The Oldest and Healthiest Horse I’ve Seen

When it comes to aging in any species, ultimately the point is to have more quality of life than quantity.  This applies to the horse as well and is relevant in today’s equine industry.  It is possible to have both quality and quantity of life in the horse?  Yes, but I suppose it based upon your point of view and perception as to what actually defines both quality and quantity of life in the horse.  There have been several horses in my career that I’ve encountered that experienced both.  These are some of the oldest and healthiest horses I have ever seen, especially in comparison to today’s equine society.

As I have noted to many clients and customers, as well as in numerous articles on the horse, the world of horse health care is entirely different as compared to what it was even 20 years ago.  Sometimes we believe that advances in healthcare for both the horse and us, as humans, is ideal and that we should take advantage.  This may or may not be true and is really dependent upon what those advances have to offer in comparison to what we already knew or had available to us.

In the horse world of veterinary medicine, what I see as ‘advances’ are increasing frequencies and variants of various vaccines being given.  I also see way more pharmaceutical medications being utilized in addition to numerous supplements.  I see more dry lotting of the horse and less pasture.  I see more foot soreness and laminitis, as well as epidemic levels of obesity and inactivity.  Going along with this, there are also dramatic increases in the incidence of laminitis, metabolic syndrome, Cushing’s syndrome, EPM and Lyme disease, not to mention allergies and other conditions.

Why? I’m not sure, but logic makes a connection between what we are currently choosing to do regarding ‘health’ intervention in the horse and the rising incidence of disease.  Ironic, I suppose.  The bad thing is that despite this rise in disease and usage of medications and supplements, there are not many that question what we are doing or why the health conditions in their horse persist or worsen.

The Oldest and Healthiest Horse

I practiced clinical equine medicine and surgery in a moderately rural area that included large tracts of land, farming, and cattle.  There were many horses in our area that we serviced, but by far those horses were privately owned and cared for by their owners.  We did have a few boarding facilities, but nothing like today.   The usage or purpose for these horses varied.  Some owners competed with them as often as they could in various equine disciplines, while other owners just trail road in our mountain passes.  There were also many owners that just kept the horses on their property, using them as a companion of sorts, but viewed them also as serving a purpose in keeping the property ‘mowed’.  I cannot recall a single horse that was kept in a box stall, outside of a few training facilities or in times where the horse was injured.

Some of the owners fed a grain to their horse, but the grains available at the time were typical sweet feeds found at local mills, made locally.  There were very few commercial feeds for horses.  They were available, based on ads in magazines, but were not something found locally.  The grains were used more as an enticement for both cattle and horses, helping to round them up and into the barn for various reasons.  The hays fed were usually of a grass variety, being orchard, timothy, or fescue.  Some of the working and competing horses were fed Alfalfa hay as well.

These horses were not given any supplements by the owners, outside of something like Red Cell, which was available at the time.  This was a liquid vitamin-mineral supplement which contained a high iron content and used to ‘build blood.’  Despite it being readily available in the feed mills and tack shops, most owners did not use it unless myself or another veterinarian recommended it due to body condition problems or an anemia.  For the most part, 90% of the horses were kept on pasture, usually lots of 2-4 acres and rotated.  Dry lots or more so round pens were common but not for the reason of today.  These were pens used for training or corralling the horses for when the veterinarian came to the farm or farrier.

This was the way it was in the horse industry, not just my area specifically.  The horses were healthy for the most part and the need for medication was sparing, as was hospitalization.  In fact, we had a 10-stall hospital with a surgical suit that was not commonly found at capacity.  I’d have no problem filling that barn today, unfortunately.  Things began to change around the year 2000, at least in our area, in the approaches taken with the horse not only with diet and training, but medication usage.

Given all of this, there are several horses that come to mind as being incredibly healthy and some that outlasted most.

I recall being called to a private residence one afternoon by an elderly woman asking me to euthanize her horse.  I’d driven by her house many times and honestly, it never crossed my mind that she had a horse.  She had plenty of property, but I never saw a fenceline which would indicate livestock in any form.  Well, she did have a horse.  When I arrived, the woman walked me around the back of the house and there standing at a gate was an elderly Appaloosa gelding.  He had some obvious orthopedic issues but otherwise was bright and alert and actually of good body condition.  This woman proceeded to tell me that she had him since he was a foal and all the time, he was here on her property grazing pastures and eating his apples and carrots every day that she fed him.  He was 42 years old at the time of that euthanasia.  There was never a need to any medical intervention based upon the owner.  No history of vaccines, Coggin’s testing or supplements, and a very infrequent deworming.

Then, I recall another farmer client that infrequently did some trail riding.  He called me one day to come vaccinate his horses for rabies, as this was increasingly becoming a problem in our area.  I arrived and found two very healthy and vibrant Quarter Horses on the property.  They were kept behind his house and not visible from the road.  They had about 4 acres between the two of them and a run-in shed available for inclement weather.  The pasture was beautiful and well maintained.  In fact, the owner was very proud of that pasture and noted that the best way to maintain it was to keep it mowed.  That he did and he did a nice job.  From a veterinary point of view, I had no complaints about those horses. They each had a great body condition, solid feces, and full of energy.  They were both in their late teens at the time.  Their feet were well maintained, and they were as sound as a dollar can be.  According to that farmer, I was the first veterinarian to set foot on his property, at least for the horses.

The stories go on and on, but they are fading from my memory banks slowly.  They are memories that I cherish and tell often to others because in times like today, we need to know that things aren’t always what they appear to be.  Most of today’s ‘disease’ is created by the choices that we are making, both human and veterinary.  Sometimes we feel so overwhelmed that we perceive there is no way out.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  In reality, what we need to do is keep it simple.

Author:  Tom Schell, D.V.M, CVCH, CHN