What is a 'normal' age to lose a horse?

[cobsarefab]

These weren't my horses obviously but:
35
26
3 (broke leg)
36
ETA: 35 yo was a cob, 26 yo was a cob, 36 yo a sec d I knew all these after they'd been retired.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I lost one at 11 to melanoma (lusitano).


I do agree with you, most don't make their 20s ime.

happens with dogs too-dogs are old when they reach double figures and people will always tell you they know of dogs at 15 + years of age. reality is most of them are gone before then.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

1. Holstein, 15. Catastrophic field injury. He was 17.2. I think adding breed would be interesting.

 

[Pen]

1. Connemara x Tb pts 10/5/2014 @ 23 due to colic
2. Connemara x Arab pts 4/1/2018 @ 36 due to old age(Cushings + Arthritis)

 

[Dancing_Diva]

19yrs cancer
45yrs suspected stroke
8yrs grass sickness
6yrs severe arthritis in hocks

 

[Spottyappy]

1, Tbx Welsh aged 21 complications of Bute.
2. Tb x Welsh aged 38, old age.
3. Number 2s son, sire was a performance horse (Welton line) aged 33, old age.
4. Appaloosa cancer of the stomach aged 17.

 

[Chinchilla]

1. 23 (TBxWB, heart attack)
2. 24 (Shetland, pts due to life long deformed feet that couldn't be kept right to give him a good quality of life due to athritis)
3. 38 (Not mine, RS pony who was bloody ancient - still couldn't stop him XC though - complete Heinz 57- pts, unsure why)

 

[TelH]

happens with dogs too-dogs are old when they reach double figures and people will always tell you they know of dogs at 15 + years of age. reality is most of them are gone before then.

My jack russell died last year, she was 18. I don't personally know anyone else whose dog went on for so long. I knew a few people who also lost dogs last year, theirs were all 11-13.

Back to horses. I've lost 3 of my own...
23- pts after breaking her leg.
27- pts, suspected equine leukemia (she went down hill so fast it wasn't fair to put her through further tests to be absolutely certain).
21- died in his stable, vet said probably a heart attack.

Where I worked years ago the youngest we lost was a 7yo gelding to colic, the others we lost were all age related and nothing under 20yo.
A livery yard I was on before I moved my horses to be at home, someone lost a 4yo to laminitis. The only other one that was lost while I was there was an ancient mare, 30+, pts because she went down and couldn't get up again.

 

[stormox]

1 8 knee injury
2 11 arthritis
3 18 broken leg
4 7 arthritis
5 9 wind prob

 

[palterwell]

33 colic/lipoma
26 brain tumour/meningitis
26 laminitis
19 cancer
10 cancer

 

[OldFogie]

My mare - 33 complications following flu for 2nd time.
18,21 & 23 friend's horses acorn poisoning.
12, friend's horse, broke leg in field.
10, friend's horse, found dead in field.
Been quite a few others too but I can't be positive about ages so won't include. Of course, I'm blaming my dose of man flu but I've suddenly become quite emotional remembering that lot so I'm off for large G&T.

Edit; Pedro the old plough horse - still pulling a Jalo aged 42 - he probably lived to 44/5

 

[soloequestrian]

I have a reasonable grasp of basic statistics, and a very nerdy spreadsheet habit. Feel free to call on that if it helps!

24 - TB x ID (I think) - PTS after knee injury that meant she was finding it difficult to get up and down
10 - pure TB (I think) - PTS during severe episode of colic

When the vet came to my old girl, she said that early to mid 20's was the age she saw most horses PTS, but obviously that was just a gut feeling and not something she had rigorously collected data on!

 

[Snuffles]

1 .28 16.1 Heinz 57
2. 23 16.2 warmblood

1 cob still going at 24 ( hope Ive not jinxed him now )

 

[be positive]

early 20's 2 tb's, age catching up with them
14 tb, serious injury, pts as treatment options limited.
18 tb dropped dead in the field 5 mins after galloping off down the field in the morning.
18 NF pony ongoing issues with laminitis
12 cob melanoma rapidly growing and pts before he started to suffer from internal issues from them
23 ISH colic, the one and only time he was unwell in 18 years.
24 connie squamous cell carcinoma, possibly requiring removal of eye which he would not have coped with.
25 pony colic
22 tb x colic, he had survived a colic op as an 11 year old.

10 companion to one of above, severe sweet itch so I let them go together.
36 pony who had worked fully all his life retired at 33, general aging.
5 ISH complications following pupura hemorrhagica, he did not have strangles first as far as we know.

Some were mine, some were liveries.

 

[SirBrastias]

1. 16 (found dying in field, assumed colic complications)
2. 16 (field accident - broken leg)

Edited to add - both tb ex-racers, both PTS at home

 

[Pearlsasinger]

happens with dogs too-dogs are old when they reach double figures and people will always tell you they know of dogs at 15 + years of age. reality is most of them are gone before then.

We had two JRT sisters, who lived to be 13 & 14, their mother got to 22, her sister was 18.

 

[stencilface]

36 - suspected colic in the field
27 - colic and pts
29 - bad reaction after worming

The others have all been ponies

35+ (no idea, before passports but he was ancient!)
19 - colic, lymph issues following box rest for a bust tendon
35+ ancient donkey pts after multiple strokes

 

[MotherOfChickens]

We had two JRT sisters, who lived to be 13 & 14, their mother got to 22, her sister was 18.

yes, but small dogs are like small ponies-more likely to go on to the other end of the bell curve. most dogs go around 11-13 (based on years as a VN). I often think people are made to feel bad that their dog/horse doesn't go on into extreme old age when really, its down to luck.

my first pony was a rescued Exmoor-after being with me until I was 13, he went on another 20 years. Best estimate he was in his 30s when he finally died-not bad for a pony who was found half starved and the only one of 6 to survive.

 

[BlackRider]

I think the breed can make a difference too, I've been told that arabs generally live longer than others.

1 - 32 old age
2 - 23 stomach cancer

(both arabs)

 

[mandyroberts]

27 - Breeding unknown but probably WBxIrish (not cob or TB) PTS ruptured hind tendon caused by annular ligament problem which had been going for about 5 years but was being ridden when tendon went
28 - Welsh x TB PTS navicular bone rotating and dropping - not prone to laminitus but had thin soles, retired at 22(?) due to sarcoids around girth area
8 - 7/8 TB PTS wobbler syndrome and struggling to get up

Have reported for a friend too and excluded ponies

 

[laura_nash]

Very few I am sure of the age of:

1. Mine - 14.3 TBx, arthritis in site of old injury - 13yrs
2. Friend - 15.2 cob, poisoned by garden cuttings - 6yrs
3. Former YO - 16.2 TBxISH, laminitis (pos. poisoning after escaped field, wasn't fat) - 2yrs
4. Friends in Australia - 13.2 brumby, old age - 44yrs

 

[PapaverFollis]

25 ISH, PTS due to arthritis and keretoma. Keretoma was painful and was essentially inoperable as the aftercare would have been a struggle for all of us due to the arthritis.

I know of a few others that weren't mine but am so unclear on details I won't officially report but a couple of very olds and at least 2 just as work was starting.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

1. Aged 28, cushings related kidney issues. Native pony
2. Aged 24, shoulder arthritis, was ridden till yr before. Native pony
3. 9, bust a 2nd tendon on opposing hind. Ish.
4. 18, hock arthritis didn't respond. Show cob
5. 6, acute laminitus brought on by idiot whilst I was away, I still fume about this one. Shetland
6. 37, old age, found in field with no apparent cause. 15hh Irish pony
7. 8, broken leg when skylarking. TB
8, 9 and 10 were horses I had taken (out of many!) but temperaments totally unsuitable to be ridden or field ornaments, all aged 5 or 6. All TBs
11. 8 months colt as herniated after gelding, then had ascending paralysis due to general anaesthetic. Connemara
12. 3yrs. Rspca pony in for handling, due to worm damage in past. Mixed breeding.

I will add that I used to back, school and was locally known in the 80s and 90s for usually turning messed up ones around, hence the higher numbers than some :redface3:

I haven't added any not mine as have held quite a number for friends and when I was a fate person for BHS.

 

[Sarah_K]

33- 15hh TB, went down in field and couldn't get back up: prob heart attack
11- 16hh TBxArabxWelsh pony, complications from nail bind leading to severe lami. I'm still highly annoyed by that one
17- 14.2hh heinz cob- field accident

Not sure if 13hh is too small but 45+ heinz pony: old age

 

[windand rain]

mine
6 hit by a car had to PTS broke both front legs irish TB
32 Arab x Clydesdale old age
still alive
foal I raised many years ago is now 31 Welsh C
Welsh d as above now 20
Highland pony 23
Friends coloured cob 25 lives with me

Friends lost
Highland pony 18 laminitis
Fjord pony 13 arthritic feet
Warmblood 9 suspensory tear irreperable
apaloossa brood mare 10 colic
coloured cob 12? colic
tbx welsh 15 after colic surgery in the week following

 

[TheresaW]

These 3 weren’t mine, but close friends horses.

15.2 section D at 34 to colic

14.1 section D at 26 to colic

16.1 cob at 20 due to injury.

I still have a 25yo cob mare, got cushings, but sound as a pound, and a 21yo Suffolk cross with arthritis who is now retired, but could probably hack. His poor teeth will see him off I think before the arthritis.

 

[DirectorFury]

It looks like it might cluster, too, if we get a big enough sample. Any statisticians want to help with the analysis?

Stats and data vis person here - I'm happy to help (anything to avoid doing my actual PhD work ).

 

[Lammy]

I have a few as kept in touch with people who took riding school ponies to retire...

1) 26 - shire x, mare - old age
2) 22 - unknown breeding, mare -wobblers
3) 16 - SB x WB, mare -serious neuro problems
4) 21 - ID mare - huge 17.3hh ex eventer had arthritis
5) 23 - TB x SB, mare - not coping with ridden work, could have been retired in my opinion.
6) 28 - native large pony gelding - liver failure
7) 22 - TB mare - broken leg
8) 11 - warmblood mare - again huge 18.1hh and did a lot at an early age PTS due to arthritis.
9) 12 - warmblood gelding - serious liver failure

Mine is 20 this year and is looking much younger, people think she's 15 at most. Still working happily and she thinks she can still jump 5 bar gates -not that I let the old girl do much more than 80cms nowadays!

Also dogs... our old collie got to 16. My aunts huge labs were 12 & 13 respectively and my nans springer nearly 13. I think if you have a large breed dog to get to double figures is a good age same with large horses, they just won't age as well as a smaller breed.

 

[Cortez]

Cob - 18, Cushings-related laminitis
Friesian cross - 19, hock arthritis & advancing Cushings
Trakehner - 18, post-foaling haemorrhage
Trakehner - 22, heart attack
Trakehner - 3, spinal fracture
Trakehner - 2, Wobbler syndrome
Arab - 10, foaling
PRE - 10, accident, bled to death

 

[Snowfilly]

A couple of the more recent -

25 year old Arab, suspected stroke
17 year old Anglo Arab, foaling problems, pts a few days later
31 year old connemara mare, fractured leg in field
28 year old TB mare, PTS as 'wearing out' as the hunt described her!
35 year old welsh D, stopped eating and was miserable, no tests due to age and other issues, PTs
29 year old Welsh D mare, colic, possible internal growth PTS
My beautiful welsh D cross heart horse, 30, found him down in field but was still in regular ridden work, including a 6 mile back the day before. PTS, suspected stroke or brain

Shetland pony 32, internal melonoma And small donkey approx 40, found laying down in her stable semi conscious, was PTS there but vet said she was passing and would have slipped away if she'd taken longer to arrive.

These are a combination of mine, my mum's and my brothers' horses.

A local horseman reckons if his jumpers and hunters get past 8 years old in good working order, he expects to have them to mid 20s barring accidents. He brings on slowly and doesn't like anything much bigger than 16.2 because of strain on legs.