My horse has grown old

Senior Horse Health™

Older horses involve several systems at once: teeth, gut, metabolism, movement, immune system, cellular supply.

Dental & Oral Health

Eating poorly, dropping feed, weight loss, bad breath.

Metabolism & Endocrine

Excess weight, a tendency to laminitis, Cushing's, a burdened metabolism — endocrine topics affect the whole organism.

A cheek tooth can fracture or become infected at the root tip (apical infection). In the rear upper cheek teeth the roots reach into the maxillary sinus, so a root infection can trigger a secondary (dental) sinusitis. The findings are painful and need prompt veterinary clarification.

In the old horse, the lifelong erupting teeth eventually wear down, leaving gaps, loose teeth or missing cheek teeth (dental insufficiency). The horse can no longer chew its roughage sufficiently — it forms feed wads and drops them (quidding), the risk of choke rises and it slowly loses weight. With adapted feed management, many of these horses remain well supplied.

The coat change is a metabolically intensive phase; a sluggish, delayed or incomplete change can indicate increased nutrient demand, metabolic strain or an underlying disease. In older horses, a delayed coat change is a classic warning sign of PPID (Cushing).

KPU is a term widely discussed in practice for a presumed metabolic/detoxification disorder, but it is NOT recognised in established veterinary medicine as a distinct, scientifically proven disease. Robust studies are lacking; the attributed symptoms are non-specific and can have many other causes.

A diastema is an abnormal gap between two neighbouring cheek teeth. Feed can become trapped in such gaps (food pocketing), inflaming the gums and periodontal apparatus (periodontitis). This is considered one of the most painful oral diseases of the horse.

EOTRH is a painful, progressive disease, mainly of the incisors and canines of older horses. Tooth substance is broken down by odontoclasts (resorption), while the body partly reacts with excessive cement formation (hypercementosis), bulging the tooth roots. The cause is not yet fully understood.

The equine melanoma is a tumour of the pigment-forming cells that predominantly affects older greys (grey horses) — very common in old greys. Typical sites are the underside of the tail/dock, the anal region/perineum, the lips and the parotid (salivary gland) region. Many melanomas grow slowly over years and seem benign at first, but a considerable proportion can become malignant, grow invasively or spread — a reliable prediction is not possible from the outside.

Many older horses lose weight and especially muscle (sarcopenia) over time, particularly over the topline and hindquarters. This is almost always multifactorial — tooth wear, hormonal changes (PPID), declining feed utilisation, pain or competition in the herd act together. Weight loss in old age is not a normal part of ageing but a reason to look specifically for the causes.

In hyperlipemia, mobilised fatty acids flood the blood and are deposited as fat in the liver — triggered by a negative energy balance (feed refusal, stress, pregnancy/lactation). Ponies, donkeys and miniature horses are especially affected; the course can be life-threatening.

With age, the horse's immune system changes: defence reacts more slowly and less specifically, while a low-grade chronic inflammatory tendency rises (inflammaging). As a result, older horses can be more susceptible to infections, heal more slowly and respond more weakly to vaccinations. A concurrent PPID disease can further intensify these effects.

Insulin dysregulation is a disturbed sugar/insulin metabolism with an excessive or sustained insulin response, often the core of EMS. It is considered a central risk factor for endocrinopathic laminitis and is objectified via blood diagnostics.

Insulin dysregulation with a tendency to obesity and a high risk of endocrinopathic laminitis. Common in easy-keeper breeds/ponies.

Not only deficiency but also an imbalance of major and trace elements (e.g. the ratio of copper to zinc or calcium to phosphorus) can affect skin, horn, muscle and metabolism. Since hay varies strongly by region, imbalances are best assessed via ration and blood analysis.

Injuries to the oral mucosa, tongue, bars (toothless jaw area) or lips often arise from ill-fitting or harshly used bits, sharp tooth edges or foreign bodies (e.g. wood splinters, awns). They are painful and can markedly impair eating and contact with the bit.

Overweight is widespread in leisure horses and not a cosmetic issue: excess body fat is metabolically active and raises the risk of insulin dysregulation and laminitis. The Body Condition Score (BCS) helps to assess condition objectively.

Dysfunction of the pituitary gland (pars intermedia) with hormone dysregulation, mainly in older horses. Raises the laminitis risk, among others.

Very old horses often carry several chronic burdens at once (multimorbidity) — such as osteoarthritis, PPID, tooth loss and declining condition. This entry is not a single disease but a framework for honestly assessing quality of life: how are pain, mobility, eating and social contact? It also includes thinking in time and with empathy about the vet-guided decision to say goodbye.

Horse teeth grow throughout life and wear down through chewing. Because the upper jaw is wider than the lower, sharp enamel points form on the outer edges of the upper and the inner edges of the lower cheek teeth, which can press into the cheek or tongue. They are among the most common findings at a routine dental check.

A lipoma is a benign fatty nodule that can form in the abdomen on the suspensory band of the intestine (mesentery). In older horses and ponies such a lipoma often hangs on a cord-like stalk — if this stalk wraps around a loop of intestine, the gut is strangled and cut off from its blood supply. This is an acute, highly painful and often surgical colic emergency.

Wolf teeth are small, vestigial teeth sitting directly in front of the first cheek tooth — usually in the upper jaw and not present in every horse. They are harmless in themselves but can cause pressure and irritation where the bit lies, which is why they are often removed before backing.