Riding Into The Sunset

Do the rewards outweigh the challenges of keeping a veteran horse? Lucy Higginson weighs it up

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THE vision of a much-loved old horse seeing out their days in lush grass, comfort and good company is one most of us aspire to, but few of us manage. For one thing, as many know, a lot of effort goes into keeping that horse — and field — healthy.

Ann Atkinson, whose beloved gelding Patrick is now 25, agrees, but it’s a commitment she is very happy to meet.

“After seven years of fun with Patrick, he retired when he developed white line disease and a shopping list of ailments, including arthritis,” she explains.

Patrick has now been retired at Ann’s Isle of Man home for six years, living with her other three horses and with access to “two superdeluxe field shelters”.

“I pick his feet out religiously each day, groom him twice a week and rug him in winter,” Ann continues. “With a sachet of Danilon [anti-inflammatory] in his small daily feed, farriery and the dentist and so on, it’s quite a commitment and if I was having to pay livery for him I’d have to think again. But we have nice fields, I absolutely adore him and he’s given me so much. That daily cuddle with Patrick is worth it emotionally for me.”

Turning a horse out to enjoy his final years sounds simple, but it’s vital to have the right fields, routine and company. Mud fever seems more prevalent on some soil types than others, for example.

Vet Karen Coumbe of Bell Equine Clinic in Kent, advises: “You need enough space to allow horses to move freely and maintain some degree of muscle strength when they are no longer in work. If you have more land with fewer horses in it, you will have less mud, too, which is kinder on older limbs.