Re: [RC] Beet pulp and cigarettes (now colics) - Barbara McCrary
When I got my first horse, in 1946, she was said to be
5. One simply did not buy a horse over 8, because anything much beyond
that was "over the hill." I never even heard of worming a horse back then,
nor floating teeth, nor vaccinations. I think I must have fed her alfalfa,
because we had a milk cow, and I'm fairly certain that's all we had for
both. I parted with her at 17, because she was blind in one eye
and had severe ringbone in both front. She had "moon blindness" (periodic
ophthalmia) and the ringbone probably came from riding on paved roads much
of the time. Such changes in horse care since then....
Subject: Re: [RC] Beet pulp and
cigarettes (now colics)
I agree with Ed on this one. From what I remember "back
in the day", a 20 year old horse was old. If you were looking to buy a
horse, you didn't buy one much over 12, because they only had a few good years
left in them.
Horses got wormed once or maybe twice a year, had their teeth checked
maybe every couple of years, and were hand-floated (no power tools or mouth
speculums), and got straight alfalfa hay, maybe with some wheat bran once a
week.
