At what age do you consider a horse a senior

[AngieA]

At what age do you consider a horse a senior, and what do you change or not change at that time. Food ... excercise...etc? Do you consider a horse senior by age only...or does attitude and condition play a roll?

I have a stallion that I retired from the show ring...driving and halter at age 7...I brought him back out in 07 in driving at age 15....I thought he needed to do something other than lay under the tree and eat hay that I served him.....he was quiet, lazy and pretty chubby......ok he was fat... OH!

With some conditioning......He did awesome .....he loves to drive, he always has..... he was happier then I have seen him in years...... he completed the year with many Grands and top 3 in Open Driving at R nationals, 30 and under and 7th. in womens open.......he looks better at 15 than he did as a youngster....is rowdy, his attitude is great....and is in perfect weight and muscled.

He is retired again.....is he a senior horse?

 

[MiLo Minis]

At the age of eighteen it is impossible to guess the age of a horse by the condition and number of his teeth and he is called a senior. But it certainly has more to do with condition and attitude when it comes to feeding a "senior". If his teeth are in good shape and he is in good physical condition you don't necessarily need to go to a senior feed - wait until his condition demands it. I wouldn't retire him until he can no longer do the work either

At 15 and good condition he is in his prime!

 

[mondak]

My gelding is coming thirty and still on Equine Adult. We had a mare last year take a girl to the USDF testing at third level and she was 32. If a horse stays working it is amazing how long they can keep going. I say keep him working and don't switch foods until he needs it.

Courtney

 

[targetsmom]

Just like with people, "senior" is more a state of mind I think! I switched my riding horses onto Nutrena Senior feed at the age of 15. This was on the advice of my vet after the horse had a second colic surgery and was given a pretty poor prognosis since he was left with only half his small intestines. One big advantage of the senior feeds are their digestibility - the same thing that makes Platform Miniature feed so good for minis. So now my "senior" horse is 21 and still going strong - and competing - and we have minis as young as 2 on the feed also. The feed reps I have talked to, from both Nutrena AND Platform, agree that this senior feed is very good for minis. It is a complete feed, but I do feed hay and beet pulp and supplement with added vitamins.

 

[Joanne]

We feed Nutrena Senior to all the minis here, young and old. It is an excellent additive. We still feed hay.

As long as minis are well cared for they can stay young a long time. Exercise and not being overweight count a lot. Proper hoof trims, wormings, and teeth care all play a part.

Like humans, if they are happy they will be living longer!

 

[Marty]

Angie, I don't go by age at all. I go by their "signs" and take their cue from them.

I have no doubt right now that I could take Sonny (who is in his middle 20's) out and whip him back into shape and shove him in a pleasure class. He might not win a first, but he'd place and he'd love doing it.

On the other hand, I've had one horse that began to get terribly arthritic by 14 and started going down hill on me fast and by the time we hauled to the show, she was worn out just from the trip. I thought that was unusually young to do that, but it taught me that they all age differently, just as us humans do. I've also had them up into their 20's and 30's and were still going strong and loved their jobs and wanted to be used to the fullest; of course gently.

Some people feel that older horses need that exercise and conditioning to stay fit. That may be so with some, but also many do not. So I don't put an age limit per say on any of them. I have to take them as individuals and not lump them into one certain age bracket. People also seem to just look at the aching legs joints and don't bother to look at other things such as their breathing and oxygen level and push these older ones way too much. Again, they are all different. Some do better being used, others need to just be left alone to have a life of Reilly.

I wouldn't change any of their programs such as feeding or schedules or exercise until they showed me a need for it. If it aint' broke, I don't fix it. However, I do like to see older horses put on meds for arthritis. Arthritis is tricky; they don't always swell up or limp. A horse may show no signs of it outwardly until they totally break down. For instance, my mother had really bad arthritis since she was around 45 but no one could tell from just looking at her how she was suffering in pain inside. So back to horses, as a precaution, I do like to see older horses on things for arthritis whether they are displaying symptoms or not just to take extra care.

 

[AngieA]

Thanks everyone for your input....Sure Man is far from being an old horse...he is one of those who seems to need a job to be perfectly happy....he reminds me of me .....either working or sleeping...lol

He will stay home this year...he is pretty small and has spent 4 years being shown in open driving...he is still happy and sound...so I will let him sleep under his tree....tell the other boys HE IS THE MAN...and dream about the girl horses....he does have a couple fans that he gets to visit and does have foals coming again this year...I guess the question comes from people asking me if he was to old to go back in the ring...etc....