We love our Senior citizens here at SAFE. We’ve been fortunate to have met quite a few in our years of horse rescue. One such notable senior was a mare named Sarah. Abandoned at an auction yard at the approximate age of 25, Sarah was rescued, rehabilitated and eventually adopted to Melanie Baird at Bedlam Farm in Woodinville. No stranger to senior horse care herself, Melanie took tremendous care of Sarah, providing her with everything she needed for good health and comfort. Melanie sent us this update in late 2010, “Sarah is doing great…she’s at least 30 this year and looks PHENOMENAL!…She is a pretty happy pony; she’s on Adequan, Naroxin, MSM and gets touched up by our chiropractor & massage therapist. And she gets around just fine, thank you very much!”
In fact, Sarah’s health and condition was so exceptional that she was featured in an article written by Dr. Ron Colton, DVM on managing health and quality of life in the older horse. The article, called Live Long, Live Well, was published in the December 2009 issue of Northwest Horse Source.
Click here to download a copy of Live Long, Live Well by Ron Colton DVM
Read Sarah’s story in its entirety by clicking here.
The subject of senior horse care is particularly near and dear to our hearts because if there is one thing a horse rescuer hates to hear, it’s “Oh, that horse is skinny because he’s old.” On the scale of lame excuses for poor equine health, that one scores a 10. Let’s show you what a senior horse is supposed to look like (click to enlarge):
Former SAFE horse JR at the approximate age of 30
Former SAFE horse Ginger, at 26
