Geriatric Horse Care -
The 3-D Approach
What age does a horse become "geriatric" or a veteran? That's a good question and surprisingly the answer is not the same for every horse.
Click on this link to find out more about
how to identify a Geriatric or Veteran Horse.
In our view, geriatric horse care requires an owner to focus on 3 important factors.
Each of these is discussed in more detail below but collectively they provide what we call the 3-D Approach To Geriatric Horse Care.
They are all closely linked and we believe that managing these factors effectively is the key to a healthy and happy veteran horse. See what you think...!
Geriatric Horse Care - The Importance Of Diet
As your horse ages, his digestive system becomes less reliable. He may find it increasingly difficult to digest some types of food. For example, his intestinal tract gradually loses its effectiveness to draw nutrients from the feed and you may notice that there are undigested food remnants in his droppings.A geriatric horse may find it harder due to decaying teeth to properly chew his food - therefore foods containing fibre (gained from hay or other forage) may be rejected in favour of the more palatable and easily digested bucket feed. If this is the case with your horse, add alfalfa or chaff to the feed so that your horse is getting a regular daily fibre ration.  Insufficient quantities of food being eaten by your horse will result not only in weight loss but a lack of energy, muscle breakdown and deterioration of his circulatory and immune systems. Good circulation is required to maintain his body temperature. His immune system protects him from harmful airborne infections and contagious illnesses.
If these are not functioning correctly, your horse will find it harder to maintain his body heat and will be more susceptable to colds and joint inflammation. Recovery times are much slower for a horse with poor eating habits, since his body needs the nutrients supplied in his food to repair cell damage. Feed manufacturers are giving owners of veteran horses much more choice nowadays and there are a number of excellent feed mixes on the market that contain specific nutrients required by older horses. We would recommend checking with your feed supplier before changing over to a veteran mix as they can suggest the best ones to suit your horse's individual circumstances. Always introduce any new feed gradually over several days. Drastic changes to your horse's diet should be avoided at all costs, particularly with an older horse, to prevent upset to their sensitive digestion giving rise to bouts of colic or diarrhoea.
Geriatric Horse Care - Tackling Dental Problems
The second key in our 3-D Approach to geriatric horse care is that of
Dentistry.
Older horses are more prone to tooth decay as their teeth wear down with age. The teeth should be rasped regularly by a qualified Equine Dental Technician to remove jagged edges and level out uneven surfaces. How do you know if your horse has problems with his teeth? Does he:- - Drop much of his food on the ground?
- Seem to be chewing awkwardly?
- Take much longer than normal to eat his food
- Leave his hay ration untouched during the night/day?
One or more of these signs are reliable indicators that something is wrong. Neglecting the signs of dental problems is particularly counter-productive. You might be spending money on providing the best quality food for your horse but if he can't chew it he will likely go off his food completely, causing sudden weight loss. If left unchecked, his body becomes devoid of nutrients and he is acutely exposed to infection and circulatory disorders. Paying your vet to treat multiple infections or problems will likely far outweigh the cost of routine dental treatment and could potentially result in long-term damage or put the horse's life at risk.
Geriatric Horse Care - Coping With Dysfunction
If we are realistic we must expect that a geriatric horse will experience "dysfunction" to a greater or lesser degree at some point in their twilight years.
What do we mean by this?
Older horses are prone to joint problems such as arthritis which can make movement painful and awkward. Lack of, or restricted movement causes muscles to weaken so the horse becomes even less inclined to take exercise.
Veterans are also more prone to colds and viruses because their immune system is less efficient than their younger counterparts. Extreme changes in weather must be managed by appropriately rugging the older horse to keep the body temperature as regulated as possible.
Giving your horse daily turnout in a level pasture will do much to keep his joints mobile and reduce stiffness. We would suggest that an older horse is turned out with one or two calm, non-aggressive companions who do not spend all day charging round the field or trying to "play" with the veteran.
Do Equine Joint Supplements Work?
Having owned veteran horses, we are huge fans of joint supplements. To put it plainly, the use of these at the direction of our veterinary surgeon completely transformed the animal's quality of life.
Some of the supplements on the market today cost the earth, promise the moon but deliver zero results. Our advice would always be to consult your Veterinary Surgeon BEFORE adding any supplements to your horse's feed.
In our experience and again in consultation with our Vet, we found that by adding supplements containing Glucosamine, Condroitin and Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) we were able to significantly increase mobility, circulatory function and muscle development.
One example was a seventeen year old mare who suffered noticeably with arthritis but having been given these supplements at the appropriate dosage on an ongoing basis, she was able to hack out regularly - even competing in local shows to the grand old age of twenty-four and thoroughly enjoying every minute!
We recall how downcast she used to look when everyone else on the yard went out for a ride and she was left behind.
How nice it was to be able to give her quite literally a new lease of life thanks largely to successful management of her diet, routine dentistry and the use of equine health supplements to combat the symptoms of advancing years.
We wish you well with your Veteran - here's to many happy years of retirement and companionship!
Do you have any questions about Geriatric Horse Care? If so why not
send your question
to us by clicking on this link and completing the short enquiry form. We would love to be able to help!
Return from Geriatric Horse Care to our main Horse Care topic for lots more useful information.
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