Horse Illustrated Magazine

Hello and happy Friday, everyone! Here’s what’s been happening in the horse world this week. Which happened to be Shark Week. I hope you and your horses survived.

• Need a feel-good story? Here’s one about this 10-year-old rider, who happens to be deaf, and her one-eyed horse overcoming the odds together.
• This summer, the city of Montreal is combining two of my favorite things: Horses and carbs. You can purchase fresh bread from an old timey horse-drawn carriage thanks to the Saint Gabriel Museum, but only through August.
• Sad news from the Calgary Stampede, where two horses have been euthanized after being injured during the event’s chuckwagon races. Reports say there have been more than 50 horse deaths there since 1986. There were a few commenters on Facebook who suggested that 50 horses in 30 years wasn’t really that bad, but when you consider that this event only runs nine days out of the year, that seems like a pretty high rate to me. 
• On top of that, a competitor in the Calgary Stampede roping competition was eliminated for mistreatment of livestock for aggressively hitting his horse. This is believed to be the first time a competitor has been eliminated for that reason.
• Earlier this week, video emerged of a herd of 30 horses wandering a residential neighborhood in New Jersey, and no one knew why. Now it is believed that the horses were scared out of their field by coyotes, causing them to break the fence and go on tour.
• Scarcely a week goes by where there isn’t some news about some wild horse advocacy group filing a lawsuit against the BLM for one reason or another. But this latest one suggesting that the BLM is trying to selectively breed a super-breed of Spanish-type Mustangs that appeal to the public is, well, different.
• Rudy is a horse who defied death after being stuck in barbed wire and attacked by wild animals. Thanks to the care he’s received at Blaze’s Tribute Equine Rescue, he’s thriving and even has a new best friend. Now Blaze’s Tribute is seeking the public’s help in funding a safe new enclosure for this pair of buddies.
• I love this story about a 15-hand Quarter Horse who is excelling in the show jumping arena against the big warmbloods.
• Please enjoy these photos of one Chris Hemsworth riding a stunning Friesian.
• And finally, here’s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at home with his friends Bob and Jeffery. Yes, The Rock has a horse farm. Who knew?

That’s it for this week. Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

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Leslie Potter is Sr. Associate Web Editor of horseillustrated.com. Follow her on Twitter: @LeslieInLex.