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In this article audio soup armor, helps you to prioritize
and older horses health and comfort.
Sue Palmer known as the horse physio has over 40 years of
experience with horses. Sue uses her knowledge of the
links between are quite pain and behavior to help you understand
and enjoy your horse. Caring for the older horse, I
think people understand things different when they get older
it's not a question of getting soft or seeing things in the
gray areas instead of black and white.
I really believe I'm just understanding things different
better. Jeff, Lindsay.
How's your horse gets older? He will inevitably become
stiffer and I'm often asked how best to help, maintain an older
horses Comfort. I'm privileged to work with many
older horses as part of their owners efforts to maintain their
horses health and comfort. I was lucky enough to have
horses as I was growing up and several were with us until the
end these experiences and my ongoing learning together with
my training as an instructor behaviorist.
East and ack, patterned ramp registered chartered
physiotherapist. Help me discuss the older horses
care with the many clients in similar situations here.
I share with you some of my thoughts on this often.
Emotional subject. We all, want to be confident
that we're doing our best for our horse.
But with the wealth of information available on the
internet, it can become confusing to work out what's
relevant and what's not. There are many ways to help keep
the older horse comfortable and I'd love to To hear your
thoughts and experiences knowledge is power and I know
you have valuable information to share with others.
Exercise. Aging is not lost youth but a
new stage of opportunity and strength, Betty Friedan.
Do you have an older horse in your life?
Do you still write him? Do you work him in hand, or take
him out for walks? But your feelings around this.
The vast majority of older horses are not 100% sound the
same applies to the vast majority of older humans.
I take a bet that most unsound humans can and would like to
continue functioning in their daily life.
Many of us prefer to keep working exercising or taking
part in our hobbies for as long as possible, even if this causes
us discomfort. I believe that the same applies
to many horses. As with everything in
horsemanship, each horse is an individual and should be treated
as such. Therefore as yours is caregiver,
it's your responsibility to do your best.
To understand what he needs. It's essential to recognize what
he enjoys. What's good for his health and
well-being and what makes him uncomfortable or unhappy Perhaps
I'm anthropomorphizing here. Putting human emotions onto
horses, but it seems the easiest way to get across what I want to
say. The older horses soundness, just
like your own depends on many factors including life
experiences and luck in most cases, there's much that you can
do to help your horse, stay physically and mentally healthy
for as long as possible. Ultimately old age will come to
us all and there will be a time when our bodies can no longer
function in this life, but whilst we're on this Earth, we
can do what we can to live a good life.
Maintaining a safe and Appropriate.
Level of exercise can help towards this.
In terms of horses, the priority here is safety.
When working with an older horse, I will emphasize this
fact in particular, I will ask the owner to look out for
tripping in front or behind but especially in France, a horse
who is tripping, could be a risk to himself and his Handler,
suppose your horse trips regularly, either in hand or
ridden. In that case, I recommend
discussing this with your team, for example, that Marion
farrier, and physical therapist, and figuring out the best way to
keep you both safe. I will also ask the owner to
trust their judgment on how their horses feeling most owners
who spend time with their horse, will know when he's off color
even without overt symptoms. Assuming that your horse seems
willing and comfortable. I recommend maintaining an
appropriate level of exercise. This might be working in hand,
for example, doing some in hand exercises, or taking him out for
a walk. Instead of riding him out
hacking, it might be continuing to ride, which might be in walk,
only, or walk and trot, or walk Trot and Canter.
I often recommend no jumping but that's not always the case.
He'll work may help maintain strength and core stability or
perhaps pole work. You might be able to ride and
lead or it could be just making sure that you turn your horse
out for as long as possible. David Ramey, DVM has written a
fantastic article, called, whatever happens to serviceable
e sound, which you might be interested to read.
You will of course know that older adults are advised to keep
exercising in some way, even if that's doing exercises from
their chair, the same principle applies to horses exercise has
so many benefits in terms of health and comfort.
What's the appropriate level of activity for your older horse?
Massage and Grooming. I take a massage each week, this
isn't an Indulgence it's an investment in your full creative
expression. Stroke productivity, stroke,
passion and sustain good health, Robin S Sharma.
Massage and grooming as something that every owner can
offer their horse, whatever the age or condition of the horse
years ago, the groom's strapped the horses daily, the groom's
would get to know every inch of their horse as a result, knowing
a horse this, well, makes it easier to recognize when changes
occur when something isn't, right?
And when we need to call for help, most of us can't manage an
hour a day, but perhaps we could manage an hour a week or a
month. The focus in our culture tends
to be on fixing bodies that are broken rather than on
maintaining good condition and preventing disease.
I see a physio every few weeks myself for maintenance and
prevention, you could help your horse.
Similarly with regular treatment from yourself in the form of
grooming or massage. You might also consider therapy
from an equine sports, massage therapist, an accpac charted
physiotherapist or a registered animal musculoskeletal
practitioner Massaging or grooming, your horse will
stimulate his nervous system which will promote Comfort
health and healing the heat and energy from your treatment.
With greatly benefit your horse and probably yourself studies
show. That stroking, an animal causes
a release of endorphins in both the animal and the person and
endorphins are a powerful relaxant.
And painkiller if you lack confidence in your horse,
massage skills, my book and course horse massage for horse
owners. it teaches a full body, massage routine, that any horse
owner can easily achieve Baited stretches.
You are only as young as your spine, is flexible.
Joseph Pilates. The body functions based on
instructions from the nervous system, which begins with the
brain and spinal cord, restrictions in the movement of
the spine, can affect the nervous system, potentially
affecting the body in lots of different ways.
It's not just the muscular system that can be affected, but
also, the internal organs restricted movement through the
spine could potentially affect other areas such as gastric
function and even hormones. Not being able to bend correctly
or entirely through the neck and back can be uncomfortable and
can lead to compensate re patterns of movements, which in
turn can increase the risk of injury.
So you can see why it's essential to keep your horses
spine as flexible as possible. Restriction of movement is
inevitable with age in some horses but it's not a given.
Most of us will be able to think of an older person who is far
more flexible than we would expect for someone their age.
We can help to maintain the level of movement that currently
exists reduce the onset of further degeneration or
restriction. And in many cases, reverse the
limitation that's already in place.
The easiest way to do this is with carrot stretches or
lateral, flexion exercises of some kind, encourage your horse
to follow a treat with his nose towards different parts of his
body, a lick it or similar works well, to cause movement
throughout the Fine pick several different spots and do at least
three movements towards each location on each side.
For example you might choose to encourage your horses, nose
towards the chest to the ground between the front feet to the
ground, outside of each front foot to each shoulder towards
the middle of the back, where the saddle seats towards the hip
or too boxy towards the stifle, towards the hawk and encouraged
him to stretch out forwards and upwards In front of himself,
dental care every tooth in a man's head is more valuable than
a diamond Miguel de cervantes's. Nowadays, it's relatively common
for a horse to outlive his teeth or at least to outlive the best
of his teeth dental care for the older horse is as critical as
when they're younger, but for different reasons in horses,
their teeth continually erupt, this means that each tooth has a
set length and it gradually Works its way further.
And further out eventually the tooth will fall out as the tooth
erupts, it changes shape and angle.
Oil and in the older horse, this can lead to uneven wear.
Common dental problems in the older horse include gum
infections, fractured teeth and sharp points.
All of which should be monitored with regular Dental checks, and
treated as necessary. Some of the signs of dental
problems include diarrhea, bad breath discharge from the nose
loss of weight and difficulty eating You can find a qualified
equine Dental technician in the UK at Bae DT.com
health checks. To keep the heart unwrinkled to
be hopeful kindly cheerful reverent that is to triumph over
old age, Thomas Bailey aldred. The older horse is in as much
need of a preventative health care program as the younger
horse. Although sometimes for different
reasons. Regular maintenance checks and
treatment should include Dental Care, farriery, worm control or
monitoring, and a general health check.
Some common health problems in older horses, include arthritis,
weight loss, heart, murmurs eye problems, sarcoid, liver and
kidney disease and Cushing's Disease.
There's much that can be done to help your horse, stay
comfortable, and active. The two leading causes of weight
loss, a poor teeth and poor digestive ability, you can help
reduce the risk of these with regular Dental checks from a
qualified. Equine Dental technician an
appropriate worming program as advised by your vet and good
maintenance of your pasture. I'll switch it changes can lead
to pain and reduce movement. You can help ease these for your
horse with appropriate pain relief.
As of I advised by your vet with proper exercise, regular
grooming, or massage and regular physical therapy, for example
from an accpac, charted physiotherapist, or a registered
animal musculoskeletal practitioner Regular health
checks from your vet, perhaps yearly or more often.
If required can help monitor internal problems, such as eye,
problems, liver or kidney disease, Cushing's, Disease, and
heart. Murmurs, you can look out for
sarcoid and any other lumps or bumps or heat or swelling as
part of your daily care and contact your vet if needed.
Time. The great thing about getting
older is that you don't lose all the other ages, you've been
Madeline long We're in such a rush.
So much of the time. One of my favorite songs is
quarter to Forever. Bye, Tina.
D. Co for most of us, there's a
fine line between spending time with our horses and working to
earn the money. We need to be able to spend time
with our horses. You may have come across this
story about an old fisherman. There are several versions but
I'm sharing one from medium.com there was once a businessman who
Is sitting by the river in a small village.
As he sat, he saw a fisherman. Rowing a small boat towards the
shore, having caught, many, many fish, the businessman was
impressed and asked the fisherman.
How long does it take you to catch so many fish?
The fishermen said not long. Then why don't you stay longer
and catch even more. The businessman asked.
This is enough to feed my whole family, the fisherman replied,
the businessman continued. What do you do for the rest of
the day? The fishermen said I usually
wake up early in the morning. Go out to catch some fish, then
go back and play with my kids in the afternoon.
I take a nap with my wife and when evening comes I joined my
friends in the village for a drink, we play guitar sing and
dance throughout the night. The businessman offered a
suggestion to the fisherman. Ila PhD in business management.
I could help you to become a more successful person from now
on. You should spend more time
fishing and try to catch as many fish as possible.
When you've saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and
catch even more. Fish soon, you will be able to
afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own
production plant for canned food, and distribution Network
by then you will have moved out of this Village and to the big
city. Where you can set up hq2 manage
your other branches. The fisherman asks, and after
that the businessman, laughs after that, you can live like a
king in your own house. And when the time is, right?
You can go public and float. Your shares in the stock
exchange, and you will be rich, the fisherman tasks.
And after that, the businessman says, after that, you can
finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing Village.
Wake up early in the morning. Catch a few fish then return.
Home to play with kids have a nice afternoon nap with your
wife and when evening comes you can join your buddies for a
drink, play the guitar sing and dance throughout the night.
The fisherman was puzzled. Isn't that what I'm doing now?
The older horse has served his time.
He's done his work. He's ready to be loved
appreciated and cared for. Can you make the time to simply
be with him amongst The Madness of 21st, century living,
keep those legs moving? We don't stop playing because we
grow old, we grow old, because we stop playing George Bernard
Shaw. Most older horses will not move
further or faster than they need to gone, are the days when you
had to close your eyes, every time you turned him out so that
you didn't cringe at his Antics. He calmly wanders around the
field, munching taking life at a steady Pace.
There's no need to put in more effort than necessary.
The old adage, use it or lose, it is true when it comes to
muscle strength and join range of movement.
If we never move a joint through a particular range of movement,
it will become more difficult for the body / to perform that
movement. For example, if your horse never
fully Bend his knee, it will become more difficult to bend
over time. This is partly because the
muscles creating the movement become weaker and partly because
the joint itself stiffens up You can help your horse maintain a
good range of movement through his Limbs and spine.
We've discussed spinal range of motion in the beta stretches
chapter and we've discussed keeping him moving in the
exercise chapter. Here, I'll talk about some
exercises, specifically designed to help maintain the range of
movement through his legs. One of the simplest exercises
you can do to maintain limb, range of movement is to pick
your horses feet up at least once a day, ideally twice a day.
Not only does this mean he has to bend each leg, but he also
has to balance on the opposite leg which is great for
maintaining strength. Many of you will have stretched
your horses front legs forwards. After you girth Tim up at some
point in your horsey time, this is a great exercise to do at
least a couple of times a week to help keep the freedom of
movement through the shoulder. A beneficial and relaxing
exercise that the horse is to pick up a front foot and place
it slightly out to the side. Letting him stand with his front
feet a bit wider, apart than they usually would be encouraged
him to stand like this. For up to three minutes, to get
a good facial release through the forehand and around the
sternum and ribcage, since the front legs of the horse.
A held to the body by soft tissue rather than bone.
This fascial stretch will help to maintain freedom of movement
through the front legs. You can do a similar exercise
with the hind legs, creating a fascial release through the
hamstrings and up into the sacroiliac region.
Feeding, you can tell a lot about a fellow's character by
his way, of eating jelly beans, Ronald Reagan.
The older horse might need different management than the
younger horse, particularly in terms of feeding, as always each
horse should be assessed and treated as an individual.
An overweight horse will be getting enough calories from his
feed and may benefit more from a weight-loss program them from
increasing his feed, your horse might be fine on the same diet,
he's been on his whole life horses often lose weight as they
age and it becomes a challenge to maintain the weight.
Especially through the winter. One of the critical issues is
that the teeth wear out or become damaged, some signs of
this acquitting dropping the food.
Once it's been chewed instead of swallowing it food coming out of
the side of the mouth being more unwilling to eat eating more
slowly and losing weight. If your horse is struggling to
eat his hard feed, you might need to soak it.
To make it easier for him to get the nutrients and reduce the
risk of choking. An older horse, will sometimes
cough more than a younger horse. If this is the case for your
horse, you could soak or steam. His hey, also make sure that his
bedding is as dust free as possible.
He might find it more challenging to keep warm or cool
than he used to. So, you might need to adjust
your management in both summer and winter to take this into
account. A ground feeder, a tub such as
the hey game, forager or a device such as the.
Hey Cube are all suitable methods of feeding, all Stable
horses, not just older horses. It can be crucial for the older
horse as they stiffen up through their neck and spine, many
supplements are available for the old horse and I recommend
discussing with your vet on whether these are appropriate
for your horse. Serie.
Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground Theodore
Roosevelt. The older horse is likely to
need some extra care and attention to his feet.
But for different reasons to the younger horse hoof growth,
usually slows down as the horse ages and so you might get away
with less regular visits from the farrier.
On the other side of the coin, who've quality can go downhill
as the horse gets older and so, you might need more regular care
to keep the hoof in as good shape as possible.
Some older horses are better shot.
Others are better, Barefoot and your farrier can advise, you on,
what's best for your horse? The changes in hoof growth and
quality could be down to the difference in the horses work or
his body condition, or the level of nutrients.
He's getting from his feed. For example, there's also a
greater risk of infection as the horse ages because his immune
system won't function as well as it did when he was younger.
So you need to keep an eye out for lameness or heat in the
whoo. Ooh, for lower leg.
Some horses, get less flexible as they get older and find it.
More difficult to bend their leg for the farrier or even to have
their feet, picked out others. Find it hard to stretch their
front legs forward or their hind legs forward or backward.
Both of which are positions that the farrier is likely to ask.
For some will find it more difficult to balance on three
legs and if there's a pain issue, your horse might not want
to weight bear at stand on the lame leg while the opposite.
Or diagonal leg is lifted for trimming or shoeing, your
farrier will need to take your horses physical issues into
account as they change over time, which can take skill and
patience, you can do exercises to help your horse to maintain
comfort strength and balance to make it easier for him to cope
with farrier visits. If this is something you think
your horse would benefit from contact your local, chartered
physiotherapist or registered animal musculoskeletal?
A practitioner for assessment and advice, it could be
something as simple as working. Your horse gently for 20
minutes, just before the farrier visits to help him loosen up. if
your horse is really struggling and exercises are not helping
then contact your vet to discuss the option of pain relief for
farrier visits hoof, care is an essential part of the management
of your horse and it's not fair if it hurts your horse
comfort, You may not always have a comfortable life and you will
not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once.
But don't ever underestimate the importance, you can have because
history has shown us. That courage can be contagious
and hope can take on a life of its own Michelle Obama.
In my opinion, the older horse has earned the right to a level
of comfort. One of the difficulties, of
course, is working out what comfort means for your horse,
don't assume that keeping him comfortable means having him
wrapped up in plenty of rugs, or kept safe in the stable out of
the worst of the weather for some horses that might indeed be
what makes them feel comfortable.
But is it what your horse wants? Does he prefer to be in, or to
be out rubbed or bear with friends or on his own to be
ridden or to be left alone to eat and sleep?
A quiet environment or busyness, the radio on or off?
Does he like a deep bed or does he find it more difficult to
move around with too much bedding around his feet?
Does he enjoy being groomed? And if he does, does he like the
rubber curry comb or the body brush?
Making sure that he has the relevant checks from vet Faria,
equine, Dental technician, physical therapist, nutritionist
and saddle fit. If relevant is important, equine
professionals, who are qualified and experienced a likely to have
come across far, more older horses than you have through
their work. They won't have the same level
of emotional attachment that you do, and they may be able to make
more accurate judgments in relation to the care of your
horse. However, bear in mind that, you
know, your horse better than anyone else, you are his best
expert. You are the center of the team
that supports him and ultimately the decision on, what's best for
him is down to you conclusion.
Life is like riding a bicycle. Keep your balance.
You must keep moving Albert, Einstein.
Whether he's lived his life with you, or has had multiple owners
before he came into your life, your older horse has done his
duty served his time. It's only right.
That you continue to do your best by him as he ages.
We cannot stop the aging process and it's inevitable that his
strength and flexibility will degenerate over time.
Aging is a natural process, but there's plenty that we can do to
make it easier for our horses. Caring for your older horse is
different. And at times, it can be hard.
The body is less able to handle stress and infection movement
can become more difficult and his attitude can change your
horse. Might start to see mold at 15 or
at 25 or 35. Each horse is an individual and
your horse is in the lucky position of having you care for
him as such Listen to what your horse is telling you and enjoy
the mellowing. That comes in most cases with
age, there is much fun still to be had when you work out how to
adjust to the changing situation and appreciate your friend, both
for the joy that he's given in the past.
And for the pleasure that he continues to give, Listen to
what your horse is telling you and enjoy the mellowing.
That comes in most cases with age, there is much fun still to
be had when you work out how to adjust to the changing situation
and appreciate your friend, both for the joy that he's given in
the past. And for the pleasure that he
continues to give,