The Older Horse-Human Relationship Study

You are probably reading this article because you have an older horse. Or, you are anticipating how you might care for your animal as it grows older. Like you, many people are continuing to keep horses into older age.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool in the UK wanted to understand more about this experience from the perspective of owners and veterinarians. They wanted to establish how decisions regarding older equine management and health care provision were made.

Research Study

The qualitative research study was undertaken in Great Britain and involved the collection and analysis of a range of data. This included online discussion forum threads produced by owners of older animals. There were also in-depth interviews with horse owners.

Researchers also wanted to understand the experiences and approaches of veterinarians. The respective veterinarians of participating owners were recruited to take part in interviews. Veterinary clinical records were also analysed.

(Author’s Note: You can read more by following the links to open access papers at the end of the article.)

Nurturing the Older Equine

Owners’ relationships with their older horses were underpinned by a sense of commitment that had been built through shared experiences over time. This created a sense of responsibility to continue to provide care for the animals into older age.

Owners undertook an ongoing process of recognising and responding to change on a daily basis. This took place in a dynamically changing context. An example would be as weather or environmental changes occurred.

Adjustments to a horse’s management or health care provision depended upon the owner’s knowledge of the animal and the horse’s individual needs and lifestyle.

Therefore, the type of adjustments made as a horse aged—for example to the animal’s exercise regime, feed, or veterinary care—were individualised. Owners’ views about what was best for their animals’ physical and emotional wellbeing informed management decisions. Other factors considered included things such as access to suitable facilities.

Stages of Daily Decision Making

Navigating change in the older equines was a key feature of care. Owners assessed their horses and the animals’ behaviour as they interacted with them in the particular context in which the animals lived.

The diagram below represents key stages of decision making experienced by owners. These stages overlapped and were a continuing cycle over time.

This process took place in the context of owners’ perceptions of ‘normal’ age-related change. Changes considered part of normal ageing by owners in the study included gray hairs, muscle wastage, weight loss, dental issues, arthritis, joint swelling, PPID, and lumps (especially in gray horses).

These understandings of the ageing process influenced whether or not changes in the older horse’s condition were considered to be a health or welfare problem. This then impacted approaches to management, including any involvement of a veterinarian.

Veterinarian-Owner Relationships

Owners knew in what instances they would go to a veterinarian. However, this had individual meaning. Decisions could change over time based upon the owner’s experience, beliefs about veterinary expertise, and the horse’s lifestyle.

An owner’s perceptions of whether a problem in the horse required veterinary attention was dependent upon several things. These included past experiences with older equids, independent research, and the veterinarian-owner relationship.

Where veterinarians were consulted, factors such as a veterinarian’s communication style and the nature of the veterinarian’s interaction with the horse influenced the success of veterinarian-owner interactions from the owner’s perspective.

Although there was a common desire to act in the animal’s best interest, veterinarians and owners did not necessarily share the same ideas about how to achieve this. Perceptions of ‘appropriate’ care for the older horse could differ.

Any veterinary advice received was negotiated by owners in the context of their own knowledge about—and life with—their horses.

Veterinarian Experiences

A veterinarian’s involvement in the care of an older horse was dependent upon the horse’s owner employing veterinary services. The way in which an owner presented the animal and issue of concern about the horse framed a consultation from the veterinary perspective.

There was an interplay between owner and veterinarian during the consultation. This affected the nature of what was discussed. For example, the questions an owner asked or issues he/she raised influenced the nature of problems identified and solutions to those problems.

A veterinarian’s perception of ‘appropriate’ care was influenced by her/his assessment of the horse and the relationship with the owner. Therefore, approaches to older horse care could vary.

At times, attempts to provide veterinary care could be emotionally challenging when faced with feelings of concern over a horse’s welfare. Veterinarians talked about trying to adapt to the needs of horse and owner in each consultation in order to ensure that their responsibilities to both were fulfilled.

Take-Away Messages

The relationship between owner and older horse is generated through the everyday care that is performed over time.
Commonly held expectation of aging and the ever-changing context in which horse-human relationships take place can make interpretation of the significance of a change in the horse challenging to decipher.
It may be useful for owners of older horses to be aware of clinical signs of disease as well as the subtleties associated with pain behaviours in horses. However, the way knowledge is applied in practice is likely to depend on the wider context in which horse and owner live. Therefore, alongside increased knowledge, it might be useful for owners to reflect on their decision-making within the context of how they live day to day with their horses. Owners also should consider how this context might be affecting interpretations of what the horse is experiencing.
Multiple forms of knowledge, for example about medical and emotional aspects of a horse’s life, are important when it comes to making management or health care decisions for horses as they age. Therefore, relationship building between owners and veterinarians is important in order to best support the horses under their care.

(Author’s note: Thanks to The Horse Trust for funding this older equid research.)