To start 2025, we look back at senior horse tips from 2024 content. In this episode of the My Senior Horse Podcast, we pick highlights on the management and care of senior horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules.

Horse Hearing

Hearing is an important part of the equid’s protective mechanism as a prey animal. The horse’s ears can each rotate about 180 degrees. With both ears working together, the horse can capture sounds in almost any direction—practically a full 360 degrees—without moving its head.1

Research showed that horses hear from 55-35,000 Hertz, compared to humans who hear at 20-20,000 Hertz.2

Keeping that in mind, did you know that clippers produce sounds in three different ultrasonic levels. That might help us understand why so many horses don’t like the sound of clippers!

Senior Horses and Parasites

You know that many senior horses acquire some endocrine or metabolic diseases as they age. But, did you know that those metabolic issues have been shown in research to interfere to some degree with the immune response to internal parasites?3

A leading parasitologist—Dr. Martin Nielsen, said, “We also see a tendency to have higher egg counts [in senior horses. “Parasite egg counts in those horses doesn’t mean that they necessarily have more parasites. Those parasites are just able to crank out more eggs.” 3

PPID In Senior Horses

What are the first things you should do when your horse is diagnosed with PPID (pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction, also known as Cushing’s disease)? Dr. Patricia Harris helps us with this difficult issue with these tips:4

Consider the animal as an individual. Harris said that as many owners know, “animals with PPID are not automatically old, retired, lean horses or ponies with dental issues. They can be middle-aged or in active work, and many might be obese. So, when working with your veterinarian or nutritionist, it is important that any feeding and management plan considers your individual animal and its current clinical signs and circumstances. You also must consider your facilities and resources.”

Monitor and adapt your program. PPID animals can have complex needs, and initial recommendations might need to be adapted according to the individual’s response to the plan, noted Harris. “All being well, as hopefully your horse or pony retains a good quality of life, it will get continue to get older. That means the animal’s needs and requirements will change with time; therefore, the program will also need to develop. Therefore, it is essential that a monitoring plan—with agreed review points—is established that can be adhered to whenever possible.”

Ensure you have clarity on nutrition and management for your animal. Harris said, “Ideally make sure that you have asked all of your questions before your veterinarian and/or nutritionist leaves. It is important that you are clear about all the recommendations and are able to follow them. Ideally, your veterinarian and/or nutritionist will have put in place a way for you to get ongoing advice and support.”

Winter and Weight

Blanketing can be beneficial for senior horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules, especially those with difficulty maintaining weight.5 Keep in mind that donkeys generally don’t have a hair coat that thickens like a horse’s does in winter. Therefore, donkeys might need additional blanketing in winter when horses are doing well with their winter coats.5

There’s a myth that old horses lose weight and get skinny, and that’s just the way it is. Nothing could be further from the truth! Whether an equid losing weight is sudden or happens over a period of time, it is very important to figure out the cause of weight loss.6

There are several methods to determine how much your horse weighs. These include scales as the best method, weight calculations as the second-best method, and weight tapes as a way to estimate weight and follow whether a horse is gaining or losing weight (not as an exact weight measurement, but close enough to estimate dewormer or medication determinations).7

Weight calculation can be done by using this formula:

Take a tape measure and get the inches around the heart girth. Then, measure your horse from the point of its shoulder to the point of the buttocks. Use this calculation: Heart Girth x Heart Girth x Length. Then divide by 330.

For a horse that has a heart girth of 76″ and a length of 70″, the calculation would be:

76 x 76 x 70 (then divide by 330) = 1,225 pounds estimated weight.

Dental Issues in Older Equids

A change in appetite or the way your horse approaches and chews its feed might be the first indication of a developing problem.8

Some of the most common clinical causes of loss of appetite in senior horses are dental problems, conditions that cause fever, and chronic pain (such as arthritis). However, there are many other diseases and conditions that can be associated with a loss of appetite.8

Functional, pain-free teeth are vital to a horse’s health and well-being, especially the older horse.9

The dentition of the horse is referred to as ‘hypsodont.’ Horse teeth are perfectly suited to grazing tough, fibrous, and often gritty grasses and hay. In the younger adult horse, each cheek tooth has a long reserve crown that extends deep into the bones of the skull and lower jaw. It far exceeds the exposed crown visible within the mouth. As opposing teeth grind together to chew forage, the surface of each tooth is steadily worn away. It is replaced as the reserve crown continues to erupt. Between 20 and 30 years of age, the reserve crown finally runs out. Then the teeth begin to loosen or are shed.

Fly Control

There are a variety of ingredients and methods of application for insect repellents.10

Many fly products contain some form of pyrethrins, which is the natural extract of Chrysanthemum flowers. Repellents also could contain pyrethroids. These are synthetic compounds that are designed to work like the natural pyrethrins. These chemicals—both the natural and synthetic—are useful for their insecticidal capabilities as well as being safe for use on most animals.

Other popular insect repellents or home-made recipes for use on horses might include ingredients such as citronella oils, lemongrass, eucalyptus oils, or Skin-So-Soft. These aren’t as effective as the aforementioned insecticides, nor do they act as long in duration as pyrethrin-based products.

Be conscious of the proximity of other domestic animals when using these products. For example, permethrin is extremely toxic to cats.

Senior Equid Videos

We have an ever-expanding group of videos available that cover basic information like taking a horse’s pulse and respiratory rate, or how to safely hold a horse for your veterinarian or farrier. Here are some other videos that you will find useful.

  • How to Restrain a Horse with Dr. Luke Bass, Colorado State University.11
    • Dr. Bass walks us through the basics of tapping on the frontal sinus area of the horse’s head to rubbing the gums to various twitch administrations.
  • Checking Equine Feces for Sand with Dr. Christine Johnson.12
    • Dr. Johnson shows us a simple method to check a horse’s feces forsand that could cause colic.
  • How to Perform Neurological Tests on Your Horse with Dr. Yvette Nout-Lomas of Colorado State University13
    • She said “It is important for owners to know how to do simple neurological tests. Neurologic disease can be severe. It can be dangerous. Some neurologic diseases can affect other horses or people. And, horses can become unsafe when they are neurologically impaired.”

Senior Equid Research Developments

Older horses appear to be at heightened risk of developing muscle atrophy (loss of muscle mass). Part of this is due to the aging process in all mammals. However, senior horses (15 years or older) are often also affected by medical conditions that might lead to more severe or rapidly developing muscle atrophy. Conditions that might lead to this include PPID (also known as Cushing’s disease) or osteoarthritis.14

In a podcast, Dr. Patricia Harris talked about the top senior horse research and what it means to owners.15

Her top senior horse research was nutrition, including the use of highly digestible fibers and vegetable oils in horse feeding.

Second was the better understanding, detection, and management of metabolic diseases.

Third was the all-around improvement in veterinary diagnostics, diagnoses, and treatments for older horses.

If you have any comments or suggestions about senior horses, ponies, donkeys, or mules that you would like to have discussed on this podcast or delved into for the content of MySeniorHorse.com, send an email to me at kbrown@equinenetwork.com.

References

  1. Horse Hearing, What You Should Know.
  2. Horses and The Science of Harmony. Dr. Sue Dyson. The full video can be found here.
  3. My Senior Horse Podcast: Equine Parasites. Dr. Martin Nielsen
  4. Developing a Feeding Plan for Your PPID Horse or Pony. Dr. Patricia Harris
  5. Caring for Senior Horses in Winter.
  6. Help! My Senior Horse is Losing Weight! Dr. Nettie Liburt
  7. How Much Does My Horse Weigh?
  8. Senior Horse Loss of Appetite. Dr. Nicolas C. Galinelli
  9. Dental Problems in the Older Horse. Dr. Nicola Jarvis
  10. Equine Insect Repellents for Horses. Dr. Nancy S. Loving
  11. How to Restrain a Horse Video. Dr. Luke Bass
  12. Checking Equine Feces for Sand Video. Dr. Christine Johnson
  13. How to Perform Neurological Tests on Your Horse Video. Dr. Yvette Nout-Lomas
  14. Equine Muscle Mass: Detecting and Monitoring Changes. Dr. Alisa Herbst
  15. My Senior Horse Podcast: Top Senior Horse Research. Dr. Patricia Harris
  • Kimberly S. Brown is an award-winning writer and publisher. She is the Editorial Director for My Senior Horse. Brown spent 10 years at Equine Network, parent company of My Senior Horse. Prior to that she worked for three years in equine nutrition after she retired from nearly 30 years working at The Blood-Horse. Brown spent the last 15 years of her time at that organization creating and developing The Horse and TheHorse.com.
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