Thanks to advances in care and veterinary treatment, horses can now live well into their 30s. Horses over the age of 15 years are classed as 'Veteran'. Owners of veteran horses need to know how to effectively care for the ageing horse so that they are happy and healthy in their twilight years.

The Veteran Horse Welfare Society∞ is a charity based in Wales, which is dedicated to rehabilitating and re-homing veteran horses and ponies. VHW provide veteran horse owners with information and support on how to correctly care for their veteran horse. Here are some of the useful tips for veteran horse owners to keep their equine friend happy in their latter years.

Keeping Your Veteran Horse Healthy

• Always aim to keep your veteran horse warm during the cold winter months. Have two outdoor rugs for your veteran so that when the winter rain and snow does come they have a warm dry rug to change into.

• Provide your veteran with a draft free stable and add bedding under the stable door to keep drafts out.

• Bandage legs when your horse is stabled at night, this helps keep your horse warm and also helps arthritis. Dry your horse's legs if they come in wet and use bandages which wick away the mud and water. Use large square foam gamgee and make sure the gamgee covers the knee and fetlock. Only lightly bandage the cannon bone, being careful not to make this too tight but not too lose to fall off.

• Supplements always help those older joints, but with so many equine supplements on the market, you need to make sure you get a well used and recommended product. Veteran supplements tend to be expensive so try using a 'normal’ horse product to see if that is effective before buying the more expensive veteran products. Always seek advice from an independent person such as a vet or equine nutritionist.

• Don’t leave your veteran horse standing out in cold wet mud, this will cause terrible problems with skin and joints.

• Regular dental checks by a fully qualified EDT dentist are vital for your veteran horse's health. If you don't have your horse's teeth checked regularly you will be unable to assess what or how much to feed or how to feed it.

• Boredom can be terrible for your veteran horse, so make sure your veteran always has turn out for at least 4 hours a day. Whilst your veteran horse is stabled provide them with toys and amusement such as mirrors and play balls. When you are mucking out or working in the stable you could have the radio on to provide them with a bit more stimulation. If your horse is in for ‘rest time’. You can take them for regular walks. This is very stimulating for veteran horses and can really keep them interested in life.

• If you don’t ride your veteran horse have your farrier remove their shoes to save money and just keep them trimmed.

Veteran Horse Dental Problems

It is extremely easy to feed a veteran horse with dental problems. Horses that can't easily chew may need a replacement for hay which requires chewing.
How to make a hay replacer for your veteran horse:
½ a large bucket of high fibre stalk feed (such as Fibregy by Dodson & Horrell)
1lb of high fibre cubes
4lb wet sugar beet, for those who do find weight hard to keep on.
½ bucket of water.
Let this stand for 2 hours or make in the morning for the evening. Always use a cube or nut manufactured feed, soaking it to a pate type feed before feeding, add 1 pint of water to every 2lb (1 scoop) of cube feed e.g. 16+ for high protein intake and High Fibre Cubes for low protein in take.

Bedding for Veteran Horses

Avoid using straw bedding for your veteran. The Veteran Horse Welfare use wood chip, which gives an ideal bed for those with poor joints or laminitis and provides adequate comfort to horses of all sizes.
Avoid deep litter bedding as this can cause breathing problems for some veterans and even risks 'COPD' (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Deep bedding can also affect their legs, which will require veterinary treatment.

Find out more at the Veteran Horse Welfare Society∞ Website

Visit the Veteran Horse Society∞ Website

Guide to Buying Veteran Horse Insurance∞

Many thanks to Julianne Aston, Founder of Veteran Horse Welfare and Veteran Horse Society for the article content.

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