Leanna Porter of Butler brushes her soon-to-be 36-year-old horse, Manny, Monday at Blackridge Quarterhorse near Kittanning. Manny has battled some health problems in the last couple years, but a tweak to his diet has helped him regain some weight and become much livelier. Below, Manny is pictured at 18 months old.

NORTH BUFFALO TWP, Armstrong County — Like many seniors, Manny's had some health problems.

Last fall, he was off his feed and losing weight. But after his doctors and caretakers tweaked his diet, he's packing on the pounds and getting livelier.

Now it's a good bet Manny the horse will celebrate his 36th birthday come May 6.

His owner, Leanna Porter of Butler, said the problem was the Half-Arabian gelding had lost too many teeth and couldn't chew hay, his main food.

“He's got some teeth missing,” said Porter. “He's 36. He just has to eat feed. He can't eat hay anymore.”

“Steve Black, the owner here, has been great experimenting with his feed. He's put on weight,” said Porter.

Steve Black, co-owner of Blackridge Quarterhorse stables, 2261 Freeport Road, Kittanning, with his wife, Gretchen, said Manny was one ailing horse when he arrived at Blackridge last fall.

“He was very thin when he got here,” said Black. “He was having trouble with his teeth.”

Black said with the help of Drs. Nadine Solomon and James Zeliff at Allegheny Equine in Murrysville, who were “very helpful and provided good advice” he was able to formulate the right combination of feed to nourish Manny back to health.

“He's fed differently from other horses,” said Black, who keeps 25 horses, both boarders and his own, at Blackridge.

“Wrangler Horse Feed is his main feed, but he's fed about 14.3 percent corn, 28.5 percent oats and about 58 percent Wrangler feed. Those are the three main things he gets. I add some molasses to get him some extra calories,” said Black.

“It seems to be successful. He handles it well metabolically,” Black said.

He's fed two big meals a day and three smaller ones, Black said.

This is good news for Manny's longtime owner Porter, who said she's had Manny, which is short for Manaleeto, the name he is registered under with the Half-Arabian registry, since 1978.

Porter said Manny was born on the East Butler farm of Porter's twin sister, Leslie Peters, in 1977.

When he was a year and a half old, Porter bought Manny and they've been together ever since, moving from Ohio to Sarver and back to East Butler, where Manny stayed at the farm that was his birthplace until Peters died in 2010 and the farm was sold.

Manny may be the last in a long line of mounts for Porter.

Porter said she has had horses since she was 5 years old.“I grew up on a farm in Prospect. We raised ponies. My mom and my sister used to show all the time,” she said.“I had a lot of good rides on him. I took him on a lot of trail rides in the spring,” she said.“He likes to go when you get on him,” said Porter. “He likes to dance and prance.”“You put a kid on him and he's like an old plug. An adult, he knows the difference,” said Porter.“He has a real good disposition. He likes people. Kids could ride him,” said Porter. “He was never mean. He never bit or kicked.”“He does not bite or kick,” said Black. “He's a very docile animal, but as he strengthens, he's getting his spirit back.”Alicia Peters of Butler, her twin sister's granddaughter, was the fourth generation of her family to ride Manny, said Porter.But despite Manny's improving health, he won't be saddle up again. Porter said her days of riding him are over.“I used to ride him until he was 33,” said Porter. “then he got a bowed tendon.”“He can't bear the weight,” Porter said. “Muscles get pulled. He can't heal up like a young horse.”Solomon said older horses face many of the same health issues as older people.“Just like humans, there are orthopedic issues,” she said. “The legs, the joints, arthritis. There's metabolic changes. And losing teeth is a major issue.”For now, Manny has been living a life of genteel retirement.“He seems pretty content. I don't think he misses anybody riding on him,” said Porter.“I don't have anything to ride anymore. I miss riding,” Porter said.“I miss my sister,” Porter said, “because nobody else in my family is into horses like we were.”Her husband, Art Porter, died, said Porter, and neither her son or her two grandchildren are interested in riding.Still, she visits with Manny often.“I try to get up to see him once a week,” she said. “I turn him out in the arena or the corral. He will roll and get dirty and then I have to brush him. I just kind of visit with him.”“I always bring apples to give him. I cut them up,” said Porter. “I don't give him carrots because they are too hard.”“We are like survivors Manny and I,” said Porter.

Manny the horse, in 1978.