Age estimate

[Capriole]

Kazoo's sale ad listed his age at 7 yrs. I didn't think to ask how she knew/determined his age....
A few days ago I caught him yawning....looks to me like he's more like 11 - 12 yrs.
I don't really care how old he is...just nice to know.
Opinions ?
(He got his old halter off...no doubt with Prince's help....)

 

[Abby P]

My completely unhelpful opinion is, he is squishable.

 

[Kelly]

Awww yes I agree with @Abby P! He is definitely 7 years old…. He is a very squishable 11 year old.… but then the maturity of getting his halter off totally makes him a 12 year old!

And that is how old I think that cutie is

 

[Lindy Hagar]

HELLO. Advise apreciated.

What symptoms have you noted about when your mini is heading into thier death from old age?
My mini ex broodmare is "suspected" to be between 15 and 30 yrs old & we will never let her suffer. I don't have access to her papers for a while but I feel she is in excess of 30.

She is a darling & worth her weight in gold to us & will be living with us to her end.
I'm starting to see her getting slower & slower and is laying down a lot more in the past few weeks. We keep her in the best health we can. We had her teeth floated a few months ago & the dentist removed the remnants of a MASSIVE broken wolf tooth that was ulcerating her mouth, we'd noticed it soon after she came to us.

She seems to be moving around like a geriatric. No pain according to our vet and brilliant equine osteopath who checked her out only a couple of weeks ago. She is way more UNenthusiastic than usual yet still as gentle as a lamb around anyone or any thing.
She came to us as suspected pregnant but the tests we had done said she wasn't Well she was & 2 months later she dropped a big surprise: a stunning colt that died within minutes of birth. Our vet said "he looks like a full term foal. We all suspected he was well overcooked, having had no inkling of a due date. We said we'd not put her in foal again coz she'd birthed a few healthy foals in the past.
I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.
~ Lindy

 

[Capriole]

I'm so sorry for the loss of your foal.

15-30 is a huge age range...and 15 isn't exactly "old" for a mini which usually have a longer life span than full size horses. Haven't any of the vets given an opinion on her age? They should be able to tell if she's around 15....or even if she's over 20.
(I think I can see the Galvayne's Groove on Kazoo's tooth in the pictures above, but the pictures aren't that clear so I wanted to get other's opinions). That's weird that she would be moving like a geriatric, but not be in pain....I would think if she was over 30 she would have some arthritis....
I would probably get the opinion of a vet I trusted...sounds like there is definitely something going on with her.
A vet would be able to give you a better idea of her age and if her symptoms are age related...they can also give you a "checklist" of what to look for to assess her quality of life.