Working and Playing Together - Operating family farms and ranches can be challenging, but according to these three Canadian families, there are plenty of benefits, too.

In England, the Romans were the first to build canals as irrigation or land drainage waterways. They used mules to haul boats loaded with cargo along those canals and it became a highly effective and economical way to transport goods. A horse towing a boat with a rope from a towpath could pull 50 times as much cargo as it could pull in a wagon on the road.

Job Description: In many cities, the police force mounted unit plays an essential role in crowd control at demonstrations and large events. Horses add height and visibility, and act as ambassadors with the public. On patrol for over a century, the Vancouver Police Mounted Unit was first formed in 1908 with 11 officers and 12 horses. A year later, the first patrolman on horseback was assigned to patrol Stanley Park. While the stables were originally based in the downtown area, a second stable was established close to the entrance to Stanley Park where the Mounted Unit continues to be centered today.

Job Description: Therapy horses are used in a range of programs to promote physical improvements and address mental health issues. Somewhere in the rolling high country plains of southeastern Montana in the early 2000s, a buckskin colt was born. But in the harsh reality of life in a wild herd, he lost his dam when he was just a few days old. Somehow he stayed attached to his band struggling to survive but, without his mother’s milk, his growth was slow.