Meddleton Equine Hospital

Horses are routinely living into their 30s and many are being ridden for most of those years. The major factors that have contributed to this increase in life expectancy are increasing owner awareness of the needs of geriatric horses and improved geriatric Veterinary care. The following are areas of geriatric medicine and management that are of importance:

Dentistry

Horses need yearly dental examinations throughout their lives, but this becomes especially important as the horse ages. Malocclusions (teeth that do not meet correctly) are common in older horses and can lead to an inability to chew if not promptly corrected.

Yearly examinations with floats and occulsal realignment (fixing abnormal bites) can keep horses eating hay until they start to loose their teeth as a normal process of aging. Performing minor dental work on a yearly basis will decrease the likelihood that an elderly horse will require extensive interventions. Extensive interventions are harder for older horses to tolerate and are expensive.

Once horses start to loose teeth, they need to have yearly examinations performed to prevent the severe complications that can occur once the remaining teeth start growing unopposed. Dropping food, quidding, bed breath, weight loss, and decreased appetite in the geriatric horse are indications that a horse needs to have its teeth evaluated.

Diet

As horses enter the geriatric phase, their diet often has to change. The first change is an increase in protein requirement. This is a function of decreased protein absorption through and aging small intestine. Elderly horse will often require a much higher protein content (16%) to maintain muscle mass than they did in adulthood.

The loss of teeth also ushers in the inability to effectively derive adequate calories form hay. Once horses start to loose teeth, they need to be fed a gruel that does not require chewing. Combinations of beet pulp, hay pellets, oil, and pelleted extruded feeds can be used to meet a horse’s nutritional requirements in the form of a mash. A horse that has lost its ability to chew hay due to dental problems will succumb to malnutrition even if fed free choice hay. Any horse unexpectedly loosing weight should be evaluated.

Joints

A painful and inevitable part of old age is degenerative joint disease. Arthritic joints that cause chronic pain can negatively affect a horse’s quality of life. Luckily, there are many available treatments to keep arthritic horses more comfortable. Intra-articular joints treatments (joint injections), non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, oral joint supplements, injectable joint supplements, and exercise restriction/modification are some of the tools available.

Horses that are visibly slowing down, have lameness, have trouble getting up and down, stumble/trip, no longer seem to enjoy rides, or have had a recent change in attitude should be evaluated to determine if arthritis is to blame.

It is often possible to keep horses with early arthritis happily in work. Horses with advance arthritis can usually be treated so that they are comfortable enough to enjoy turnout. Severe, unmanageable chronic pain is an indication for humane euthanasia.

Systemic illness

Many systemic diseases develop at a higher rate in older horses. Cushings disease (PPID), cancer, and organ failure are much more common in geriatric horses. Changes in a horse’s haircoat, weight, muscle mass, attitude, or appetite should immediately prompt you to have a horse examined.

Owners of elderly horses should be vigilant and bring any non-healing wounds or masses to the attention of their Veterinarian. With most treatable diseases, early intervention is key.

Please remember that your Veterinarian is one of your primary resources to discuss end of life issues concerning your horse. Many of the problems that geriatric horses face can be avoided through routine care and dentistry throughout the horse’s life. However, once the horse is elderly and facing geriatric issues, your Veterinarian is best able to intervene and address problems.