123 US senior horses: Prevalence of medical conditions and routine preventative veterinary care

Abstract

Although senior horses (aged ≥ 15 years) account for up to one-third of the equine population, information regarding their health and management is currently limited in the US To address this gap, we conducted a US-wide survey with senior horse owners. The present project is a subsection of this study with the objectives to 1) determine the prevalence of medical conditions in senior horses, 2) assess the frequency of routine preventative veterinary care (RPVC) for senior horses, and 3) identify risk factors for lack of RPVC. The anonymous survey was distributed through a press-release and social media channels and was online from Oct. 15th to Nov. 21st, 2020. Of 2927 started surveys, 2717 were eligible for analysis. Disease-prevalence estimates were calculated from response frequencies. For each RPVC frequency category (0, 1–2, ≥ 3 times/year) responses were counted and expressed as percentages. Risk factors for lack of RPVC were determined by binomial logistic regression, with P ≤ 0.05 indicating statistical significance. The top 5 veterinary-diagnosed medical conditions reported to affect horses at the time of the survey were: osteoarthritis 29.8%, dental disorders 14.8%, lameness 13.9%, pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction 11.8%, and ocular disorders 6.0% (n = 2433 total responses to question). The 5 most reported non-veterinary diagnosed (i.e., self-diagnosed, farrier-diagnosed, etc..)medical conditions were: osteoarthritis 10.8%, lameness 4.5%, dental disorders 3.3%, abscess 2.3%, and gastric ulcers 1.9% (n = 2247). Overall, 36.0% of owners stated that their horse did not have any veterinary-diagnosed medical conditions (n = 2433), while 28.6% reported that their horse had no veterinary or non-veterinary diagnosed condition (n = 2236). Most horses had received RPVC 1–2 times during the year before the survey (75.5%), while 14.3% had received RPVC more frequently, and 10.2% never during that year (n = 2402). The risk of no RPVC during the year before the survey was significantly higher for pleasure, semi-retired, and retired horses when compared with competition horses (P < 0.05) and was also higher in retired horses compared with pleasure horses (P < 0.05). In conclusion, about 2-thirds of senior horses were reportedly affected by at least one veterinary-diagnosed medical condition, with osteoarthritis being the condition most frequently reported. Diagnosis for medical conditions was predominantly made by veterinarians and rarely by other individuals. While most horses had received at least one RPVC visit during the year before the survey, retired senior horses were at a particularly high risk of not having received any RPVC that year.