She's looking old...

Hippophilia

Hippophilia

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My TB mare is around 22 or 23 and I looked at her today and realised for the first time she is looking her age. She is black and has been gradually getting more grey around her head for a while, but today she just looked so old. She is recovering from a puncture wound in her knee and a bout of conjunctivitis, plus it is our first really cold day so I'm hoping that all that is just making her feel a bit under the weather and that as she gets better her spark will return. We have been back riding this week after a long break and she feels amazing, really light and forward and happy to be working again so I guess it can't be that bad.
Despite me explaining the situation to her in great detail I'm not sure that she fully understand she is contractually obliged to keep going forever :(.
 
It's so sad isn't it..... My girl has got grey hairs on her face this year. It makes you treasure them even more.

Hopefully, your girl will pick up. Maybe she's just feeling a bit under the weather. Hope so.
 
Aww this post mad me sad :(

I lost Silver in may and as he was a grey he never obviously looked old accept when he got poorly with the lami. Was a horrible day when his vet came to see him week before pts and said ''well this is the first time i've seen the old boy look he age'', it was then we took a deep breath, dosed him up on pain killers, fed him everything he wasn't allowed and let him go looking like he was about to go to a show.
BUT grey/stiff or anything else they aren't at the bottom untill 'that' spark has gone.
Silver always had that sparkle in his eye, he was 22ish when we qualified for hoys in open 15hh workers, so your girl still has many a mile, she is just distinguished! :)

I've had the 'chat' with Buds too, he is never to get old, sick or sorry. that is the deal!! I think he listened... :o
 
I've been feeling the same recently. My girl is only 14 but she's recently been diagnosed with cushings and although she's on medication for it she often seems depressed and has lost her enthusiasm for life. I feel she is old before her time :( :( and I just can't see her reaching the age yours is :(
We should just try and enjoy every moment we have with them I suppose.
The upside is that my girl is more docile and tolerates me giving her a cuddle now, which she used to hate.
 
We had an Arab mare that lived until she was 35, she was ridden up until she was about 28 and was always so healthy looking but she did start looking old in her mid twenties so don't worry about your horse looking old it does not mean she is on her last legs as long as she is happy and healthy you could have many years ahead of you yet. A friend of mine has a welsh sect A that is over 40!
 
It is heartbreaking watching them get older. My old boy is so grey now. Some days he just looks so old (30yo) :(. Though physically, apart from his face, he looks 10 years younger.

Of course other days he drives me mad with his bad behaviour and doesn't seem old at all!
 
It is very hard seeing our animals age in front of us, it does seem to happen suddenly. My mum and dads dog is 12 and seems to have suddenly started feeling her age and showing it a bit more bless her.
Seren still looked great in truth, she had more grey and looked older but she did not look 'old' before she was suddenly taken at 21/22
 
I know totally how you feel. Some years ago i had to put my pony on loan, he was old then.
When i was able to get him back several years later even though i had visited him (he was a long way away so not regularly) The day the transporter brought him back to me i unloaded him and just cried and cried. I still felt the same as i did when we used to wing round XC courses yet here he was seriously old and i was heart broken.
We did however go on to have the best time together. I think because i accepted his age and instead of his naughty stubborn ways annoying me id be thrilled he could still be cheeky!
Make the most of her xx
 
I'm starting to realise that the same thing is happening to my boy too. :-(

He's 20 and is also black and is getting greyer and greyer especially round the eyes - it make him look like he has silver eyebrows!

I've taken him to a couple of shows this season but he has been pretty lack lustre and not terribly enthusiastic which is so sad to see as he used to love his shows. I don't think we'll be doing much jumping for that much longer - though he does seem to have shown a never before seen sudden interest in flat work recently!

He's getting slower, lazier, is more content to stand and have lots of cuddles. I think he's forgotten that he's supposed to go forever too. :-/

It's sad.
 
My TB is 21. He is starting to go grey and is a bit stiff now and again.
But he still spooks, bu&&ers off with me and is a general holigan! We've stopped jumping now but he hacks regularly.
He is one in a million and I don't know what I'll do without him.
 
Definately know how you feel :L my mare is 27 and shes all of a sudden gone really grey :(
shes on box rest for 3 months after a seriously nasty tendon injury and were only 1 month through and shes already lost bags and bags of muscle :(
She is chestnut roan though so the grey just makes her look even more roan so she can get away with it :p
 
My roan never looked much more grey. She was borderline pts twice this summer but still happy. We've spoilt her ready to let her go and now she's trotting to and from the field bareback, starting stampedes, I actually saw her fast canter twice this week! And very cheeky spark in her eye. She used to be 15.2 but is now 15hh, has pyometra which is in remission, cushings, arthritis in knees, hocks and fetlocks, a cloudy eye and is 32 but she's plump, happy and cheeky she still quietly says hi in a morning and if I take too long feeding she'll boot the door, though less loudly than a few years ago. She only retired a couple of years ago and until recently still pottered about with kids. I regularly remind her of the live forever clause and it seems she is trying. Have hope.
 
I know what you mean, our old collie is at least 15 that we know of (rescue) and he was ill last week. He didn't eat his food which is a sure sign something is wrong so to the vest we went and he was diagnosed probably with an invection so given anti inflamatories and antbiotics. 2 or 3 days leter he was back to normal and bouncing about, but for those 2-3 days he looked on his last legs.

Hope she perks up and gives you many more years of fun
 
Now a positive post to cheer you up :D

If you were to look back ten years or more, on other forums, you would find exactly the same posts from me :o

There are probably a few on here too.

Every now and again I look at my boy and cry.

And here he is at 36, still thinks he's a two year old :D :D Who cares about a few grey hairs, its whats in the head that counts

picture.php
 
i was going to make a thread about this yesterday, i noticed that my boys starting to look older, and it broke my heart a little :( hes getting a bit stiffer, getting a bit greyer, but still has that wee frisky stubborn spark about him. hes not even that old, but the fact hes had such a crap life before i got him makes him look about 5 years older than he is, poor sausage that he is :(
 
If I could have one wish in the world, it would be to turn the clock back for Obi.

I can't stand that despite all the effort I put in with researching diet and how to keep him healthy - I can't stop time. I feel so helpless :(.

I remember one morning (straight after a night shift) I was with the vet doing his annual check when Obi was 23. Vet mentioned a lost tooth and a worn down tooth.

I nodded, finished with the vet's visit, smiled and waved to the vet as he drove away......and then promptly became hysterical.

I couldn't breathe, I was crying so hard.

Over a tooth :o.

It was the first sign.

I went home and researched on the internet all about veterans and how to help him.

Hubby came home in the afternoon to find me still at the computer and crying.

He gently ordered me to bed for some sleep :rolleyes:.

I have since learnt a few tricks.

1) Test for Cushings in the face of any sudden infections etc.

2) Supplement vitamin E.

3) Give linseed (joint help and amino acids).

4) Supplement lysine.

5) Support the gut and the liver.

6) Feed herbs.
 
I know the feeling. Our old boy spent almost a year on box rest 2 years ago with a fractured leg - and although we are so so lucky to still have him, now he's 18 and its really showing. He's very stiff and looking old and doesn't seem himself - and yesterday his other mum and I realised we will probably have to retire him (We have just been hacking round the block - but even that seems to be too much for him now)

Hopefully he can have a long happy retirement and we can find ways of keeping him healthy and happy. I wonder if its the change in the weather that's making the oldies look a bit worse for wear at the moment.
 
Oberon - can you use human grade vit e? And what kind if dose is effective? Also, what herbs? I have tried getting good of pissed but no feed merchant here stocks it, but she is doing really well on a senior mix, ration balancer and 24/7 turnout.
 
I felt this today :( it's heartbreaking.
I notice Sammy, a gorgeous little pony who I used to ride all the time and even did some shows on, had started to get really grey on his face...I felt a sharp pain in my chest and just had to give him a huge cuddle...hopefully he'll go on for a good few years yet though!

Also had the same feeling about my dog, especially after comparing recent pictures...

AnnieOld.jpg
 
Hippophilia said:
Oberon - can you use human grade vit e? And what kind if dose is effective? Also, what herbs? I have tried getting good of pissed but no feed merchant here stocks it, but she is doing really well on a senior mix, ration balancer and 24/7 turnout.
Click to expand...

I use:

2 Stubb's of Fast Fibre as my base, mixed with unmolassed hay chaff.

Pro Balance + (this provides lysine, vitamins and minerals).

There is 1000mg in the Pro Balance +, but recommendations for veterans and IR horses is usually 2000iu. So (in winter) I squeeze one 1000iu gel cap into his feed to make it up. You can also feed Brazil nuts as a natural source and a treat.

I feed two coffee mugs of micronised linseed at the moment, which I buy in bulk from Charnwood Milling. A 20 kg sack will last me most of the winter.
http://www.charnwoodmilling.co.uk/mail-order/Horse_Food.html#a55

I feed Yea-sacc to encourage his gut flora
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YEA-SACC-...ment&hash=item3f182e5502&_uhb=1#ht_1977wt_188

Herbs wise I change the mix frequently, depending on season. For winter I use immune system stimulants, circulation boosting and detoxing herbs.

Turmeric (joints)
Dandelion (detox)
Clivers (circulation)
Milk Thistle (liver aid)
Fenugreek seeds (appetite stimulant)
Hawthorn (circulation)
Bilberry (circulation)
Nettle (detox)
Gotu Kola (tonic)
Cat's Claw (tonic)

This is a good site for inspiration
http://www.equinatural.co.uk/epages/BT3755.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3755/Categories

I buy herbs etc from here
http://www.cotsherb.co.uk/
 
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