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Veterinary

Management of the older horse

02 November 2023
Clinical
12 mins read
02 November 2023
Volume 7 · Issue 6
Figure 1. A horse with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction showing characteristic hypertrichosis, loss of muscling along the topline and pendulous abdomen.
Figure 1. A horse with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction showing characteristic hypertrichosis, loss of muscling along the topline and pendulous abdomen.

Abstract

The increasing age of horses presented for veterinary care has been recognised over several decades. The increase in the percentage of horses older than 20 years of age has been attributed to improved nutrition, early recognition and management of conditions seen more frequently in the geriatric horse, and the increased willingness of owners to pursue veterinary care to maintain the comfort of their senior horses. Geriatric medicine is devoted to the management of conditions that have increasing age as a risk factor for their development. Conditions that are seen more frequently in older horses include pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, chronic weight loss, obesity, osteoarthritis, laminitis, neoplasia and cardiovascular dysfunction. In addition, routine wellness care is essential for early recognition of age-related changes and prompt institution of appropriate care to maintain the comfort of the horse.

Care of the older horse is increasingly a major focus of equine practitioners, as a result of an increasing percentage of horses working and competing into their 20s (McKeever, 2002). Horses may be considered to become geriatric somewhere between 15 and 20 years of age (McGowan, 2011), although there is no universal definition because of the differences in the apparent rate of aging changes. These occur between various breeds of horses, with pony breeds commonly achieving greater than 30 years of age (van der Kolk et al, 1995), and among individual horses within a breed. Improvements in nutrition, improved health care and increased recognition by owners that geriatric horses can continue to be useful during their older years have all contributed to an increasing geriatric horse population (McKeever, 2002; Brosnahan and Paradis, 2003). With increasing age, there is an increasing risk of certain diseases. Early recognition of these diseases and proper management is important for maintaining the older horse's welfare and subsequent quality of life.

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equine
management
geriatric
nutrition
pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction
welfare