Horses now routinely live into their 30s, and the welfare needs of geriatric horses — dental care, weight management, joint pain — require specific management that many owners are not prepared for.
Senior horses require increasingly intensive management to maintain welfare as their needs diverge from younger companions. An old horse that cannot compete at the hay net loses weight progressively; dental disease causes chronic pain during eating; unmanaged Cushings disease impairs multiple organ systems. The welfare failure in geriatric horse care often involves delayed recognition of deteriorating quality of life — owners reluctant to acknowledge the approach of death delay euthanasia decisions while their horses experience preventable suffering. Proactive geriatric care and timely euthanasia decisions are both essential.