Ground she can lie on and rise from safely
The ability to lie down and get up again is the foundation of an old horse's comfort, and it fails on hard, slippery or deep-clinging ground. Give her a deeply bedded stable or a sheltered, dry, soft patch of field she chooses herself, with level footing around it, and watch her use it: a horse who stops lying down because rising has become frightening is a horse losing her rest and her strength. Keep her world small — water, forage and shelter within a short, easy walk — so no necessity ever costs her a painful journey.
Eating and drinking without effort
Bring everything to her level and her pace. Feed soaked, easy-chew feeds in a wide container on the ground or at the height she naturally eats from, in small meals spread through the day so her gut is never empty or overloaded. Put hay or its replacer where she rests rather than across the field, keep water close and easy to drink deeply from, and notice honestly whether she is still enjoying food or merely attempting it — appetite is one of the truest gauges you have of how she feels.
Company, touch and a familiar world
Do not isolate her for her own protection unless her companions bully her: an old horse draws measurable comfort from the friend she knows, grazing or dozing within sight and touch. Keep her handling gentle and predictable, groom her if she has always liked it, and let her days be boring in the best way. Routine itself is a comfort at this stage of her life. If she must be kept apart for feeding or rest, keep the separation partial — a fence between her and her companion, not a different field — so she never spends her last months alone.
Her small pleasures are the truest measure
Grand assessments are hard; her pleasures are not. Note the things she still seeks out — rolling after rain, grazing shoulder to shoulder with her friend, coming to the gate for a scratch, dozing in the sun with one hind leg resting. While those remain, her life is still recognisably hers. When the list shrinks week by week, when the friend grazes alone and the gate no longer interests her, the observation is worth more than any score sheet, and it is the one to take honestly to your vet.
Watching quality of life, and planning while you are calm
Keep a simple daily read on the things that make her life hers: Is she eating with interest? Resting comfortably? Moving willingly to the things she likes? Bright in herself, or dull and withdrawn? Talk to your vet early — about keeping her comfortable day to day, and about how you will know, and what you will do, when comfort runs out. Planning that conversation now spares her a crisis later. And when she is gone, she does not have to vanish from the record of your life together: a free KinsLe Memorial Accounts profile keeps her photos and her story held with the people who loved her.