Quality preventive care and several quick vet calls helped Taz stay happy and healthy into his late 20s, despite having arthritis and uveitis. | Photo: Deborah Larson

In my experience, it’s easier to keep a healthy senior horse in good shape than it is to bring an ailing one back to health. That’s not to say it can’t be done—I know it can be done, as I’ve had a hand in bringing several old horses back from illness or injury—but I’m convinced it’s easier to do all you can to prevent problems from happening or getting worse in the first place.

That’s why 18-year-old Dorado and the rest of my family’s aging and senior horses have always received:

• The American Association of Equine Practitioners’ core vaccines (Eastern/Western equine encephalomyelitis , rabies, tetanus, and West Nile virus ) and some risk-based ones (mainly botulism, equine herpesvirus, influenza, and Potomac horse fever), as needed;
• Regular dewormings;
• Regular dental care;
• Semi-annual (at least) wellness examinations;
• Good nutrition;
• Regular exercise, be it under saddle, in hand, or self-exercise in the pasture;
• Regular farriery care; and
• Veterinary care as needed for issues that might pop up.

I think that’s part of the reason we’ve been very lucky to have had very healthy seniors over the years. But try as we might, we can’t prevent all health problems from developing