Older horse care

[TheFarmIsFull]

I have acquired an older pony who’s young 20s. She looks great for her age, a bit tubby but she moves sound and looks good. She was a very loved old girl.
She will mostly be a paddock mate, maybe do the odd kids ride and walk alongside a young pony starting under saddle. She is turned out 24/7 on grass and I’ll feed silage/ hard feed as needed. We currently have tonnes of grass so no hard feed for now.
She is a wonderful old girl and I really want to “prolong” her health and keep her in the best shape as possible so I’d love some tips on how others keep their older steeds in good health.
Supplements, feed wise or anything really. She shows no signs of age in her movement and id really like to keep it that way for as long as possible.
My last older pony I had lived on bute, hard feed, was a poor doer and had to wear atleast 2 heavy rugs through winter on 24/7 turn out and moved like a stiff sowing machine.

 

[splashgirl45]

i would be cautious about having her on loads of grass if she is already tubby and i would imagine she wont need hard feed, just hay if she loses weight. small tubby ponies not working dont need extra feed normally

 

[stangs]

Treating her a segment of orange occasionally may be worth considering; it won't harm her, and the vitamin C should help slow down any future development of stiffness.

Otherwise, I'd leave off hard feed and focus on making sure that she's out and about enough to keep her at a good weight.

 

[TheFarmIsFull]

i would be cautious about having her on loads of grass if she is already tubby and i would imagine she wont need hard feed, just hay if she loses weight. small tubby ponies not working dont need extra feed normally

We have heaps of grass but she’s currently restricted to somewhat low quality grass to help her weight. She only arrived yesterday in this voluptuous condition.
In terms of feed I’m thinking ahead because whether I like it or not I have to hard feed for about 2 months through the start of spring because of grazing limitations and if I need to get supplements into her a small amount of hard feed would be the best way unless I can use liquid forms

 

[TheFarmIsFull]

Treating her a segment of orange occasionally may be worth considering; it won't harm her, and the vitamin C should help slow down any future development of stiffness.

Otherwise, I'd leave off hard feed and focus on making sure that she's out and about enough to keep her at a good weight.

Iv never heard of horses eating oranges! Do they like them?
I don’t want to have her being ridden too much simply because of her age but maybe a few walks down the farm each week with the younger pony won’t harm her.

 

[stangs]

Depends on the horse, but generally, yes, they do enjoy orange.

She doesn't need to be ridden but the walks will do her the world of good, especially if you have grazing limitations later on. Having a nice leg stretch with the occasional trot and some circling around trees will help keep her supple.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

You don't need to give hard feed to make up for a shortage of grass, just give forage (hay or haylage). I wouldn't give her silage, there are too many potential problems. I have found that as good doers get older they do not do so well and may well need supplementary bucket feeds, then I would feed grassnuts. Exercise helps tokeep them mobile and you might find that she feels the cold more as she ages and needs a rug where she didn't before, or needs a thcker rug if she is used to wearing one

 

[Elno]

Iv never heard of horses eating oranges! Do they like them?
I don’t want to have her being ridden too much simply because of her age but maybe a few walks down the farm each week with the younger pony won’t harm her.

Why?

My WB is 20 and is in almost daily light work. We hack and do some dressage. He is a former jumper but obviously we will not be jumping any hights because of his age and the strain on the joints. He would be miserable if he was retired as a field ornament at this stage.
My experience is that horses age alot when not kept in work. Ponies are also more likely to live longer than a big horse, so I wouldn't stop exercising the pony if it is sound just because of it's age.

 

[HollyWoozle]

If only on forage and the grass isn’t great then I would consider feeding a balancer to be sure she has everything she needs to keep in good health. Just keep watching the calories ?

 

[teddypops]

Iv never heard of horses eating oranges! Do they like them?
I don’t want to have her being ridden too much simply because of her age but maybe a few walks down the farm each week with the younger pony won’t harm her.

If she has no health issues, riding her more will keep her fit and keep her weight down. Go by the actual horse rather than the age. My 31 is still ridden most days and is fit and healthy with no stiffness or other issues.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Teeth.

That's been the biggest change as my chestnut mare has aged. She needs a lot more dental care and has needed to have diastemas treated (some widened, some filled) and this has made a big improvement to her now it's done.

 

[HackWithMe]

Baileys number 14 lo cal balancer should be a good feed choice if she would need it at some point in her life. Plus it has all the vitamins and minerals too, so no supplements needed.

 

[utter-nutter]

Freind has an ancient pony that is 42 (!!) it tootles about on the lead rein, does very basic pony club, and follows the hunt with her 2/4yr kids, it enjoys being busy and loves a fuss. Has very poor teeth so has chopped straw/chaff feeds along with hay/turnout.
Would imagine hay/turnout would be absolutely fine, most ponies survive very well on not much and do better if there on the slimmer side.