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

[sjdress]

1. PTS at 9yrs. Bilateral PSD, Bone Chips, Advanced Arthritis, Ulcers, couldn’t keep him field sound.

 

[ponyparty]

Will only include my own as can't remember exact details of the (many) others known to me.

Edited to remove one that I had already put on this thread! Doh! Brain not functioning today!

17yo 16.1hh TBx - field accident (but would actually have likely been PTS later the same year anyway, due to lameness - arthritis in multiple locations).

 

[Surbie]

@DirectorFury those graphs are amazing! I hope a uni student sees this and gets enthused...

 

[paddy555]

Yes, sadly it does confirm what I;ve heard said anecdotally, also about certain ages at which there seems to be increased mortality, but if they get past these ages they are then 'safer' for the next couple of years. The matter of breeds may also be quite telling, so good that this is included. I remember someone saying that these stages seemed especially predominant in thoroughbreds.

I have always vaguely thought that. To me that is around 17 - 20 yrs. I had 2 normal horses (one sec d one 15hh cob type) neither had cushings or anything similar but they seemed to go through a sort of "danger" period around those ages. Both soldiered on and the sec d was PTS with colic at 27, the cob type PTS with pneumonia at 31.
Once through that danger period they seemed fine. They were never that "unwell" in that danger period you just had the impression they were not as good as they should be and could have gone downhill to an early end.

 

[SEL]

It reflects what I've seen over 50 years of being around horses, that the vast majority never get anywhere near their mid twenties.

I started the thread because I thought social media was making a lot of people feel very guilty that their horses didn't make it to old age. I really hope this thread helps with that.

It does - yes.

Not really going to say a lot more because its an ongoing issue and not one for social media, but I've re-read this thread from the beginning and even though it is morbid its also helpful. I wish the horsey press would cover more of this type of subject.

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

1- 16hh tb pts due to colic at 13yo

2 - 16.2 tb pts due to colic at 13yo

both exracers

 

[JackFrost]

Maybe we should direct some of the "what do I write my dissertation about?" posts to this thread -- it would be ideal to get a larger number of observations and maybe extend it to collect information about horses that are still alive.


I'm strictly Python and/or D3 I'm afraid! I normally design the visualisations that PowerBI/Tableau then include in their options so am one step removed from what most people use it for .


Yep, if we'd recorded data on horses that were still alive I could've run a survival analysis which would have been interesting, though I think that's doable with the data we have anyway. You've also got the problem of self-selection -- people who reply to this thread might have known less horses that died (time it takes to type a long post), might be more willing to contribute, etc.

We also have to consider that horses, horse breeding, and diagnostic skills have changed quite a lot in the last 30 years. The flashy warmbloods that are popular now seem to be more prone to breaking, and in days gone by a lame horse might have been put out to grass for a year or so and then just been suitable as a light hack; whereas now we can throw all the diagnostics at something and treat it aggressively. The flip side is that when the treatment fails people might not be able to keep an unridden horse, or they know that the horse will be in pain, so they're PTS.

There's definitely a thesis in here, if any uni students reading would be interested in running with this just drop me a PM and I'll help where I can.

DF Thanks for the explanation - exactly what I was trying to get at. Really hope someone comes forward to take on the dissertion challenge!

And to add my experience
27 colic Sec D
17 immune disease small native
34 old age shetland
11 colic Connemara
27 -cancer arab
29 -selle francais Sort of committed suicide walking into a bog. I mention this as the cause because the vet said that he had seen this before, horses in effect putting themselves to sleep and really not wanting to be helped out. Mercifully for me, not my horse, though I was there at the time. Horse was previously 'old' but not unhappy. Seemed to have decided it was just its time to go.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Childhood 14.2hh Connie x Arab x Tb late 20’s not sure exactly what died of as in another home but was definitely over 25yrs. Possibly had Cushings but nobody really knew much about that then.

16.1 British Warmblood - Sire Racing TB State Diplomacy. PTS wobblers at 8 yrs

One sold on and no idea.

Current 16.1hh BWB jumping lines (S. Major De La Cour) 26yrs and still ridden. ?

Also 16.2hh DWB jumping lines (GS. Contender) 12 this year.

 

[Birker2020]

Lost one aged 14 to an unhealed open fetlock joint following traumatic fall on 'fun' ride. Had 3 ops under GA but wound failed to heal. WB x TB
Lost one aged 6 to an open fracture of the tibia, broke leg in the field whilst I was at work. ISH.
Lost one aged 12 due to a heart attack, dropped dead in field when turned out by YO. WB
Lost one aged 10 due to Wobblers Syndrome following a fall whilst led in by YO. WB x TB
5th time lucky with current horse aged 23, owned for 16 years, still going strong (touched a lot of wood along the way, I can tell you). WB

My experience has taught me that you can never tell. Horses get themselves into all kinds of predicaments and have all kinds of injuries and illnesses. You can never take anything for granted. I never ever leave the yard without having a cuddle and saying 'love you lots, see you tomorrow'. Simply because I would regret it forever if tomorrow never came and I'd not said it.

 

[alibali]

Thanks ycmb for starting this thread and DirectorFury for the analysis. It's fascinating, scary reading but also comforting to know you're not alone in 'failing' to get every horse to old age.

 

[Sealine]

15 - 15.3hh 3/4 TB PTS lameness - 18 months on/off box rest including failed rehab after check ligament surgery. Tried to turn away but got worse. Not suitable or pain free enough for field retirement.

 

[JoannaC]

25 years 14.2 Arab Colic

 

[ycbm]

I think we need to start counting the early retired too?

I have friends and acquaintances who have retired a whole string of mares in their teens who couldn't work any more (and bred from them but that's another thread!)

 

[DirectorFury]

I think we need to start counting the early retired too?

I have friends and acquaintances who have retired a whole string of mares in their teens who couldn't work any more (and bred from them but that's another thread!)

This would be worth doing - you have a ‘living’ life and a working life. It would also be good to get info about the type of work, age they’re broken in etc, but the demands of data collection increase quite quickly!

 

[Tarragon]

interesting to see how many relate to "field injuries" after the thread on individual turnout. I have really only owned 3 ponies, and I had to have one put down aged 5 due to a field injury from a kick. The other two are going strong aged 15 and 22.

 

[Two Coloured person]

I used to live somewhere with rubbish vets, they kept horses going too long. One was very frail died of a heart attack at 29, one was pts at 20, very lame, one was 25 on too much Cushing medication, but was told he was fine. Moved a long way, new vets horrified at 25 year old and was pts. Sadly had to do the same to 12 year old, too many problems despite a great deal of ££ treatment.

 

[Zuzan]

It reflects what I've seen over 50 years of being around horses, that the vast majority never get anywhere near their mid twenties.

I started the thread because I thought social media was making a lot of people feel very guilty that their horses didn't make it to old age. I really hope this thread helps with that.

We humans bred horses up in size from what was natural to make them more useful to us, and in doing so we made them very fragile

Great work @DirectorFury it would be v interesting as YCBM pts out to try and plot death age by height

 

[iknowmyvalue]

Thank you DF for the graphs! They make for very interesting reading!

Would be interesting to do a similar thing sorted by “job” the horse does. Eg. do low level horses tend to live longer than competition horses/ex-racers? Is COD similar or is it skewed more towards lameness for horses with more miles on the clock? (Not taking into account retirement age).

I’d also love to know for sure what causes a lot of the unknown/neuro/“down old horse” cases, but that’s the veterinary/investigative side of me...

 

[ycbm]

OK retired early


15 hock arthritis
15 no longer capable of Show Jumping with a pro at grade B
11 kissing spines/pastern arthritis
12 hock arthritis
8 stifle issues
7 neck arthritis
8 field accident
8 unrideable behaviour



These were all mares which have all been/ are being bred from.

 

[McGrools]

OK retired early


15 hock arthritis
15 no longer capable of Show Jumping with a pro at grade B
11 kissing spines/pastern arthritis
12 hock arthritis
8 stifle issues
7 neck arthritis
8 field accident
8 unrideable behaviour



These were all mares which have all been/ are being bred from.

Frightening. It appears a lot certainly dont breed with longevity in mind.

 

[Mule]

I'm very surprised by how old some of the examples given are. I have a 27 year old ID and she is the oldest horse that I know. She has bad arthritis now so this will be her last winter.

My other oldie was put down at 23 due to cushings complications.

 

[Northern]

The only one I've lost was a TB aged 11. Acute field injury (kicked through a fence) with a degloved hind leg/severed tendons, treatable with intense bandaging and rest perhaps. However I chose to PTS due to background of (removed) bone chip and severe arthritis in front fetlock with short term relief from joint injections plus an impending cold winter where she would be standing in a stable on that arthritis. No life for a horse and she told me she'd had enough.

Others: retired TB aged 29 (colic), Arab aged 18 (PTS after a 3 year battle with laminitis), TB aged 9 (catastrophic field injury), TB aged 25 (painful uveitis and old age), very well bred dressage WB aged 2 (cleft pallet and failure to thrive - she should have been PTS at birth, mis-sold horse by unscrupulous sellers just after money, court case was won against them).

 

[Murphyisanumpty]

1. 12 (Navicular -PTS)

 

[Boulty]

Can't include horses not owned by me as I can't remember / didn't know the ages of any of them but

1.18yrs hock arthritis & not field sound on high Bute dose (& in hindsight probably cushings as well)

2. 15yrs arthritis in neck / back / jaw, difficulty urinating normally, liver disease, cushings, laminitic tendencies & inability to tolerate grass in spring / summer

 

[Chinchilla]

1) 24, heart attack
2) 24, combination of issues, mostly dropped fetlocks and arthritis reducing QOL

Until this thread I genuinely thought most DID make it to their twenties. Useful and eye opening.

 

[ycbm]

1) 24, heart attack
2) 24, combination of issues, mostly dropped fetlocks and arthritis reducing QOL

Until this thread I genuinely thought most DID make it to their twenties. Useful and eye opening.

I'm so glad this thread restarted. I pointed to it in an argument that i was having with someone recently stated that all properly managed horses could be ridden until they were thirty, and simply would not accept that the vast majority aren't even alive then, never mind fit to work.

 

[rabatsa]

Died aged 14 - 12 hand mule

Retired at 12 still here at 16 - 15.1 cob x trotter - hock arthritis and SI joint pain.

 

[J&S]

EquinesI have owned or had in my care who have died are:

NF mare aged 29 PTS as no longer thriving
Sheltand/Welsh X aged 23 PTS with colic/possible tumur

Ponies/horses I know for sure ages of death:

NF x Welsh 29 years lost battle with life long laminitis so PTS
Welsh/Arab mare 18/19 Colic due to tumur
TB x Developed wobblers at 21 PTS
16.2 TB x ex eventer/RC horse PTS at 27 unable to get up/down any more

Living horses:
TB/Arab/ID mare aged 24 been retired since 18 due to annular ligament injury but now ridden again lightly
Irish cob/eventer/hunter 16 hh 27 yrs old slightly arthritic but still game.

This is just a small example from a life time, I have heard of some tragic accidents that have ended the life of young otherwise healthy horses, some that seem to soldier on for ever and some who just die suddenly and peacefully in the field. The study you are making is interesting but, no matter what management is given there is still an element of fate/bad luck that surely can't be accounted for.

 

[Baccara]

1. PBA mare 8yrs pssm
2. ISH gelding 9yrs arthritis

 

[PapaverFollis]

Until this thread, as I recall, I was starting to feel like I'd failed that my two so far had "only" made it to early and mid-twenties. It was good to have it pop back up around this time of year because I often feel I must have done something wrong that meant Granny horse retired at about 20 and died at 22... it's just not the case! But it's easy to start to think horses being ridden well into their twenties is the norm. Or that people who have managed that are somehow better. I suspect most of it is down to luck and genetics though, and this thread is a reminder of that.