Feel her condition rather than trusting your eyes
A mare you see every day changes too gradually for your eyes to catch it. The honest test is your hands: ribs that feel smoothly padded rather than sharp or buried, hip bones that are rounded instead of angular, and a topline that still carries muscle either side of her spine. Broodmares often lose that topline first — years of carrying foals and nursing them leave the back looking dipped and the quarters peaked even when the belly looks round. Score her weekly, note what you feel, and act on a downward drift early; putting condition back on a very old mare is far harder than holding it.
Feed for the teeth she has now
Most late-life weight loss in mares starts in the mouth. Worn, loose or missing molars mean long hay gets rolled into quids and dropped instead of chewed, so the fibre never reaches her gut. Watch for quidding, slow eating, feed dropping from her mouth and long stems in her droppings. If hay is defeating her, move to soaked hay replacer or short-chop fibre and soaked mash feeds she can manage without grinding, split into several small meals through the day. Keep clean water close by — soaking feeds add moisture, which helps an old gut, but she still needs to drink freely.
Comfort for joints that carried foals
A broodmare's hocks, fetlocks and back have done heavy work. Give her turnout on ground that is not deep mud or rut-hard, because both punish stiff joints, and a field shelter or stable with a deep, dry bed she can lie in without struggling to rise. Watch how she gets up: repeated rocking, hesitation or resting a hind leg unusually often are her way of reporting discomfort. Gentle daily movement suits her better than weekend exertion — wandering a paddock with a companion does more for her stiffness than standing in, however kind the bedding.
Build her up before winter starts asking questions
Late winter is when retired broodmares fade: months of cold, mud and dry forage draw on reserves exactly when her teeth and gut extract the least from every mouthful. Use the kinder months deliberately — if she is borderline in autumn, feed her up gradually while the weather still helps you, rather than chasing lost weight in the depths of winter. Wind is a condition thief for a thin old mare standing in an exposed field, so weigh shelter and a well-fitted rug as feeding decisions, not clothing choices, and re-check her under that rug by hand every week.
Company, feet and the quiet routines
Retired does not mean sidelined. Keep her with a calm companion she already knows, trim her feet on a regular cycle even though she is unshod and unridden — overgrown feet change her stance and load sore joints — and keep her rug checks, grooming and handling familiar. Grooming is not vanity for an old mare: it is your chance to find lumps, scabs, heat in a leg and the first rubs under a rug before they become sores. Call your vet promptly if she loses weight despite eating well, stops finishing feeds, chokes, goes off her legs or seems dull and withdrawn — in a mare of her age those are same-week problems, not wait-and-see ones. Her whole late-life picture — dental findings, weight notes, feeding changes and vet visits — belongs in one packet, and her KinsLe Pet Passport keeps that packet together so any vet or helper meeting her for the first time sees the mare's story, not a stranger.