I have a 15 y/o Morgan mare, who is currently in great condition and has had no major health problems since I have owned her (knock on wood).  I would like to ensure that she stays healthy as she gets into her senior years.  She is the only horse that I have ever had so I would like some tips to keep her in top condition. Here is a quick synopsis of her regular care:

Workload

• Summer: 5-7 moderate-heavy rides/week
• Winter 3-5 light-moderate rides/week
• Trailriding, lateral movements, cavaletti

Feed

• Unlimited Hay, Water, Salt
• Unlimited Grass during Summer
• Turnout 24/7 (weather permitting)
• Small Amount of Sweet Feed in winter

Other

• Use Front and Rear Splint Boots
• I do Equine Massage so Monthly Massage
• Stretches Daily

If there is anything else that I should be doing I would love to know.  I have thought about putting her on joint supplements as well, but was unsure of how well they work.  I'm aiming to prevent any problems, rather than having to treat them when the time comes.

Thanks in Advance!

Ditch the sweet feed.

Morgans are on the predisposed list for metabolic issues and she is at the prime age to develop them.

 It helps immensely that you are able to ride her as often as you do.

Ditch the sweet feed and replace it with a high quality ration balancer since she is essentially a forage only horse -- a good thing:)

Our beloved pastures can more oten than not be cause of metabolic issues because of all the sugars in the grasses.  Keep an on her for subtle personality changes such as:

1.  Maybe she seems to tire out faster these days.

2.  Maybe she's a tad nippy and didn't used to be.

3.  If she's out 24/7 maybe she lies down more frequently and for longer periods of time than she used to.

4.  Puffiness above and below the eyes that didn't used to be there.  Excessively watery eyes that the vet might try and say are blocked tear ducts but aren't.

Those are the very early and very subtle warning signs of impending insulin issues.

The smack-you-in-the-face, the-man-on-the-galloping horse signs that can't be missed would be the beginnings of hardness in the neck, fat deposits in the tail dock area and what I call cellulite on the buttocks.

Did I mention ditch the sweet feed?  My apologies, but sweet feed is nothing more than a 50# bag of sugar with a little bit of oats and corn mixed in that no horse needs.  Not only does all that sugar go straight to the hooves, it also permeates thru the skin attracts flies -- if there are any of them brave enough to be out in in the winter.

If you ply her full of carrot and apple treats, cut the treats back -- they are both full of sugar.  She can still have them, just cut them back since she doesn't have metabolic issues and she may never get them but Morgans, Arabs, Tennessee Walkers and Drafts are right up there for Type II diabetes as they age.

Other than that, do you want to babysit my four? You'd have to put the grazing muzzle on the two with metabolic issues every day and put a rain coat on my 25-1/2 yr old Arab when it's cold and there's an all day rain but it sounds like they'd all be well cared for:)

Check her saddle fit often, at least every 6 months. As horses age their bodies change--like ours--and a saddle that fit at 10 might not fit at 15. Of course, the saddle fit check is good for any horse, but especially important for an aging horse. Juno is 15 this year, and the rep for the maker of her custom saddle was here last week. He said that he could tweak the flocking to make it fit "okay" now, but eventually I would need new panels. Juno's back is no longer as round as it was, and needs a wider gullet. Due to those factors, I opted to trade in my current saddle for a new one with a wider gullet and a new type of fit near the shoulder that flexes better as the horse's shoulder moves. You never want the saddle ON the shoulder, but this new style is more comfortable for the horse's shoulder as it moves in front of the saddle.

 Honestly?  I wouldn't change anything except perhaps switching her to a good senior feed instead of sweet feed.  But it doesn't sound like she gets much grain at this point.  She may need some in the future though, so it's always best to go for quality.  Keeping her fit and moving will go a long way.

I wouldn't exactly call 15 aging, but good on you for being proactive and thinking ahead!  If she is doing well on her current regimen, I would not worry about supplements, etc, the best "supplement" there is is living in a pasture and keeping that body in shape!

question re: ditch the sweet feed.  i give my horse unlimited hay and 1 pound (1/2 coffee can) of COB (corn, oats, bran, molasses) daily.  it's just a treat, but, maybe there's something better.

we used to feed sweet feed 30 yrs ago, again as a treat, but, times change.

Probably most of us have gone thru a period where we fed sweet feed to our horses.  That stuff smells so good in the winter, when they add more molasses, that I could pour milk over it and eat it myself - lol lol

All that sugar is not good for a horse on a daily basis - especially when they hit their teens and might be easy keepers.  They are Type II diabetes waiting to happen; that is, essentially, what insulin resistance and equine metabolic syndrome are. 

The OP's horse is 15 so she's hitting the age to where she could possibly develop metabolic issues.  Sweet feed will help speed that up.  Whatever the horse eats, goes straight to their hooves.  I liken too much sugar causing founder to a human's high acidic level causing major gout.  Doesn't happen to everyone but does seem to happen as one gets older if they don't modify their diet.

Plus I have a friend whos husband's nose is so sensitive he can pick out every horse on a trail ride that eats sweet feed.  When the horse sweats the sweet feed permeates thru their skin and that attracts even more flies.  They even ask the riders to be sure and, to-date, her husband's nose is 100% accurate.  He says sweet feed does not smell near as good coming thru sweaty skin as it does when you open the bag up - lol lol

Your horses need something to keep them warm; like the corn, etc..  If you work them all winter long, and the molasses isn't mixed in to where it's over-powering, it probably won't bother them. 

Geez, the last time I fed sweet feed was 20 years ago and that was the last time my mare colicked. She managed to curl herself around the uphill side of a fence post in her throws of pain. I went back to the bag and it smelled like beer....never again. Aside from the odd bag of oats, I haven't had store bought feed in my barn for years. Other than 4 births and regular vaccinations, the vet's never been here for any other reason either. She's 25 now, not prone to laminitis or IR problems, hasn't needed her teeth filed in the last 3 years and is not on any supplements for arthritis or anything else yet. (knock on wood) Never worn shoes, never been stalled.

I've made a lot of changes recently, though. I get my hay tested, balance it and supplement to fill the holes. Those major and trace minerals  are very important. She also gets Vit E year round and 2oz. of fresh ground flax for the omegas, salt and this year, I quit vaccinating her as well, after speaking with the vet.  I also use slow feeders for a trickle delivery and also to prevent ulcers. She's transitioned to the barefoot trim.  She's 25 now, the sorrel in the background in my pic.

Its great that you are riding as much as you are. I know they are happy to have a job to do and the movement is everything. Like a foal that needs more because he is growing, an older horse needs more because they aren't metabolizing things as efficiently. Your requirements will be higher than mine. 

Maybe some day when I go out there, I will find her starting to be laminitic, or developing Cushings. She's getting into the age bracket for it. All I can do is keep a sharp eye out for any changes and deal with them, should they come. In the meantime, I've got the sugar and starch down to 10% as if she were IR, and hopefully, she never will be. Glucosamine also can encourage IR, so I'm not going to turn to it as long as her joints are comfortable.  Oh, she also gets an apple a day to keep the vet away. I'm thinking after all these years, it must have worked, lol!

Hope this helps......

 

Missyclare:

 I quit vaccinating her as well, after speaking with the vet.

 Glucosamine also can encourage IR, so I'm not going to turn to it as long as her joints are comfortable.  Oh, she also gets an apple a day to keep the vet away. I'm thinking after all these years, it must have worked, lol!

Hope this helps......

All great advice; just wanted to emphasize that my vet also will not vaccinate my 25+ Arab or my 24 yo TWH.  The exception to that is rabies since no one's been vaccinated against it for six years and a mule died from confirmed rabies on the opposite end of my county last week.  Even that vax makes me nervous for my 24 yr old because he has Equine Metabolic Syndrome.

Ditto the glucosamine.  I don't use it.  I buy a pharmaceutical grade mix of chondroitin/msm and also a mix of hyalurin/boswelia, which is ok to use on metabolic horses.

No apples or carrots around here because I have two horses with metabolic issues; if they can't have apples or carrots, neither can the other two - lol

There's a newer product on the market that may interest you...Move-Ease  (mybesthorse.com) It's been getting rave reviews, including in the Horse Journal. No devil's claw in it either, which can cause ulcers. Yucca is not good either and is not in it. It was put together by a fellow student, who is enscounced in equine nutrition with a university. The teacher gave it the nod and many have come back with amazing results of horses moving much more comfortably. This is happening right now in my Cushings Group.

Missyclare:

There's a newer product on the market that may interest you...Move-Ease  (mybesthorse.com) It's been getting rave reviews, including in the Horse Journal. No devil's claw in it either, which can cause ulcers. Yucca is not good either and is not in it. It was put together by a fellow student, who is enscounced in equine nutrition with a university. The teacher gave it the nod and many have come back with amazing results of horses moving much more comfortably. This is happening right now in my Cushings Group.

Thanks for the link!  I bookmarked it:)

When you say "Cushings Group", is that the Yahoo Equine Cushings Group, or is there another group?  A good friend has a Paso Fino who is cushings/IR and belongs to the Yahoo Group; if there's another group, I'd like to let her know:)

I completely agree with Solaris--it sounds like your mare is getting top care.  If she were in my care and I wanted to feed grain, I'd probably switch her to ADM Senior Feed, which is based on forage so won't contain excessive sugars.  Plus, you can feed less of it--Purina's senior feed, for example, recommends around 10-12 pounds a day for a 1,000 pound horse, whereas you can feed 6 pounds of the ADM feed to the same horse.  But honestly, unless she seems to be losing weight, I'd just find her a supplement with Vitamin E (such as SmartOmega3 from smartpak.com) and feed her that throughout the winter and any time she won't have grass.  The grass will provide all of the nutrients she needs, and if the hay is good quality, she'll only be missing Vitamin E when on that.  If the hay/grass aren't high quality then I would consider putting her on a complete vitamin/mineral supplement to make sure she gets what she needs.  However, if her coat's shiny, she's in good weight, and she's happy, then she's probably getting exactly what she needs.

Thumbs up for giving her free choice hay (and grass when it's available); that's the best thing you can do for any horse!!

You are on top of the game! I agree with "ditch the sweet feed." A good SR feed would be a good choice. I had a Morgan -- easy keeper -- who foundered on grass so do be careful with spring/summer grass. I had to keep him in a stall from April to June/July when the grass settled down and then while stalled he was on a hay only diet. And he had to be limited on his grazing time when he was turned out. I didn't know glucosamine helped along IR. My grade QH is on Animed Aniflex GL for his joints. He's been on it for almost 5 years now and he's 25. He pulled up lame 2x right after I bought him until the Aniflex got into his system. He hasn't been lame since. His knees are fused together due to a rough life barrel racing and roping. As far as IR with him, I think he's okay but if I ever get another Morgan or one of the other breeds listed, I would think about using the glucosamine. I would also look into a good blanket. I use a mid-weight to heavy weight blanket for the colder weather and rain sheet if it is supposed to rain. He does have a hard time keeping himself warm since he can't chew hay flakes....we have switched to soaked with water hay cubes...that way I know he's getting his hay. Poor fellow doesn't have the teeth to chew the regular hay. And yes, do keep track of the teeth. If problems arise, do check with an equine dentist...not just the vet who floats. There may be other problems that the vet can't see or deal with. It does sound like you are doing the best you can for your mare. Keep it up and she should serve you well into her sr years!

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/

This one is started by Dr. Kellon (probably the same one), has 5 related history sites on past case studies and also a site for related hoof care, called ECHoof. Very, very busy! Other related sites have also spawned from this...DSLD, Equine Canker, Equine Founder, EPSM, NRC Plus Grads, all where you can follow particular problems. These sites originally began as a forum for students to ask questions about the courses they were taking. They've taken on a whole life of their own since then. Used to be, if you hadn't taken a course, you couldn't get into any of them, but now, they still make you "apply" but don't turn you down. If you ever get the itch to learn, go and lurk...cutting edge discussions.

 As for avoiding joint supplements, I'm doing that right now and successfully with 2oz. fresh ground flax daily. Great anti-inflammatory and balanced supply of omegas. The Move-Ease has been bookmarked for the future...that is if I can get it across the border! (grrr)