Balance his diet

Making sure your older horse gets all the nutrients he needs, as well as enough forage to keep his gut moving, is essential. Horses can spend up to 16 to 18 hours a day grazing and the more fibre in your horse’s diet, the easier he’ll find it to digest and get the right nutrients. If he spends his days outside, he’ll cope fine, but if he’s stabled, he’ll need high-fibre foods that are easy to digest. “As your horse ages, you’ll need to move over to the more complete feeds that are designed to be fed without the added forage,” says Claire. “A lot of people start giving their horse joint supplements when a problem starts to arise but the real key is prevention. Start giving your horse joint supplements in his late teenage years.” Joint supplements may help stiffness and flexibility. Check with your vet which product will benefit your horse most.