Still, his show ring career wasn’t over. From there, we transitioned to a successful second career in dressage. After several good years, it was time to let this career go, too. By then in his early 30s but still not content to be fully retired, his final job was as a leadline mount for my then-young daughter. His full retirement, when it finally came a few years later, was something I felt we were both happy and comfortable with.

On the other hand, my half-Arabian mare, Sally, was an example of a difficult early retirement. A highly versatile horse, just one of her many talents was her performance in the hunter ring.

However, despite my best efforts, she has never truly been a healthy horse. Some of her health conditions we have been able to name and treat. Though these issues may have limited her, they never took her completely out of the game.

Other conditions have been mysterious and less well-managed due to their undefined nature; her treatments have been a roller coaster of successes and failures. Numerous tests have led to dead ends leading to more significant restrictions.

Though still in her early 20s, her most recent job change has been from a semi-retired trail horse to pasture-sound companion horse. By outward appearances, she looks amazing, but she is unable to tolerate a rider.

Soundness and Injuries

With so many possible retirement scenarios, what is considered an average age for retirement? What is considered an early retirement?

The decision to retire a horse is based on several different factors, according to Jud Easterwood, DVM, of Easterwood Equine Hospital in Calera, Ala.

“Most of these factors are health or soundness related,” he says. “I don’t think there is an average age. We have some horses that are able to perform well into their 20s. Other horses have had significant injuries that lead to chronic lameness or issues with pain. These horses have to retire much earlier.”

Easterwood says that he considers “early” retirement one that occurs before the age of 20. In his experience, these unfortunate early retirement scenarios are usually centered around tendon or suspensory ligament injuries. He says they can also be brought on by conditions such as arthritis or ringbone.

“Any serious injury could result in these conditions that a horse can’t overcome to get back into high-level performance work,” he says.

Metabolic & Back Problems

Sometimes, conditions such as PPID and the insulin resistance that sometimes accompanies it can necessitate early retirement, especially when it leads to other conditions, such as chronic laminitis and potentially founder. Easterwood says that while these issues are typically seen in horses over the age of 20, they do occasionally occur in younger horses, too.

Over the years, because imaging has improved, he notes that horses being diagnosed with back problems have also become much more common. Rather than undiagnosed pain, he says we are now able to pinpoint kissing spines and neck arthritis.

“These may not stand out to you like leg lameness, but they create an overall sour behavior or back soreness,” says Easterwood. Depending on their severity, these may also require retirement.

Signs That It’s Time to Retire

What are the signs that your horse may be ready to retire?

“Any sort of chronic lameness or pain issues would be the No. 1 condition that leads to retirement,” says Easterwood. “No. 2 is when the horse doesn’t enjoy his job anymore and has become sour.”

He also lists conditions such as liver disease; inflammatory bowel disease that leads to chronic diarrhea and weight loss; neurological diseases that cause ataxia, such as EPM or (less commonly) West Nile virus; or any condition that is difficult to treat and that leads to performance problems.

Semi or Full Retirement?

Regardless of age, when you decide to retire your horse, you’ll need to consider partial or full retirement. Easterwood says that he likes to use the words “serviceably sound” with owners considering partial retirement for their horses.

“You may have a horse that is not 100 percent sound and is no longer suitable for show jumping, barrel racing, or other types of intense performance sports,” he says. “But [semi-retirement is an option] if the horse is still able to get around fine and enjoy doing activities such as trail riding, flat work, ground work, or being ridden in lessons.”

He says some horses can do these things well and maintain a good exercise regimen, even though they are stepping back from their previous high-intensity careers.

However, there is one important caveat that Easterwood advises for owners considering semi-retirement. If you’re considering having a child take over the ride on your horse, he advises having the horse evaluated by a veterinarian to determine whether there are any issues the horse may have with tripping and falling in order to prevent potentially devastating accidents.

Whether or not semi or full retirement is a happy occasion for your horse depends on several factors.

Easterwood’s first recommendation for keeping retirees engaged is to exercise as tolerated. Keeping horses stabled or pastured near high-activity areas can also help keep retirees engaged, while stall or pasture toys can provide further enrichment.

Prolonging Soundness

While retirement may be inevitable for most horses, there are some steps you can take to extend your horse’s working career. Easterwood says that good veterinary care is a staple to keeping horses sound and happy in their job.

“It doesn’t have to be frequent,” he says. “I recommend annual to biannual X-rays and lameness evaluations to make sure you are keeping up with any changes to previous injuries and to make sure that nothing new has developed.”

If conditions such as arthritis, degenerative joint disease, or joint injuries exist, he recommends the use of prescription intramuscular injections for their treatment. He says that veterinarians also sometimes use intra-articular injections to relieve pain and keep horses comfortable.

Even if your horse is free of any condition requiring injections, Easterwood says that oral supplements can work to reduce wear and tear. He also says that therapies such as chiropractic adjustments, massage, acupuncture, and PEMF treatments can augment traditional veterinary care to the benefit of your horse.

Easterwood also advises screening for metabolic diseases as the horse ages, but also if your horse exhibits any signs any signs that warrant it.

Though no guarantee, the above steps, along with maintaining a good diet and exercise plan—as well as updated vaccinations, deworming, and dental care—can go a long way toward ensuring that your horse enjoys a long career.

By and large, the decision to retire your horse can be one of the more difficult decisions that horse owners face. By watching for indications and taking the appropriate steps, you can rest assured that you are making the best decisions for your horse’s future.

This article about when to retire your horse appeared in the October 2024 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post When Is It Time to Retire Your Horse? appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

This is particularly important should you bring your horse home for retirement, versus keeping him at a boarding stable. We’ve gathered advice from a veterinarian and an equine retirement facility manager for tips to help you keep your elderly equine healthy, happy and comfortable in his twilight years.

What is Considered a “Senior Horse”?

In general, the bigger your horse, the sooner he’ll reach senior status, according to Julie Wilson, DVM, of Turner Wilson Equine Consulting in Minnesota and past president of the Equitarian Initiative, which provides philanthropic veterinary care for the working horses of the developing world. A horse can live to be in their 30s, but they’re considered senior at around age 20.

“Ponies don’t seem to become senior until they’re in their early 20s,” says Wilson. “Whereas some of the bigger horses I think are in that senior category as they get into their late teens.”

A horse’s riding career can also determine how quickly they age. A horse who had a strenuous job with many hours of riding can show musculoskeletal signs of age sooner than a horse ridden more moderately.

Deanna Chamberlin co-founded Shadowcreek Equine Retirement Ranch in Sanger, Texas, in 2011 along with her husband. The 73-acre facility only takes horses over age 20, providing end-of-life care for around 11 horses that are no longer being ridden.

“When a horse has reached 25 or 26, you’re not really trying to get them to perform at what they’ve enjoyed doing in their life—you’re starting to move into the mindset of just allowing them to be what they are, and making sure they’re comfortable,” says Chamberlin. “You’re medicating them for conditions that need intervention for stability or comfort, but you’re no longer trying to build them up.”

Age-Related Concerns

Much like humans as we age, horses experience a gradual deterioration of their bodily systems, according to Wilson.

The main issues that contribute to the eventual end-of-life decisions are related to your horse’s musculoskeletal system. Arthritis is often the sign that appears soonest.

“Arthritis, in particular, can reach the point where it’s hard to manage to make the horse comfortable,” says Wilson. “Joint injections or phenylbutazone [bute] get to where they aren’t worthwhile anymore.” Although other medications and supplements are available, this is the time when many horse owners may want to begin considering end-of-life decisions.

Endocrine issues, such as Cushing’s disease and equine metabolic syndrome, can necessitate retirement from riding or even euthanasia if you’re no longer able to effectively manage the symptoms.

Your horse’s immune system can become less capable, especially if your horse also has a disease like Cushing’s, says Wilson. This can lead to your horse contracting infectious diseases and viruses more easily, such as strangles, herpes or encephalitis—even if he’s vaccinated.

Dental issues can contribute to less efficient consumption of nutrients, injuries, and other problems. Luckily, good dental care and an appropriate senior diet can reduce these complications. Your senior horse may also pass more whole grains into his manure, so switching to a senior feed can help him maintain his weight by providing more readily available nutrients.

Digestive issues like fecal water syndrome can dehydrate your senior horse and cause other problems, according to Wilson.

“Sometimes these senior horses start to have a lot of water passed along with their manure, which may or may not start to soften, and it makes a mess of their hindquarters because it drips down the back of their legs,” she says. “This creates a management issue trying to keep them clean.”

Colic is a concern in older horses, especially when it’s a result of fatty tumors, such as lipomas.

“If an old horse presents with colic, fatty tumors would be higher on the list of causes than if they were younger,” says Wilson.

A loss of muscle tone and body structure also occurs. This can mean changes in the way your saddle fits, and Chamberlin says this change in appearance can be disconcerting to owners.

“Part of the natural decline in a body is that it tends to not be as muscular, showing more ribs,” she says. “You’re not going to see the same body structure as you would on a 10-year-old. You want to make sure your horse has everything but let him evolve as his body needs to.”

Care and Management of the Senior Horse

A senior horse needs conscientious care to enjoy his best retirement years, according to Wilson. Here are some ways to best care for your elderly partner.

Routine Medical Care for the Senior Horse

Don’t simply turn your horse out to pasture and forget about him, she says.

“Yearly exams are still really important, and you need to have an increased awareness that these issues are likely to crop up,” says Wilson. “[Senior horses] still need to be vaccinated and dewormed.”

Consider your horse’s lifestyle. Will he be around horses going to shows, or ever-rotating boarded horses? That may mean he needs to receive the full slate of recommended vaccines. But if he’s in a pasture where he doesn’t contact horses who travel, he may not.

“We may want to review [a senior horse’s] vaccination schedule and drop some of the ones for diseases he’s unlikely to get exposed to,” she says.

Deworming is still very important, even if your horse lives a relatively isolated lifestyle, according to Wilson.

“Particularly as their immune systems wane, deworming still needs to happen,” she says. “The usual advice of monitoring fecal egg counts and pasture management for parasites are all important.”

Your horse’s teeth need to be checked at least annually, and sometimes twice a year, says Wilson.

“They will begin to lose teeth and have uneven wear,” she says. “One of the more common issues in this age group is equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis [EOTRH], a disease that primarily affects the incisors, and some pretty drastic care may be needed.”

Check Saddle Fit

If your horse is still being ridden, you need to pay careful attention to the way the saddle fits.

“Some [senior horses] will get swaybacked, and then they really need some attention to saddle fit,” Wilson says.

Pay Attention to Herd Dynamics

When a horse is elderly, you don’t want him to have to fight for hierarchy in the herd out in the pasture, according to Chamberlin.

“You don’t want him to be with 10- and 12-year-old horses that are trying to prove themselves or move the herd around,” she says. “You want him to be with other horses similar in age, who fit well together temperament-wise.”

Adjust Your Senior Horse’s Diet

When your horse stops working due to retirement, you’ll want to adjust his diet, since his caloric needs will go down.

“That may mean dialing back on the amount of grain or concentrate he’s getting,” says Wilson. “Most of the time, he’ll still need that hay or grazing to maintain his body weight.”

If you do reduce or eliminate concentrate, consider adding a ration balancer to make sure your equine senior is getting enough protein, vitamins and minerals. Wilson says not making these adjustments can contribute to the horse becoming overweight and possible metabolic syndrome.

However, keeping weight on an older horse is often the bigger challenge. You don’t automatically need to switch to a senior diet, but it can be helpful in some situations.

“Watch [your senior’s] weight carefully, and depending on how well he’s eating, you can decide if you need to add an equine senior concentrate and still want to feed hay,” Julie says. “If he’s really not handling hay well anymore due to dental problems or bad absorption in the gut, you might consider putting him completely on senior feed [one containing fiber and meant to be fed as a complete diet] or a forage that is easier to eat, such as soaked hay cubes.”

Watch for Health Concerns

If your horse starts showing signs of Cushing’s disease, such as late shedding and a shaggy hair coat, of course you’ll have your vet test for the disease. But Wilson says that your horse’s veterinarian may recommend testing senior horses more routinely to get a jump on it.

“It is manageable with treatment,” she says.

You’ll also want to visually check your horse’s body regularly for issues such as melanomas and tumors, particularly on gray horses. Horses with white markings on their face and/or sheath may develop scabby areas that progress to squamous cell carcinoma, which warrants treatment as soon as possible.

Back to Nature

Your horse may enjoy going barefoot, although he should still get regular trims. Most will acclimate to being outdoors with appropriate shelter in all but the most extreme weather, according to Chamberlin. This allows for movement, which helps circulation, stiff joints and muscles.

“We want [our senior horses] to be out as much as possible—[preferably] 24/7, unless it’s really inclement weather,” Chamberlin says. “We bring in horses when there’s ice on the ground because we don’t want them slipping and falling. But for most of the year, they’re out a lot.”

Pasture shelters should be provided, and blanketing during turnout may be essential in northern states with freezing weather.

When the Time Comes

Ultimately, all horses will reach the end of their lives—often sooner than we’d like. Chamberlin recommends looking for a place to keep your horse where he won’t need to be moved much as he ages.

“By the time a horse is in his mid to late 20s, trailering around a lot and moving him can be a concern,” she says. “It’s hard on a horse. You need to find a place where you’ll be OK with him staying until the end.”

Before your horse’s final day is upon you, Wilson recommends planning with your vet ahead of time for euthanasia and/or disposal of your horse’s body. Laws in your area may prevent burial on your property, so you need to research what options are available.

Chamberlin says having a support person can help you figure out when you need to make the final decision about your horse’s care.

“You don’t ever want him to suffer, but you want him to live a life as full as possible,” she says. “For some people, that end is a little easier to see than others. I always encourage people to have another person that can look at your horse and say, ‘I think it may be time.’ Don’t be afraid of that, because modern veterinary care at the end of life really does provide a merciful way to say goodbye. It can be scary, but at the same time, it’s such a gift that we can make things comfortable for an animal so it’s not a traumatic end.”

Key Takeaway

After everything they’ve given us, older horses deserve some extra TLC in their golden days. While senior horses may require extra care and attention to detail, it is well worth watching them continue to thrive.

This article about senior horse care appeared in the October 2023 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Senior Horse Care 101 appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

“After age 15 is when we typically see senior dental changes; most senior horse dental problems we see in their 20s, but some are as early as age 15,” says Christine Staten, DVM, a large animal veterinarian and owner of Adobe Veterinary Center in Tucson, Ariz.

Dental conditions frequently found in senior horses include:

◆ Broken teeth
◆ Worn-down teeth
◆ Overgrown teeth
◆ Steps and waves
◆ Periodontal pockets
◆ Abscesses
◆ Infected spaces between teeth (“diastema”)
◆ Incisor disease (equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis, aka EOTRH)

Staten points out that studies show dental problems are more common in senior horses who didn’t have regular dental care when they were younger.

“Routine dental care can decrease or delay the onset of many of these malocclusions [misaligned teeth],” she notes. “Early dental care helps keep growth rate more consistent so the teeth can take that horse into his older years.”

Inconsistent Growth

Horses have hypsodont teeth, which grow and erupt throughout their lives. One reason for senior mouth troubles is the fact that tooth eruption is not consistent.

As the horse ages, tooth eruption can slow down or stop completely as a tooth grows and falls out. Because growth rate is specific to each individual tooth, the mouth can end up unbalanced as each tooth “does its own thing” independent of other teeth.

“Where you get problems is when one tooth may be slowing down, while the tooth next to it is still growing,” says Staten. “Abnormalities like steps and waves develop specifically because of the unpredictable eruption rates of each individual tooth. No horse is going to get into their 20s and have all their teeth growing at the same rate.”

The inconsistency in eruption rate can also cause small spaces between the teeth, known as diastemata. When food gets caught in these gaps, it can be uncomfortable for the horse, but may also lead to periodontal disease. If abscesses develop, infection can spread to the tooth root and even the sinuses.

Regular exams by a qualified provider will catch these and other senior mouth problems and allow them to be corrected. In some cases, extraction (tooth removal) is required.

Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resportion Hypercementosis (EOTRH)

Veterinarians are seeing more and more cases of equine odontoclastic tooth resorption and hypercementosis (EOTRH).

“This is very specific to senior horses,” says Staten. “It’s extremely frustrating because we don’t know what causes it or how to prevent it.”

She explains that, for unknown reasons, the tooth roots begin to get resorbed by the body, and the body reacts by building excess cementum on the roots of the tooth. As tooth roots become diseased, the front teeth become infected, unstable and very painful. Because the onset of EOTRH is gradual, most owners don’t notice until the horse is in obvious pain.

“The first signs are usually small red dots or ‘pimples’ on the gums above or below affected teeth,” Staten explains. “In later stages, gums start to recede on those incisors and because the roots are thickened, you can see bulging under the gums. It’s a slow process and we don’t know how invasive or painful it will get for a particular horse.”

Treatment of EOTRH requires extracting the affected teeth, which in some senior horses can include all 12 incisors and sometimes also the canine teeth. Radiographs are taken to determine which teeth need to be extracted.

After extraction of diseased teeth, the horse can immediately return to eating.

“Most horses weren’t using their front incisors anyway because it was so painful, so their transition to eating is instant,” notes Staten. “The day of surgery, the horse is eating better than the day before. It is a dramatic-appearing surgery, but the pain of keeping the diseased teeth in is much higher than the potential pain of the procedure.”

The “carrot test” is a simple way you can determine if your horse has painful incisors. If he can use those front teeth to bite and break a carrot, he’s likely not experiencing significant pain. But if he can’t, this is a sign those teeth are in some pain and require dental care and attention.

Nutrition’s Impact on Horse’s Dental Health

When the teeth can’t do their job—because they don’t meet properly, are worn down or perhaps even missing—nutrition is compromised, sometimes dramatically.

Feed must be chewed appropriately for the horse to absorb nutrients. In addition, horses have to go through the mechanics of chewing in order to produce saliva, which is crucial for proper digestion.

Over 23 years as a veterinarian, Staten has found that virtually all skinny horses have dental issues of some sort.

Remarkable Turnaround

Staten was called to a local rescue to determine whether euthanasia was needed for a 19-year-old horse who came in with a Henneke Body Condition Score (BCS) of 1 out of 9, with 9 being most obese.

“He was clearly starved,” Staten recalls. “When I first saw him, I didn’t think he could be saved, but then I looked in his mouth. A top molar had fallen out, and one of his bottom molars had grown into the space [left behind] and was embedded in the gum. He couldn’t even shut his mouth or chew normally because none of his top and bottom teeth touched.”

After Staten reduced the problematic bottom molar to normal size, the horse was able to eat and chew.

“Within four weeks, this horse was a BCS of 5,” says Staten. “He looked like a new horse.”

Staten has also had cases where owners assumed their horses needed to be retired, but their lack of performance was due to dental problems that could be corrected.

Importance of Dental Exams for Your Horse’s Care

The case of the rescue horse underscores the importance of the annual full oral exam. Problems such as this that are far back in the mouth can’t be caught without an oral exam done under sedation using a speculum to closely examine the entire mouth.

Older horses may require “floating” as often, or even more often, than younger horses. Because their teeth are growing differently, they can have sharper and larger points.

“Routine dental exams are going to catch problems when they’re small and they can be more easily corrected,” says Staten.

She recommends senior horses have a complete physical exam that includes an oral exam every six months. This can be scheduled at their wellness check-ups and vaccine appointments.

“At minimum, the senior horse needs a sedated oral exam every 12 months,” she notes. “Every single senior horse needs something corrected annually. We’re not talking about just ‘floating.’ That’s a very important part of it, but we’re looking for abnormalities and other disease processes in the mouth.”

In her practice, Staten has numerous owners who are still riding their horses into their late 20s and early 30s. But even fully retired horses need that annual dental exam.

Keeping up with your senior horse’s dental care can only enhance his golden years—and may even extend them.

Signs to Watch For

Not every horse with dental problems shows obvious signs, but many will show that something is amiss if you’re paying attention. Any of the following can indicate a problem in the mouth:

◆ Dropping feed (“quidding”)
◆ Salivating more than normal
◆ Bad odor from mouth or nostril
◆ Tilting or tossing the head
◆ Mouthing/chewing the bit more than usual
◆ Red spots on gum directly above or below teeth
◆ Failing the “carrot test”

This article about senior horse dental care appeared in the October 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Dental Care for the Senior Horse appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Keeping weight on a senior horse can be difficult any time of year, but with the challenges of cold weather right around the corner, dental issues requiring soaked feed can create twice the headache. However, with a little planning and these feeding and nutrition tips, your senior horse can sail through the winter months in good weight and glowing health.

Focus on Forage

Grass hay, cubes or pellets help maintain weight and keep your horse warm by raising his internal body temperature. This means he can use the calories to maintain (or add) weight, rather than burning calories to stay warm in cold weather.

Aim to feed at least 1.5 to 3 percent of your horse’s body weight per day in forage, or work with your veterinarian on the right amount for your senior horse.

Using a slow feeder or small-hole hay net will help prevent hay wastage as mud and snow pile up. These have the added benefit of mimicking grazing, which decreases stress and helps keep the horse’s digestive system working well.

Soaking Feed for Your Senior in the Winter

If your senior has lost teeth or has other dental issues that prevent him from eating hay (you’ll start to see wet wads of partially chewed hay near the feeder), feeding a soaked diet will provide the right nutrition and calories to keep weight on your senior through the winter. However, wet feed can freeze, making winter feeding doubly challenging. Here are a few tips.

One of the best hay replacements is unsweetened beet pulp. With a similar protein content to grass hay (8 to 12 percent), it also has a high level of digestible fiber. Many horses like it plain, or you can make it more palatable by adding hay pellets, cubes, or a quality senior feed, and soaking them along with the beet pulp.

Even if a horse can eat hay, supplementing with soaked beet pulp is a great way to increase calories and help maintain weight.

Beet pulp pellets need to be soaked for several hours before feeding, and a common ratio is using twice as much water as pellets. To keep the soaking pellets from freezing, it’s ideal to soak them in your house or other warm place. One easy way to do this is to have one bucket soaking overnight for the morning feeding, then let the evening feeding soak during the day.

An easier, quicker solution is to feed shredded beet pulp instead of pellets. Shreds need minimal soaking time, and less water depending on your horse’s preference. These are also big benefits if your horse is boarded.

NOTE: Straight beet pulp is high in calcium and low in phosphorus, so work with your veterinarian to balance the minerals. Adding a fat source, like stabilized flax meal, increases the calorie density of each meal.

Winter Feeders

Placing a feeder of soaked food on the ground will lead to freezing more quickly, so try to find a way to elevate the feeder off the ground. An easy solution is nesting a smaller feeder into a larger feeder, or building an insulated feed box that holds the bucket.

It’s also good to rotate feed buckets so frozen feed doesn’t accumulate in the feeder.

As with feeding extra hay in the winter, try to feed only the amount that your senior can eat in 30 minutes or so. Adding smaller, more frequent feedings during the day can help your senior get the calories he needs without the feed freezing before he can eat it all.

If your barn has electricity, you can try using a heated bucket for soaked feed. Like with a water heater, be sure the cord is horse-proof.

Helping your senior horse maintain a good weight during the winter can be challenging. The good news is that with some planning and simple horsekeeping and feeding tweaks, you can laugh at old man winter and your senior horse can welcome spring in good weight and maybe even a spring in his step

This article about feeding senior horses in the winter appeared in the October 2022 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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When she was a girl, Joni Miller would save her lunch money to afford to ride at a local barn. Back then, she had no idea that she would credit her current horse, a 20-year-old Appaloosa named Spud, with helping her live out her girlhood dream and with inspiring her to do more at an age when many women are doing less.

“I don’t ride as much anymore, but I’m active,” says Miller, who adopted the registered Appaloosa from the Maryland Equine Transition Service (METS), an organization that helps adopt out potentially at-risk horses, like seniors. “I’m out at the barn bathing, grooming. I’m problem solving every day. What would my retirement have been without him?”

A Natural Fit

Since 2010, surveys conducted by American Horse Publications (AHP) that were prepared by Jill Stowe, Ph.D., of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Kentucky, have revealed that women 45 to 65 years of age and older represent the fastest growing segment of those most likely to own horses.

Miller is squarely within that demographic, and according to gerontologist Nancy Schier Anzelmo, M.S., one reason why women like her are becoming horse owners is purely economic.

“Older women are retired and have more time and money to spend on keeping horses than they did when they were working and raising families,” says Anzelmo, who is the co-founder of The Connected Horse, a non-profit organization that sponsors therapeutic workshops that match horses to people coping with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.

Another reason has to do with a woman’s basic nature.

“Women have been caregivers all their lives, and they need this,” she says. “Horses give women a sense of purpose, especially after they have retired and their children are grown. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”

There is a physical component, too. While younger women are more likely to adopt hotter, younger horses rather than a senior horse because of the physical riding, training, and performance challenges they represent, older women are more mindful of their physical limitations.

“It’s a different dynamic,” Anzelmo says. “The older horse might not perform the way he did when he was younger—he may be stiff, might have arthritis, and older women can relate to this.”

Also read- Horse Adoption Drive: Take Home a Senior

Finding Love After Loss

That’s why older horsewomen are unwilling to give up their animals despite their own limitations, says 68-year-old Debbie Murphy Drake. When she relocated to Florida from New Jersey, Drake had second thoughts about taking her 29-year-old Appaloosa gelding, Gus, with her.

“But I couldn’t bear to leave him behind,” recalls Drake. “I wanted to be sure about the kind of care that he would get at his age.”

Just before the move, Drake was diagnosed with melanoma, and even though she and Gus had long given up trail riding and performance, she credits him with helping her through the illness.

“Gus gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning,” Drake says.

But the pair were not to be together long. Three years after their move, Gus was euthanized at the age of 32 due to age-related health issues.

“I was devastated,” Drake recalls. “I swore I would never have another horse.”

But it was missing that horse-human bond that finally prompted her to form a new relationship with another horse.

“I kept wanting to give my trainer my saddle, but she kept refusing, and said, ‘Keep it for four months,’” Drake recalls. “Finally, I missed having a horse so much that I said, ‘I have to at least sit on a horse.’”

A few months later, Drake leased Red, a 23-year-old Quarter Horse, from a boarder at her barn. Now she and Red are regulars on her trainer’s lesson schedule.

‘When I’m riding, the years just disappear,” Drake says. “I smile like a kid.”

A Win-Win Relationship

The fear that a beloved horse might outlive you is a main reason that older women adopt older horses in the first place, according to Gabriela Rodriguez Quinn, 63, program director and founder of Blixx Horses, a non-profit organization that provides therapeutic riding and interactive education programs. Blixx Horses also advocates for the welfare of non-ridden horses, regardless of their age.

“The truth is that [older] women are not looking for a young horse that is going to outlive them,” says Quinn, owner of a 21-year-old Arabian mare named Lexxi and Fritzie, a 26-year-old warmblood. “People who know the horse industry know that there are all kinds of things that can happen to a horse that is left behind by an owner, so they have a plan for their horses when they can no longer take care of them.”

Additionally, older women tend to be more aware that if they don’t provide older horses with caring homes, nobody else will.

“Horses have no choice when they get older and are no longer useful as riding or racing horses,” Quinn says, adding that they are less desirable to potential homes.

“People don’t realize that there’s a lot you can still do with an older horse, even if you don’t ride him,” she says. “Spud and I walk, I bathe and groom him, I talk to him, and he makes me laugh every day. It’s our buddy time.”

That’s the same feeling Miller wants other older horsewomen to experience as well.

“What would I say to an older woman interested in adopting a senior horse? Just do it,” she says. “You’re not getting any younger, so give yourself this experience. It will open up a new world for you.”

This article about adopting senior horses appeared in the November/December 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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The classified ad read almost like a bad dream: “Unstarted 20-year-old grade palomino gelding for sale. Bought five years ago as a project but never had time to train. Could go in multiple disciplines. Ready to start your way.” For many would-be buyers, this ad would be a reason to keep scrolling. But experts agree that’s not necessarily the case.

While it’s important to remember that horses are considered “seniors” at age 15, age alone shouldn’t be the sole reason to pass up an otherwise suitable candidate. With improvements in care, many horses are now living into their 20s, 30s, and even 40s. With this in mind, deciding to purchase an untrained aged horse isn’t as outlandish an idea as it might seem.

Darlene Dixon-Bottorff is the owner and trainer at Genesis Equestrian Center in College Grove, Tenn. She has professionally trained horses for over 40 years, including multiple national and international champions. She’s also a graduate of the United States Dressage Federation “L” judge training program and has earned her USDF bronze and silver medals. Among her senior horse success stories, Dixon-Bottorff has trained a 17-year-old horse for an endurance career and started a group of older, untrained horses that were part of a herd dispersal for careers as pleasure mounts.

Benefits to Maturity

Unlike horses that have been started at the more traditional ages of 2, 3, and 4 years old, Dixon-Bottorff sees fewer health concerns in unstarted senior horses, because their bodies have been allowed to mature before starting training.

“I don’t think people are fully aware of the maturation process involving the growth plates,” she says. “They take a while to close. Horses aren’t fully mature until they are around 8 years old.”

Dixon-Bottorff is also not overly concerned about diseases more commonly seen in senior horses, such as pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID, or Cushing’s disease).

“As long as you are mindful of the horse’s condition, it doesn’t affect his ability to be trained,” she says.

Dixon-Bottorff has also found that unstarted senior horses are less likely to have experienced performance-type injuries that may lead to arthritis. She also feels that these horses tend to be more trusting during the training process and generally physically hold up better once the training begins.

Lauren Romanelli echoes her sentiments. Romanelli is a three-day-event rider, trainer, and instructor also based in College Grove, Tenn. She earned her degree in equine science from Murray State University and has been an industry professional since 2006.

Over the past four years, Romanelli has taken an interest in the sales part of the business that helps her to build on her natural talent of matching horses to riders. Her specialization is working with junior and adult amateur riders. Because of that, her sales focus tends to be more on horses under $10,000.

“Because I’m in that market, I get a lot of older horses that are a bit feral,” she explains.

Romanelli isn’t overly concerned about many of the health issues conventionally thought of as red flags in senior horses. She is more concerned about what the horse’s job is going to be and if there is anything present that might prevent him from being able to do that job.

“Since I’m in eventing, most of my [clients] are going to want a horse that jumps,” she says. “I’m more concerned about arthritis. Most horses that are older and have never done anything aren’t going to have a whole lot of work-related arthritis. I’m looking at how their hocks work. Basically, if they flex well, I’m not worried about it.”

Romanelli pays particular attention to the front feet and ankles.

“I’m always worried about ringbone,” she says. “But pretty much anything can be maintained.”

When evaluating behavior, Romanelli says that she seeks horses who are sweet, responsive, and interested in her.

“Horses don’t mature mentally until they are around 7 years old,” she says. “By the time you are starting an older horse, you pretty much know their personality. If they are jumpy and spooky, they are probably going to stay that way. If they are quiet and calm, they are probably going to stay that way, too.”

Both trainers agree that maturity, both mentally and physically, helps in more ways than one. Although some positive physical changes can be expected with training, you can already see the finished product in terms of height and build when evaluating an older horse.

Senior Horse Health

Meggan Graves, DVM, Clinical Assistant Professor, Large Animal Clinical Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Veterinary Medicine, supports the sentiments of both trainers that older horses can make good candidates for potential buyers.

With her specialty in ambulatory medicine, Graves tends to see many senior horses, many of whom are adopted from unknown past histories. She says that the age of the horse doesn’t change how she goes about making her assessments.

“I think at any age, for an athletic horse, we’re looking for lameness issues, but having them doesn’t eliminate a horse right away,” Graves says.

One condition not addressed by either trainer but very important to Graves is vision issues.

“We see a lot of deteriorations in the eyes as they get older,” she says. “Making sure that they are fully visual and don’t have any issues—such as uveitis—that could limit their performance ability and their safety is a central part of my evaluation process.” Graves notes that uveitis can be costly to treat and may be a bigger burden than some owners want to bear. Blindness, either complete or partial in one or both eyes, is a concern. She says that while some horses do well that are blind in one eye, it does help if the owner is aware of the animal’s limitations.

Another issue that Graves frequently sees in older horses is weight loss or the inability to maintain weight.

“It’s important to know what [the horse’s] dentition looks like,” she says. “In older horses, especially if they have never been started before, their teeth may have been neglected over the years. But sometimes that’s the one thing we can get back ahead of with routine dentistry. Then, with proper nutrition, that changes a lot.”

Like both trainers, she feels that this and many other health conditions can be managed.

Regarding overall behavior or ability to learn, Graves has found older horses to be more accepting and less reactive than their younger counterparts, making them ideal choices for training.

Minor Disadvantages

There are a few potential disadvantages.

“Sometimes there is a reason that horses are advertised as being unstarted,” Dixon-Bottorff says. “Maybe somebody tried to start them the first time and scared them. Then, when you pick them up and try to start the process yourself, they’ve had a bad experience that you have to work through. But that’s true for youngsters, too.”

The horse may also have had some type of injury that halted the training process. Getting as accurate a history as possible is very important.

Another disadvantage is that, by the very nature of the horse’s age, you may simply run out of time to accomplish your goals.

“If you’re looking for an upper-level sport horse, and the horse is already aged, you’re going to run out of time to get him fully going,” Romanelli says. “As far as the lower levels and pleasure riding, there’s no reason that you should discriminate against a horse because of age.”

Romanelli adds a final consideration to be on the lookout for.

“If he’s been turned out to pasture with one horse for a while, he may be herd-bound,” she says. “But that’s a very individual thing. And training can help.”

All things considered, physical issues and routine training problems can be successfully addressed, so that classified ad with the unstarted senior should not be passed over for age-related reasons alone. The cute senior palomino gelding may just be your next diamond in the rough.

This article about training older horses appeared in the November/December 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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When she was a girl, Joni Miller would save her lunch money to afford to ride at a local barn. Back then, she had no idea that she would credit her current horse, a 20-year-old Appaloosa named Spud, with helping her live out her girlhood dream and with inspiring her to do more at an age when many women are doing less. Horse Illustrated explores amazing stories of senior horse adoption by seniors.

“I don’t ride as much anymore, but I’m active,” says Miller, who adopted the registered Appaloosa from the Maryland Equine Transition Service (METS), an organization that helps potentially at-risk horses find new homes. “I’m out at the barn bathing, grooming. I’m problem solving every day. What would my retirement have been without him?”

Also Read: Adopting a Horse Poll

A Natural Fit

Since 2010, surveys conducted by American Horse Publications (AHP) that were prepared by Jill Stowe, Ph.D., of the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Kentucky, have revealed that women 45 to 65 years of age and older represent the fastest growing segment of those most likely to own horses.

Miller is squarely within that demographic, and according to gerontologist Nancy Schier Anzelmo, M.S., one reason why women like her are becoming horse owners is purely economic.

“Older women are retired and have more time and money to spend on keeping horses than they did when they were working and raising families,” says Anzelmo, who is the co-founder of The Connected Horse, a non-profit organization that sponsors therapeutic workshops that match horses to people coping with Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia.

Another reason has to do with a woman’s basic nature.

“Women have been caregivers all their lives, and they need this,” she says. “Horses give women a sense of purpose, especially after they have retired and their children are grown. It’s a symbiotic relationship.”

There is a physical component, too. While younger women are more likely to adopt hotter, younger horses because of the physical riding, training, and performance challenges they represent, older women are more mindful of their physical limitations.

“It’s a different dynamic,” Anzelmo says. “The older horse might not perform the way he did when he was younger—he may be stiff, might have arthritis, and older women can relate to this.”

Finding Love After Loss

That’s why older horsewomen are unwilling to give up their animals despite their own limitations, says 68-year-old Debbie Murphy Drake. When she relocated to Florida from New Jersey, Drake had second thoughts about taking her 29-year-old Appaloosa gelding, Gus, with her.

“But I couldn’t bear to leave him behind,” recalls Drake. “I wanted to be sure about the kind of care that he would get at his age.”

Just before the move, Drake was diagnosed with melanoma, and even though she and Gus had long given up trail riding and performance, she credits him with helping her through the illness.

“Gus gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning,” Drake says.

But the pair were not to be together long. Three years after their move, Gus was euthanized at the age of 32 due to age-related health issues.

“I was devastated,” Drake recalls. “I swore I would never have another horse.”
But it was missing that horse-human bond that finally prompted her to form a new relationship with another horse.

“I kept wanting to give my trainer my saddle, but she kept refusing, and said, ‘Keep it for four months,’” Drake recalls. “Finally, I missed having a horse so much that I said, ‘I have to at least sit on a horse.’”

A few months later, Drake leased Red, a 23-year-old Quarter Horse, from a boarder at her barn. Now she and Red are regulars on her trainer’s lesson schedule.

‘When I’m riding, the years just disappear,” Drake says. “I smile like a kid.”

A Win-Win Relationship

The fear that a beloved horse might outlive you is a main reason that senior women are using adoption of senior horses in the first place, according to Gabriela Rodriguez Quinn, 63, program director and founder of Blixx Horses, a non-profit organization that provides therapeutic riding and interactive education programs. Blixx Horses also advocates for the welfare of non-ridden horses, regardless of their age.

“The truth is that [older] women are not looking for a young horse that is going to outlive them,” says Quinn, owner of a 21-year-old Arabian mare named Lexxi and Fritzie, a 26-year-old warmblood. “People who know the horse industry know that there are all kinds of things that can happen to a horse that is left behind by an owner, so they have a plan for their horses when they can no longer take care of them.”

Additionally, older women tend to be more aware that if they don’t provide older horses with caring homes, nobody else will.

“Horses have no choice when they get older and are no longer useful as riding or racing horses,” Quinn says, adding that they are less desirable to potential homes.

“People don’t realize that there’s a lot you can still do with an older horse, even if you don’t ride him,” she says. “Spud and I walk, I bathe and groom him, I talk to him, and he makes me laugh every day. It’s our buddy time.”

That’s the same feeling Miller wants other older horsewomen to experience as well.

“What would I say to an older woman interested in adopting an older horse? Just do it,” she says. “You’re not getting any younger, so give yourself this experience. It will open up a new world for you.”

This article about senior horse adoption by seniors appeared in the November/December 2021 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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The day may come when it’s time to retire your senior horse from riding, perhaps due to arthritis or an old injury that would prevent you from being able to exercise him like before. Or perhaps he’s developed neurological issues and can’t safely carry anyone. Or he’s developed an allergy or breathing issue that would make riding painful or stressful. But just as with human seniors, our equine golden oldies still benefit from activity and movement to maintain muscle tone and flexibility and a level of fitness. While most of us may not be up for running a marathon when we’re 75, we’ll likely benefit from walking, a little dancing, tai chi, yoga, and light weight training.

Jeanette Mero, DVM, owns a private equine practice in Mariposa, Calif., and is an accomplished endurance rider. From her experiences working with clients’ senior horses, she shares exercise options that can give your unrideable horse the benefit of exercise without being under saddle.

“In many ways, designing an exercise program for an unrideable senior horse can mimic how we work with a horse that’s too young to be ridden,” says Mero. The primary difference is that the senior has decades of life experience and usually a foundation of training.

Instead of training a lot of new concepts, you’ll focus on maintaining overall fitness, but with a caveat.“I’m not advocating working a horse that’s very arthritic, in pain or lame,” says Mero. “To me, that’s cruel. This program is for horses who are otherwise sound but can’t be ridden for some reason.”

Turnout Time

The ideal solution for an unrideable horse is what nature intended: turnout.

“Having a senior horse on full-time turnout in a pasture or large area will provide the exercise he needs,” says Mero. “It’s especially important for horses with mild arthritis.”

Being able to move around for hours a day, preferably in the company of a herd with similar temperaments, promotes gentle fitness and helps a senior horse maintain muscle tone and interest in his surroundings.

But in reality, maybe your horse is boarded at a facility where he’s in a stall or pen with a run. Or he requires a special diet that means he has to be separated from other horses. Perhaps you’ve tried keeping him on pasture with a herd, but he was pushed away from the hay or he’s being bullied by younger and more dominant herd members.

In these situations, your horse will likely do better in an individual pen and will rely on you for adequate exercise.

“For horses who live in smaller pens, I highly recommend daily turnout in a large area and preferably with a companion or two,” says Mero. “This helps them get gentle exercise and have social time with other horses.”

One solution is to work with owners of other senior horses where you board and coordinate turnout times so your horses can go out together.

In-Hand Work

There are still in-hand exercises that a retiree can do, but don’t forget to consult with your veterinarian to ensure there aren’t any health issues that could cause pain or discomfort.

“Working your horse over ground poles or cavalletti increases his neuroplasticity and proprioception—his ability to know where his body is in space,” says Mero.

Set up patterns of ground poles or 8-foot lengths of sturdy PVC pipe; elevate some of the poles so your horse will need to lift his feet higher. You can walk your horse over and around the poles, ask him to back up through two parallel poles or in an “L” pattern, or make a circle inside a frame of poles. Get creative!

Light longeing or round pen work for 15 to 20 minutes is good for cardio fitness.

“But remember the young horse approach when working on a small circle,” says Mero. “Running in a small pen or in deep sand can cause stress on the horse’s joints.”

Instead, use the session to work quietly and practice voice commands or responses to your body language.

Walking, Hiking and Ponying

“A lot of my clients with older horses go on walks and hikes together,” says Mero. “They both enjoy the scenery and each other’s company, and it keeps both horse and human fit.”

She adds that ponying your senior horse is a good alternative to hand-walking.

“Just be sure that the horse being ridden can go at a pace that’s comfortable for the senior, who may need to walk more slowly and for shorter distances than a younger horse,” she adds.

Aim for walks at least three to four times a week; a daily walk is even better.

Long-Lining or Harness Work

Working your horse from the ground in two reins can provide exercise and mental stimulation—for both of you.

“You don’t need a full harness, or even a cart,” says Mero.

Start with two long lines or a pair of driving reins, attaching each rein to the side ring of the halter, and start in a pen or arena. Walk slightly to the inside of the circle, and guide your horse as you would from the saddle. Navigate around poles or cones to give more context for turning.

“Once you’re comfortable in the enclosed area, and you can turn, change directions, and stop, head outside for a long-line walk on trails or quiet roads,” she says.

If you both really enjoy the long-lining work, think about learning how to drive. Find an experienced trainer with the equipment who can teach you.

Games and Trick Training

You actually can teach an older horse new tricks, and trick training can give you both something fun to learn. Find a book or video with simple tricks, like picking up a hat or rolling a large ball, and go from there.

Trick training provides movement as well as mental stimulation. Just be sure to not overtrain or drill, and keep it fun. And remember that some tricks, such as teaching a horse to paw or rear, may appear when you don’t necessarily want them to.

Just Be Together

“Senior horses can be a lot like older people,” says Mero. “While they may have been successful competitors or working horses, now they may prefer a life of quiet companionship with horses and their person.”

Now you can enjoy time with no agenda other than being together. Taking long walks together, going for groom-and-graze sessions where you brush him a bit as he’s grazing, or just hanging out in the pasture or turnout while your horse moseys around can bring you both happiness.

Adding Light to Golden Years

Just because your senior horse can’t be ridden, there are many ways to help keep him fit and vibrant.

There’s one more added benefit of walks, hikes, ground driving and other gentle exercises: You both stay younger and more agile, and the bond you’ve shared over the years gets even stronger.

Senior Care and Feeding When a horse is retired from riding, that doesn’t mean his care stops. “Putting a horse out to pasture can be good for his physical and mental well-being as long as there is adequate food and shelter, and he’s not being bullied by the herd,” says Jeanette Mero, dVM, who owns a private equine practice in Mariposa, calif., and is an accomplished endurance rider. “It’s vital to continue caring for your horse’s needs: hoof care, dental care, wellness checkups, deworming and vaccinations as needed. these go a very long way in helping a senior horse live well in his older years.” One of the biggest needs to keep the senior going strong is the right feeding program. “Older horses need good nutrition,” says Mero. “trying to get all the nutrition from pasture may no longer work. Find good-quality hay and a good senior feed that’s low in sugar, and feed adequate amounts to keep your horse at the right weight.” Supplements and ration builders can round out the diet. “Work with your vet on the best supplements for your area, since soils, hay nutrients and other factors differ by region,” Mero adds. if your horse is diagnosed with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), aka Cushing’s, or metabolic issues, work with your vet on the right treatment protocol. “Just as important as nutrition is paying attention to your horse’s spirit and emotional needs,” says Mero. “Visiting often so you can gauge changes in weight, personality, mobility and interest in life are crucial to the older horse’s well-being, just like frequent visits with an older family member who lives in a nursing facility.” That’s not to say quality of life will go downhill over time, however. “A horse who’s approaching 30 or beyond can still have energy, bright eyes, a shiny coat, and a joy of life if he’s cared for,” Mero says.

This article about how to exercise a senior horse appeared in the October 2020 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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The weather outside might be frightful, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try your best to make the winter season delightful for your senior horse. Here are some tips for senior horse care in winter to help your older equine keep weight on and stay comfortable into the new year.

Weight Woes

One of the most common winter health issues for senior horses is weight loss. This is generally for two primary reasons.

First: teeth. As a horse ages, his molars wear down through constant grinding during grazing. These large, flat teeth that lie far back along his cheeks can begin to wear unevenly over the years, creating sharp, painful points that cause sores on the tongue and inside of the cheek. Uneven wear can also cause jaw pain and inefficient chewing. Some older horses may even lose teeth, which creates gaps where clumps of food become stuck. All of these issues can prevent an older horse from consuming enough calories to maintain his body weight.

The second most common reason older horses lose weight in the winter is their overall metabolism. As animals age, they lose muscle mass and their cellular systems slow down. This means it takes more energy to keep them warm when the temperature drops. If a horse needs more energy to stay warm, but can’t eat enough because his teeth hurt, you guessed it: this creates a perfect situation for weight loss.

The first step for senior horse care in winter to help keep his weight up during the cold is to make sure his teeth are in good condition. If your vet hasn’t already been out for a visit recently, ask her to conduct a dental exam on your horse. This will give her a chance to file down any sharp points that have formed and manage any other issues your horse’s mouth may have.

The Right Diet

Once the teeth are managed, the next step in senior horse care is ensuring a high-quality, healthy diet. Always be sure your senior horse has access to high-quality hay during the winter months.

Most older equines should be allowed to eat as much forage as they want in the winter. The neat thing about forage is that the digestion of this highly fibrous material actually generates some heat in the horse’s gut—this acts like your horse’s own personal internal heating system!

Apart from forage, think about grain. If your senior horse currently eats some grain as part of his normal diet, one easy way to add calories is by top-dressing your horse’s feed with vegetable oil. Start small; just a quarter cup will do. If you add too much too soon, you’ll cause loose stool. After several days, gradually increase the oil to a third and then a half cup. After a few weeks, use a weight tape to measure and monitor your horse’s weight. Adding beet pulp is another way to add calories and bulk up his diet.

Ensuring he has a nice, warm blanket to snuggle in can also go a long way toward keeping weight on your older horse.

Before you make any changes to your horse’s diet, however, consider his overall health. If your horse has a medical condition such as Cushing’s disease, metabolic syndrome, or is prone to laminitis, talk with your veterinarian before making any changes. Increasing sugars or other nutrients by changing his diet may harm a horse with these specific conditions, so it’s best to check first before trying something new.

Aches and Pains

Cold weather can make anyone stiff, but add in age and painful joints due to osteoarthritis and it can be really hard for an older horse to get moving on a cold morning. You may notice your horse is slow to walk out of his stall or is stiff under saddle for the first several minutes during winter rides.

If possible, keep your horse turned out as much as possible. While this might sound like the opposite of what you should do—who wouldn’t want to stay cozy in a deeply bedded stall?—the more a horse moves, the more lubricated his joints remain and the less stiff he is overall.

When riding an older horse in the winter, allow extra time for a slow, gradual warmup to let those stiff joints loosen and the muscles to warm up. If you ride outside, be aware of the hardness of the ground; in cold weather, frozen ground can be especially jarring on stiff joints.

It’s commonly understood that an arthritic horse will warm out of his stiffness during work. This means the more he moves, the looser and more fluid his movement becomes. However, if you notice your horse not improving during a ride, or his stiffness or mild lameness gets worse, stop exercising and take a closer look.

If you have a lameness concern, or if you think the arthritis is getting worse, talk to your veterinarian. Rest, medication, or therapy, such as shockwave treatment, may be warranted, depending on the diagnosis.

Winter doesn’t have to mean weary weather. With some planning, your senior equine can weather this weather like a pro.

This article about senior horse care in winter appeared in the Winter 2021 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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In Courtney S. Diehl’s Vet Adventures column, she describes the loss of a horse she’s written of often and how he was BFFs to the end with a special pony.

Readers may remember the columns about “March” and “Linnea” (Easter, the horse and his owner, Caroline). Easter was an elderly Tennessee Walking Horse, and we could thank him for most of our gray hair: When Easter got sick, it was a dramatic event. Although he lived on well-soaked feeds and was carefully managed, a choke could make him gravely ill.

Caroline was usually able to prevent the chokes, but one time Easter had eaten the bedding in his loafing shed, and on another horrible occasion, a barn assistant had misunderstood his feeding instructions and given him dry beet pulp pellets, which he’d eaten with relish, causing a lengthy choke that I was certain was going to be the end of him. I’d even drawn up the euthanasia solution, but Easter let me know that it wasn’t his time yet. He was the master at defying death, and I secretly called him Lazarus.

Thick as Thieves

Lazarus-Easter shared a pasture with his companion and faithful friend, an elderly Miniature Horse named Prince Polkadot. There were other horses at the farm, but the two preferred each other’s company.

They would happily roam their field, and as neither had any teeth to speak of, they’d pretend to graze, leaving wadded up chunks of wet grass and hay as their calling cards. When Easter finished his twice-daily mashes, served up in a blue bucket that was hung on the wall of the loafing shed, little Prince would stand on his hind legs to polish off the leftovers.

They’d doze side by side, Prince’s little head near Easter’s flank, and they’d dream contentedly like two old men dozing on a park bench, coats buttoned up to their chins. Occasionally they’d get fired up and would race around the field like colts, snorting and whipping their heads and play-biting at each other.

But time was not being kind to Easter. His swayback, always present, had become more pronounced, and he’d begun to stagger in his hind legs. Despite different medications, he was worsening, and we feared that he’d go down in the field and be unable to rise. He’d sway frighteningly in place before moving off unsteadily, his hindquarters going one way, his shoulders and head another. Caroline had been dreading making the decision, but she knew without a doubt that his time had finally come.

The arrangements were made, and the hole was dug. The plan was to keep the old horses together while I gave Easter the final injections. I was prepared to sedate Prince if necessary, but we both felt it was better for him to be there for Easter’s passing rather than to separate them abruptly on this last day. We knew that Prince was going to grieve the loss of his friend, and it would be a hard day for him regardless of where he was.

The Moment Arrives

I arrived at Caroline’s house that day with a firm grip on my emotions. This was already going to be tough on her—she didn’t need her vet going to pieces, too. But I had to take a few deep breaths before I got out of the truck.

She was red-eyed when she greeted me, a coffee can full of horse treats tucked under her arm, and slowly we walked toward Easter and Prince, who waited for us with their heads together as though whispering to each other. They appreciated the treats, Easter’s ears in their usual pricked position and his liquid brown eyes soft and friendly. As I drew up the shots for the last time, Caroline fed cookies to Easter, who swayed unsteadily in place.

I sedated Easter lightly, and Prince watched as I gave Easter the final injection. He sank slowly to the ground, and his muscles began to relax. We sat with Easter while the drug worked through his system, and I told Caroline I thought that sometimes you could feel the moment when the spirit left the body, like something brushing gently past you.

I had no sooner finished speaking when we both felt something brush past us as Easter relaxed completely, and we stared at each other, wide eyed.

Sweet Sorrow

Prince, who had been standing close by, suddenly jerked his head up and called, then took off across the pasture and up the hill as though he were pursuing something. When he got to the fence at the top of the pasture, he stood with his chest pressed against it and whinnied loudly into the distance, over and over.

“Easter’s favorite place is just over the hill in the other pasture. Maybe he wanted to visit it once more,” Caroline whispered.

I watched the little horse neighing for his friend and wondered what he’d seen go past him in the field. I imagined a spirit version of Easter, young and healthy again, galloping away in wild delight. I wondered if he’d known to give a backward glance to his old friend who was left behind.

Caroline found another treat for Prince as she clipped a lead rope to his halter and led him through the gate. He was settling down, although he still continued to look in the same direction. As I glanced back into the lower field where Easter’s body lay, a dark smudge in the winter grasses, I knew he was truly gone.

Prince has a new companion and has adjusted to life without Easter, but he definitely moped and lost some weight in the first few weeks without his buddy. We’re relieved to see him content again.

I dreamed of Easter not too long ago, healthy again and running free, the sunshine gleaming across his coat. When I woke, I could still feel his joy. I think of our most famous Vet Adventures star often, and I believe that one day he’ll be there for Prince, who was his BFF to the end, when it’s his turn.

This Vet Adventures column featuring a story about BFFs to the end appeared in the April 2020 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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