Horses living into their twenties and thirties face specific health challenges. Welfare-positive geriatric care addresses these needs through attentive management and veterinary support.
Geriatric horse welfare requires proactive management as multiple age-related conditions commonly coexist and interact. A senior horse with PPID, dental disease causing chewing difficulty, and arthritis restricting movement has three concurrent welfare challenges each affecting the others. Failing to address dental disease means the horse cannot adequately consume the additional calories needed to maintain weight against the metabolic demands of PPID. The welfare-positive approach to senior horse care maintains attentive monitoring of body condition, dental health, and mobility indicators, addresses each condition proactively rather than reactively, and makes honest quality of life assessments as multiple conditions accumulate.