized machinery, so horses do not need to do such heavy work any more. 

Ranchers need horses to help with the work they do, but mostly horses are kept for recreation, racing, and showing.

Just as there are many breeds of cattle, so are there many breeds and types of horses.  Some are common, others are exotic.   Do some research to find out what types of horses these are:

This horse is ready to do ranch work or recreational riding.  It is wearing a western-type saddle to show that you ride with one leg on each side of the horse.

Horses love to eat hay, grass, and special oats.  They need straw for their bedding, just like cattle do.

Horses have soft, velvety noses, like you see in this picture.  They like to be stroked down the center of their faces.  If you feed them a treat of fresh picked hay or grass, make sure you keep your hand palm up and fingers and thumb flat.  Otherwise that horse may just take a bite of your fingers!

Horses have names for each member of the family.

The male is the stallion, the female is the mare, and the baby is a foal. An older "youngster" is called a colt.

Horses can move at different speeds: gallop, trot, cantor, or walk. Their legs move in different patterns for each style of movement.