A geriatric or senior horse is typically one that is twenty years old or older. They often begin needing specialized care around this part of their life, because things simply begin to wear out. Just like humans, things start to not work as well as they once did. Their eyes, teeth, joints, liver, gut and kidneys all begin to lose their functionality. These are the areas of the older horse that you must begin to pay more attention to.

Many horse owners don’t know that there are at least four types of Equine Herpesvirus. The ones that we associate the most are EHV-1 and EHV-4. EHV-1 is the most prevalent and often the most destructive to the horse. EHV-1 causes severe respiratory problems, abortion in mares and neurological disease. EHV-4 causes upper respiratory infection only. Most horses, however, contract EHV-1 and is it usually first diagnosed by runny noses, fevers, coughs and broodmares that are aborting.