Caring for Older Horse – 10 Tips - Cleveland Equine Clinic The Leader in Equine Healthcare (2024)

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Caring for Older Horse – 10 Tips - Cleveland Equine Clinic The Leader in Equine Healthcare? ›

As a general rule, senior feed is appropriate for horses when they reach the age of 15. But there are plenty of horses that can coast well into their 20's without ever needing a specialized feed just like there are younger horses who might need to make the switch at a younger age.

As a general rule, senior feed is appropriate for horses when they reach the age of 15. But there are plenty of horses that can coast well into their 20's without ever needing a specialized feed just like there are younger horses who might need to make the switch at a younger age.

To calculate the equivalent of a horse's age in “human age”, we generally multiply a horse's year by 3.5. For example, a 10 year old horse is equivalent to a 35 year old human. A horse reaching 20 years of age is considered “old”, but this depends very much on how long the horse has lived.

Senior feeds are often rich in fat to help boost calories. Rice bran, vegetable oil and flax seed can be other good sources of fatty acids and help keep the weight on. Introduction of a fat source should be done slowly to give your horse time to adjust and prevent any unwanted side effects (such as greasy diarrhea).

Incorporating Strength Exercises

Exercises like transitions, walk to trot, trot to halt, and canter or lope transitions activate your horse's hind end and ask them to engage through their core and back. Hill work, or riding on a slight incline is one of the best ways to help build the topline.

Therefore, the key to feeding older horses is to use high-quality protein from alfalfa, soybean, and canola without oversupplying their requirements. Aged horses lose body condition and muscle along the topline due to less efficient processing of certain nutrients in the older horse, most notably protein.

Ultium^® Competition, Omolene^® #200 and Omolene^® #500 are also calorie-dense feeds that may be helpful to help an older horse gain weight when fed with appropriate good quality hay and/or pasture.

Lucerne/alfalfa hay and good quality, soft meadow/pasture hays are preferable to stemmy and mature hays that have tougher fibre to ferment. High energy 'super fibres' like sugarbeet pulp and soybean hulls are also excellent sources of fibre for older horses as they are very easy to ferment in the hindgut.

However, if the horse has difficulty maintaining body weight then a higher caloric diet is needed. Energy dense forage sources such as Alfalfa pellets, cubes of chopped forage are ideal to increase the calorie content of the diet.

What breed of horse lives the longest? ›

Which horse breed has the longest lifespan? There is no definitive answer to this as horses' lifespans are greatly influenced by factors like diet, exercise, and environment. However, Arabian horses are incredibly hardy and tend to live longer than some other breeds.

Typically, horses within the 8- to 15-year-old range are good options for beginners or riders looking for an experienced equine partner. If you're looking for a “been there, done that” mount, don't discount an older horse—many are still fit and riding and competing well into their 20s.

“20 year old horses still have years of ability and function ahead.” With the changes in understanding and care on equine teeth and feeding, a horse of twenty can expect 10 to 20 (yes, even 20) years of life ahead, and a lot of that time can have useful riding miles within it.

The horse needs to be able to chew and break down the hay, so select good-quality, soft hay that isn't overly mature; it shouldn't have thick, fibrous stalks. Coleman has found that mixed grass-legume hay, such as orchard-alfalfa or timothy-alfalfa, is often a good choice.

Pelleted fibres– can be fed soaked for horses that struggle to chew even short chopped fibre. Feed at least 1.5% bodyweight per day – whether using chopped or pelleted fibre it is still important to feed the same amount as you would have fed of hay, which is at least 1.5% of bodyweight on a dry matter basis per day.

Soft fruits that don't require as much mastication – like bananas and grapes – are good options for horses with dental issues, she said.

The Icelandic Horse is often the top pick for the 'easiest horse to have' award. Tough, resilient, and more low-maintenance than a succulent, these horses are like the all-terrain vehicles of the equine world. They're chill in the face of harsh weather and just cool companions overall.