b'Y ou cant help getting older, but you dont have to get old. The immortal words of late comedian George Burns might very well apply to our horses. With their elevation in status from work animals to com-panions, horses average lifespan has increased dramatically over the past several decades. Many horses continue to lead active and productive lives well into their 20s and 30s, says Jo Ireland, BVMS, PhD, CertAVP(EM), MRCVS, a lecturer in equine prac-tice at the University of Liverpools School of Veterinary Science, in Leahurst, U.K. Albeit rare, reports of horses living to be 50 do exist.While some (owners) focus on age in years, others instead assess their horses physiologic age and base aging on functionality and the presence or absence of age-related diseases, she adds.Burns words of wisdom aside, Ireland attests that horses over 15 years are generally classified as old, whereas those 30 and above are very old. In human medicine, a common term for this population is late elderly.The number of horses surviving 30 years or more is, not surprisingly, small. Current estimates suggest that only 2.2% of all horses and ponies in the U.K., for instance, are over 30. In this article well review the unique needs of very old horses. Well also meet five horses beyond 30 with age-related ailments. Elderly Horses Aches and PainsTo understand how to best support seniors, we first need to learn which body systems mostly commonly develop problems. Catherine McGowan, BVSc, MACVSc, Dipl. EIM, ECEIM, FRCVS, professor and director of the equine division at the University of Liverpool, says clinicians collecting case data at referral centers tend to report acute conditions such as colic, whereas veterinarians conducting field-based studies tend to note more chronic conditions. Results from British and Australian field studies show the leading causes of morbid-ity (illness) in horses 15 years and older as: 1.Dental abnormalities, including cheek teeth issues, diastemata (gaps between teeth), excessive wear, and focal overgrowths, in 95-96% of examined older horses;2.Dermatological abnormalities such as hypertrichiosis (long wavy coat/failure to shed), skin tumors, and Culicoides (biting midges) hypersensitivity in 40-71%;3.Ophthalmic lesions such as cataracts, vitreous degeneration, and senile retinopathy in 88-94%;LAURA PALAZZOLOTheHorse.com|The HorseMay 202019'