Sunday, July 1, 2012

Information About Older Horses And Horse Supplements

By Mark Givens


Horse supplements are excellent for the older horse. It keeps their bodies powerful and healthy. The weaknesses and strengths with your horse's feet will be well and truly revealed come old age. Some animals can go barefoot, while some might require frequent shoeing to have their feet in good condition. Much will be based upon whether your more mature horse is still in work. However, the biggest risk is from within: laminitis is a distressing disease which could result in permanent changes in the foot that can have potentially fatal consequences.

The important thing here is to keep your horse's weight in check, and its diet plan well-balanced. It would be nice to consider that your horse's old age will be free of ill-health as well as disease. Regrettably, just like people, later years may bring along with it numerous problems, some of which may be treated with success, while some involve management and control of the warning signs. Various forms of arthritis and joint disease are common. Discuss treatment with your veterinarian. Most treatments are targeted at lowering swelling and pain rather than helping the condition. Some medications have negative effects, so talk about the alternatives carefully with your vet.

Problems with the pituitary gland, leading to Cushing's disease, are also common. Treatment for Cushing's is affordable and will improve the horse's quality of life. Melanomas, or dangerous skin cancers, can arise, specifically in older greys. A lot more conditions can be managed as horses enter old age than was the case 20 years ago. The keys concerns are quality of life and freedom from pain.

Having older as well as younger animals housed with each other can present some trouble as more youthful horses tend to eat faster, and then go onto others' food. This means that older animals may need to be fed by itself and given plenty of time to eat. However they would not want to be separated for good. The rational and most used method is to stable horses during the night, where they've got plenty of time to eat, and then turn them out as a group throughout the day. If this is not an option however the animals must be supervised to figure out the very best arrangement. When serving in a large group it is important to have a minimum of one pile per horse so that everyone gets a chance to eat.

Dental problems may have far-reaching health ramifications: Not being able to correctly chew foods can lead to poor nutrition, weight loss and intestinal colic. If horse owners can do something for their horses to help them as they age, it would be to pay attention to their teeth. Terrible teeth can result in a world of problems in any animal and particularly a mature one. As the horse chews grains and grass, his teeth continually wear down. By the age of twenty, he might have worn away 1 1/2 inches of his 2 1/2-inch-long tooth. This wear isn't always even. Individual teeth can develop sharp points, and molars can become out of line, making eating painful or impossible for an elderly animal.

Horse supplements can help your older horse. Poor mastication, in turn, puts a horse at greater risk of choke and colic as huge pieces of food pass through an esophagus and gastrointestinal tract designed to process smaller morsels. In extraordinary instances, older horses may be unable to chew up hay enough to swallow it at all. Even if consumed, poorly chewed food can't be broken down optimally. Whenever there's an older horse that isn't holding his weight or just isn't thriving, make it a point to check out his teeth.




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