Although the railroad is often seen as the key travel mode that enabled the colonization of land for European settlement across Canada, this poster shows that horse transportation also played a major role.

Horses and other draught animals provided essential help with ploughing, harvesting and many other farming tasks until the ascendency of motorized tractors by the mid-20th century.

Horses were a common sight in Ontario cities into the 1940s. As this photo shows, their presence left a mark on the urban landscape, from everyday infrastructure like water fountains and stables to early suburbanization via the horse streetcar.

The significance of horses to people in Ontario made breeding an important industry. This poster promotes the ability and availability of one such stallion.

Archives are home to records that trace how animal welfare has changed over time. The importance of horses as work animals, along with their emotional connection to humans, put them at the forefront of campaigns against animal cruelty starting in the mid-19th century.

This photo shows a horse forcibly plunged into water as an attraction for amusement park visitors. Do you think this is a scene you would see today?

The popularity of horse racing in Ontario lasted well after the animal’s general importance to humans declined in the 20th century.

The Conn Smythe fonds at the Archives of Ontario contains records that document his love of horse breeding and racing, including this photo of his horse Caledon Beau's victory at the 1958 Queen’s Plate, the longest continuously-run horse race in North America.

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