Let's chat for awhile about older horses and the insanity that prevails amongst their owners; as well as sensible and realistic care for healthy senior horses.
I'd like to start by saying that many of the so-called "aged" horses I meet are actually in their prime, or late-prime, and are being rushed into old age by their owners (many of whom are also in late-prime, and apprehensive about aging)... coincidence?
These people seem to believe that they can stop (or reverse) the aging process by feeding their horse "senior feed" and joint supplements (along with everything else on the shelf).
There is no logical reason to feed a 12 year old horse senior feed unless he is toothless.
Senior feeds aren't *magic feeds*, and unless fed in the amounts listed on the bag, don't really have a nutrition edge over more traditional feeds (they usually run in the 14% protein and 6% fat range... the same as many other "traditional" feeds).
Senior feeds were developed to provide easily digested fiber to horses no longer able to masticate their food properly, and they're a very expensive way to buy roughage (usually they have a high percentage of Beet Pulp, ground hay, and assorted digestible grain hulls).
These feeds are boosted with the specific vitamins and minerals an older horse needs because his digestive system is no longer working at optimum... your younger horse (or your older horse with a healthy gastro intestinal tract) just pees out the excess, because he doesn't need elevated levels of the additional nutrients.
Also, if you don't feed senior rations according to the instructions on the bag (large amounts), you're actually shortchanging your horse on nutrition and calories.
In short, if your horse can chew hay, and doesn't have a problem maintaining his weight on a traditional ration, he doesn't need a senior feed, and it's probably NOT a benefit to either his health or your wallet.
Feeding senior feeds to young horses for weight gain is flushing money down the toilet. There are far better ways to boost weight in a youthful horse than a senior feed.
But I'm not here today to discuss being suckered into feeding a designer feed for no good reason... I'm here to discuss the basic insanity that surrounds older horses and their care.
Let's talk about exercise.
Just for the sake of argument, let's say you have a horse you believe to be in his teens.
He's healthy, sound, and in good weight... no issues.
You ride this horse several times weekly, usually just light trail riding, nothing really demanding, because you enjoy moseying along taking in the scenery... you and your horse both have fun.
BUT... when your Equine Dentist comes, he informs you that your horse is actually in his early 20's... about 5 years older than you previously thought.
Maybe he is, and maybe he isn't... there's a window during a horse's late teens and early twenties when it's very difficult to determine his correct age... even by an expert... your dentist could very well be in error... so your horse *could be* anywhere from 17 to 22 years old.
What do you do?
The SANE and LOGICAL answer of course, is to continue with your normal riding and care... your 20-something horse has been successfully passing himself off as a teenager, and is obviously healthy and happy... why change his routine?
If anything, the exercise is keeping his muscles toned and helping him retain his youthfulness.
Yet people tend to overreact to the news from the dentist (which *could* even be incorrect), and immediately scale-back their riding activities, switch the horse to senior feed, start cramming unneeded joint supplements down his throat, and basically shove him into retirement when he has many good years of riding left to enjoy.
It's nothing short of sheer insanity.
Yes, you love your unicorn, and want all the best for him, but you aren't doing him any favors (regardless of his age) by overprotecting him and treating him as a fragile retiree, when just yesterday, he was out there performing his job with no problems.
I'm just sayin'... use your HEAD... if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
That said, as usual, I have a specific horse in mind as I write this.
His quality of life is very good, he's sound, and he's the well mannered, seasoned, totally 100% SAFE trail horse that every little old lady dreams of as her personal unicorn.
IF he's in his twenties, he doesn't know it... why rush him into retirement?
If you know me personally (not just over the internet), and would like a well-kept, completely safe and dependable easy-to-ride trail horse (with plenty of rides left in him regardless of what age he is), let me know, OK?
Horses like this can be very expensive... their safety is priceless.
IMO... putting this horse on forced retirement is nothing short of insane.
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