Taking Care Of The Horse In The Golden Years
Crandell KM. 2000. Taking care of the horse in the golden years. Equinews Vol. 3/1:12-16.
One hundred years ago when horses were used for transportation, work and farming very few lived to the golden years. In fact, the younger the horse was started into work the quicker he wore out. The horse was considered to be in his prime between five and ten years of age back then, and anything older was an old horse. During those times, if a horse had not been started too young, had not been overworked, and had good health care and proper nutrition throughout its life, it might have lived to be a “very old” horse of 25 to 30 years of age. Although the natural lifespan of the horse has not changed, horses are living longer and many survive easily to 25 years of age or older. In fact, 17% of the horses in the U.S.are estimated to be over 20 years of age. What may have been an old worn-out horse 100 years ago may just be coming into its prime today. Many performance horses are just getting settled into their work by the time they are in their teens.