Our horses are living longer, healthier lives, thanks to advances in equine medicine and nutrition. Nonetheless, most horse owners ultimately find themselves taking a long, hard look at their aging horses, assessing quality of life, and making difficult decisions about euthanasia. Researchers have examined the top reasons for death and euthanasia in older horses, shedding light for the first time on what medical conditions actually cause death or necessitate euthanasia in aged equines.

"Previous studies have suggested that one of the most common reasons that horse owners choose to have their geriatric horses, which are those over 15 years of age, euthanized is due to ‘old age,’" said Joanne Ireland, BVMS, MRCVS, a research assistant at the University of Liverpool in England.

However, because "old age" is not a specific cause of death, Ireland and colleagues launched this retrospective study–the first examining medical causes of death in senior horses–which involved surveying owners of geriatric horses