The University of Kentucky’s Aged Horse Research Program was established by Amanda Adams, PhD, associate professor in the Gluck Equine Research Center, to drive research and education focused on the unique needs of senior horses. The number of senior horses (15 years or older) is growing, comprising about one-third of the global horse population.

“The more we learn about nutrition and management for these horses, the longer we are going to expect them to live, which is an amazing thing,” says Maggie McClendon, MS, Scientist III and Instructor at the Gluck Center. “But with aging there are some clinical issues that come with that (including pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction [PPID] and insulin dysregulation), so this program’s aim is to help expand the knowledge on how to better manage these animals.”

The program’s herd includes 64 senior horses, some of which have naturally occurring PPID, obesity, and/or insulin dysregulation and some that are metabolically normal.

“The overall importance (of the program) is to establish research-based management skills that are practical for everyday owners to implement to help increase quality of life for our aging and senior horses,” says McClendon. “We look into different diagnostic testing and improving the current testing methods on how we identify insulin dysregulation and PPID within horses.”

The team has also worked on developing nonstructural carbohydrate thresholds for insulin-dysregulated horses, the effects of chronic systemic inflammation on aging horses’ immune function, and much more.

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  • Alexandra Beckstett is a lifelong horse owner and an award-winning writer and editor. She is the editorial director of EquiManagement and MyNewHorse.com, prior to which she spent 13 years with The Horse/TheHorse.com.

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