Horse Care For Beginners

What is considered to be old?

A typical happy 'older horse'.

Just as you mature, so does your horse. But don’t under-rate him.  He’s probably been a great companion for you, possibly for many years, and he deserves your continuing love and attention. I was asked the other day what I considered to be “old” for horse. My brief answer was “any horse of twenty years or more”. When you think about it, a horse of 20, in human terms, would make him around 60 year.

A horse’s ageing process will vary greatly. You must taking into consideration such factors on his breed, workload, conformation, medical condition and history, and the care he has received during his lifetime. Every horse is very much an individual and how they age will be totally different. I’ve met owners with horses approaching 30 years who, largely due to the care and attention given to them, are quietly ridden on a regular basis.

Caring for your older horse.

As you’ll be aware, horses are grazing animals so tooth care is a prominent factor.  Horses mouths are set up just right for their angled necks to hang down to graze, nip and shear grass off and grind and chew it. Over the years this constant grinding wears the tooth surfaces down, and they can even fall out.

This being the case it  makes eating difficult for your horse and also means that if he can’t eat properly, he will obviously start to lose condition which you can’t afford to let happen with an older horse.  The best thing you can do for your older horse is to have your veterinarian or horse tooth doctor check his teeth twice a year for any abnormal wear, waves, hooks, or sore gums. Dealing with these things quickly will keep your horse able to eat for a long longer.

Thinking ahead.

 In anticipation of eating difficulty it’s a good idea to start him on mashes slowly so if he gets to the point where he needs them on a regular basis, he is already used to them. Between your vets visits, check your horse’s mouth and watch for problems with eating, like quidding, head throwing, choking or difficulty drinking.

Also, older horses often have difficulty eating long fiber food. You can solve this problem by switching to shorter cropped hay and/or add high fiber cubes as mash or straight. If you keep on top of dental issues, you can save your horse a lot of grief, and you can save money and problems in the future.

Further thoughts!

• Should your horse not be in category of  “an older horse”, but younger and  the one and only horse on your property, here’s a thought for you.  Horses are herd animals so keeping one only, in isolation from other horses,  is not the ideal situation for your horse. So you may wish to offer a home and company for your horse to an older horse in need of a new home.
• If you are an older rider looking to acquire a horse, taking on an older horse may just be the right thing for you. But should you decide that this is a good way to gain ownership of a well trained and quiet horse, be very sure that you have the horse thoroughly checked over by a qualified veterinarian.

Related posts:

1. Is Exercise An Answer for Arthritis In The Older Horse?

Tags: easy horse care, Equestrian, old equine, old horse, older equine

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