Do wish options were available for older devices.
That said, considering the processing power available on current iOS devices, the forced updates would be less of an issue, I think. Imho, the iPad 4 on iOS 9 and 10 is faring much better compared to the iPad 2 on iOS 8 and 9. The Air 2 only has barely perceptible stutters almost three years after initial release.
Completely agree being an iPad 4 owner. It worked absolutely fine on iOS 9, only with the latest update I can see some delays and that would be expected after so many years.