Horse years?

[Slew83]

Dog years its seven. What is it for horses?

[Green Hills]

Dog years its seven. What is it for horses?

Some days it feels like a hundred....

[briarhalo]

I read recently that it is 2.2.

[BJ]

I read recently that it is 2.2.

Hi Claire!

That would mean, if the average horse lives to about 14 years (barring the usual dangers), then the average lifespan of a horse (that is allowed to live out its natural life) would only be 35 years (in human years). That doesn't sound quite right (to me). I think, like in cats, it starts out being a larger number, i.e., 7years. Then, as the horse grows older, the progression of horse years vs human years slows down, i.e., 3-4 years per human year. ?????

[Green Hills]

I read recently that it is 2.2.

Hi Claire!

That would mean, if the average horse lives to about 14 years (barring the usual dangers), then the average lifespan of a horse (that is allowed to live out its natural life) would only be 35 years (in human years). That doesn't sound quite right (to me). I think, like in cats, it starts out being a larger number, i.e., 7years. Then, as the horse grows older, the progression of horse years vs human years slows down, i.e., 3-4 years per human year. ?????

What? Average horse lives to be 14? That's all? I don't believe that...most of my horses have lived considerably past 20 and some even past 30...
14?

[briarhalo]

Ok......so I had a Barbie moment......lol. Looking back at it, does look kind of dumb doesn't it, but really I did read it somewhere. Now, maybe I don't remember quite all the info that was in what I read, so I guess I could have gotten things a little screwy. Ooopsie. Ok, I hear it all goes once you have hit 40, so that's the excuse I am going to use. I just recently turned 40. So there.......lmao!

[Inyureye]

Well, lets look at it this way. What if the average horse lifespan was 30, and the average human lifespan was 80. Its not, I think the AVERAGE human year is less, but who know. That would be a ratio of what 2.4 (human years) or something to 1 horse year? So, a 10 yo horse is like a 24 yo human. Sounds about right, performance and maturity wise. Functioning well or at least consistently been working up to functioning consistently , for the first time, probably. Then what, a 15 yo horse would be like a 36 yo human, a 20yo horse like a 48 yo, starting to ache and slow down but if kept in work, has lots of umph left. Get him to 30 yo, and he's hanging around the pasture, eating and enjoying the sunshine, but might be having lots of age realted ills. Average human at 80 with a previously active life, probably about the same.

[Green Hills]

Well, lets look at it this way. What if the average horse lifespan was 30, and the average human lifespan was 80. Its not, I think the AVERAGE human year is less, but who know. That would be a ratio of what 2.4 (human years) or something to 1 horse year? So, a 10 yo horse is like a 24 yo human. Sounds about right, performance and maturity wise. Functioning well or at least consistently been working up to functioning consistently , for the first time, probably. Then what, a 15 yo horse would be like a 36 yo human, a 20yo horse like a 48 yo, starting to ache and slow down but if kept in work, has lots of umph left. Get him to 30 yo, and he's hanging around the pasture, eating and enjoying the sunshine, but might be having lots of age realted ills. Average human at 80 with a previously active life, probably about the same.

Maybe it's a breed thing...we have a 23 year old mare who is still showing and still winning. She's not a TB but a QH...maybe that's the difference. She's just as beautiful and talented as she was at 4 (still a Jr. Horse at 4)

[BJ]

Well, lets look at it this way. What if the average horse lifespan was 30, and the average human lifespan was 80. Its not, I think the AVERAGE human year is less, but who know. That would be a ratio of what 2.4 (human years) or something to 1 horse year? So, a 10 yo horse is like a 24 yo human. Sounds about right, performance and maturity wise. Functioning well or at least consistently been working up to functioning consistently , for the first time, probably. Then what, a 15 yo horse would be like a 36 yo human, a 20yo horse like a 48 yo, starting to ache and slow down but if kept in work, has lots of umph left. Get him to 30 yo, and he's hanging around the pasture, eating and enjoying the sunshine, but might be having lots of age realted ills. Average human at 80 with a previously active life, probably about the same.

Maybe it's a breed thing...we have a 23 year old mare who is still showing and still winning. She's not a TB but a QH...maybe that's the difference. She's just as beautiful and talented as she was at 4 (still a Jr. Horse at 4)

I definitely think it is a "breed thing", but also, "averages" can't really be broadly applied because of so many factors. Racehorses, THESE DAYS, don't seem to live nearly as long as they used to. They, seem to be dropping like flies, in fact. Clearly, how they are treated from start to finish plays a huge part in the number. But just like all the other highly skewed and inaccurate statistics with horses, since there is no real way to track them, we can only take the ones we know where they still are and how they end their lives. That's not a good sampling, IMO, because those horses usually ARE being well cared for. We KNOW, a well cared for horse lives to its 20's and even 30's. It's those other "unknowns" that don't get counted.

Even still, 2.4 human years per horse year (which I will round out to 2.5 for ease of math) only comes to 48-72 (total life) with horses starting to compete at the age of 5 & 7.5 (in human years). Sure would like to see an intelligent study on the issue. Would help in making racing and breeding decisions, IMO. I still think a formula, such as they use with cats, makes more "realistic" sense, IF you are to compare to human development.

And Claire...no fair using the Barbie & Senior excuse in one instance! I'm sure you did read such an article. Problem is, unless we know what they were including in their "formula", it doesn't stack up to be able to be compared to human years development and life cycle, IMO.

[Cheyenne]

Dog years its seven. What is it for horses?

Here is a graph

http://www.geocities.com/horseluvasclub/years.html

Human Years Horse Years
1 ======== 4.5
2 ======== 9
3 ======== 13.5
4 ======== 16
5 ======== 18.5
6 ======== 21
7 ======== 23.5
8 ======== 26
9 ======== 28.5
10 ======= 31
11 ======= 33.5
12 ======= 36
13 ======= 38.5
14 ======= 41
15 ======= 43.5
16 ======= 46
17 ======= 48.5
18 ======= 51

[Tairaterces]

John Henry just turned 30 but in horse years he's 98.

T

[BJ]

John Henry just turned 30 but in horse years he's 98.

T

So then, by that reasoning, it is 3.26 human years to every horse year????

[Khaled]

This shows the problem with attaching an equivalent between horse and human life spans. When a constant conversion factor is applied between the two species, the assumption is that the relationship is linear. However, the relationship is certainly not linear. Physiologically and developmentaly horse and humans are too different to compare so simplistically. The different life stages of each animal has different purposes. For example, brain development in humans uses considerable energy and makes devlopment quite different from other animals that do not require intense brain development. I always wondered at the whole idea of 1 human year is 7 dogs year, which scientifically makes no sense.

As a side note all development of animals and plants are related by a few equations with mass to fractions of the fourth power such as 3/4, 5/8, etc because they have the same metabolic processes. Unfortunately these equations only relate mass and size but not lifespan.

[Green Hills]

This shows the problem with attaching an equivalent between horse and human life spans. When a constant conversion factor is applied between the two species, the assumption is that the relationship is linear. However, the relationship is certainly not linear. Physiologically and developmentaly horse and humans are too different to compare so simplistically. The different life stages of each animal has different purposes. For example, brain development in humans uses considerable energy and makes devlopment quite different from other animals that do not require intense brain development. I always wondered at the whole idea of 1 human year is 7 dogs year, which scientifically makes no sense.

As a side note all development of animals and plants are related by a few equations with mass to fractions of the fourth power such as 3/4, 5/8, etc because they have the same metabolic processes. Unfortunately these equations only relate mass and size but not lifespan.

ooff!!!!
All that math is well beyond my little blonde brain...LOL!!!
But I do think you're right (if my assessment of your point is right). Numbers mean a whole lot less than development at certain stages of life...but you know people always want the easy answer...

[Cheyenne]

Here is a graph

http://www.geocities.com/horseluvasclub/years.html

Human Years Horse Years
1 ======== 4.5
2 ======== 9
3 ======== 13.5
4 ======== 16
5 ======== 18.5
6 ======== 21
7 ======== 23.5
8 ======== 26
9 ======== 28.5
10 ======= 31
11 ======= 33.5
12 ======= 36
13 ======= 38.5
14 ======= 41
15 ======= 43.5
16 ======= 46
17 ======= 48.5
18 ======= 51

The year ratio reduces as the horse gets older

" A new horse/human age chart was released in January 2003, that seeks to explain the relationship between the stages of life for humans and horses. It revealed that beginning at birth, horses age 6.5 years for each human year. Once the horse reaches age four , however, the rate slows to 2.5 years for each human year. Created by veterinarians, the chart is intended to help horse owners better relate to and understand the health issues their horses experience at each stage of life.
( information obtained from Just About Horses magazine)"