It’s often easy to guess the age of our human friends but we all know that it’s harder to do that when it comes to our little non-talkative furry friends. It’s known that for cats and dogs we need to somehow translate their age into human years to get a general ideea but what about our other animal friends? What about horses? How long do horses live?
Horses might not be your usual pet, but still they’re very appreciated by many people for both utilitarian and entertainment purposes, so knowing details like their average age will provide us with a better understanding of our animal friend in various situations.
How Long Do Horses Live
According to the research and advancements done in the fields of treatment and veterinarian medicine, there are good news ahead. It seems that the lifespan of our horse friends is getting longer. Well, at least for those under our care, not for the wild ones.
The general answer to how long horses live spins around the age of 28 years (human years), plus or minus 5 years. So somewhere between 23 and 33 years, though there are exceptions too, as many horses tend to live well beyond their thirties. You might be surprised, yet the record age ever documented in a horse was 52 years old.
But as you might expect, there are numerous variables that influence the lifespan of horses.
Breed and Size
First it’s of course the breed of the horse. The Arabian breed of horses are known to have a longer life span than your average horse.
Then there’s as well the size of the horse that seems to play a role in the general lifespan of these animals. The Arabian breed are in general smaller sized than other horses, which might have an impact on the overall variables that go into play when calculating the lifespan.
Ponies are another great example when it comes to size, as they tend to live much longer than a normal horse.
Human Care and Supervision
Aside from those natural considerations there is also the impact that we have in this matter. Domestic horses and the care they receive in equine centers and facilities has a great impact to a horse’s lifespan in a positive way.
Many people have noticed that the very good care of their horses keeps them alive a lot longer, and the advancements in medical care in this field helps a lot to keep adult horses alive for a little longer than their expected lifespan.
From a statistical point of view, a domestic horse has up to 50% more chances of dying of old age than a wild horse.
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