Oh, those wacky Brits and their long-lived horses! (Must be all that beer they drink?) Remus, a rare Suffolk Punch believed to be the oldest of his breed, has died in Stowmarket at the age of 28. Story link Now I’m curious: do drafts tend to live as long as light horses? I can’t say I’ve really given it much thought before.
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I’ve never seen anything about the longevity of drafts compared to light breeds. It would be interesting to know. I wonder if it would be like dogs where the larger breeds don’t live as long as the smaller ones.
I came across a picture of a 40 year old horse on a blog the other day, now I’m wishing I had bookmarked it. The more I think about it, the more curious I am.
I think what you are seeing here is the Suffolk breed’s publicity machine at work. They are trying so hard to preserve this rare breed of horse, I have a lot of respect for their efforts (and their horses). They are making news (and getting coverage) over stories like this one.
As for longevity, it seems like ponies live forever and survive everything.
The Veteran Horse Society in Wales has a terrific web site about aged horses. It’s a wonderful group.
Typically we are told by folks who use and keep drafts and by our vet’s that 20 is old for a Draft. I have a retired draft cross boarded at my farm, Willie. He is ~26 this year, 1800 pounds, has cushings and an arthritic hock. he has been on twice daily 1 gram doses of Bute for almost 4 years now. His owner was told he wouldn’t live much more than a year when she retired him 4 years ago.
Wow, 28, that is a great age for such a big horse.
Marc
From Stowmarket