The Near Side: This Week in Horses – October 9, 2015

Hello and happy Friday, everyone! Here’s what’s been happening in the horse world this week.

• My favorite story this week is that of Rafael Pease, a snowboarder who rescued a lost horse that was stuck in the snowy Chilean mountains. Pease caught the whole ordeal on his GoPro, which has helped make him something of an Internet celebrity.
• Researchers discovered a 48 million-year-old fossil of an equine ancestor in Germany. What makes this find especially unique is that the prehistoric creature (Eurohippus messelensis) was in the late stages of pregnancy, offering new insights into the reproductive system of these ancient animals.
• Now back to the modern era, where descendants of Eurohippus are dressed in costumes to carry celebrity riders over a course of jumps to the delight of spectators at events like the LA Masters. What a world.
• The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics are less than a year away, and Brazil doesn’t appear to be ready for the arrival of international horses. The head of Brazil’s equestrian federation is warning the country’s agriculture ministry that they’re behind on paperwork, and that’s putting the equestrian events at risk. Where would they be held if not Rio? That remains to be seen, but may I suggest Lexington, Kentucky?
• If you’ve been reading This Week in Horses for any length of time, you know I have a soft spot for police horses. So I love this story about Zechariah and El Capitan, two equine officers with the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Police Department who received a proper retirement ceremony after 10 years on the force.
• This week in Irish horses showing up in strange places: A guy rode a horse into a Tesco supermarket in Galway. Seriously, what’s going on, Ireland?
• And finally, this post about well-intentioned passers-by reporting a mistreated horse…

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.