Hi Cherry,

I am in the process of possibly adopting a 13 year old Thorough Bred that has been in pasture for 5 years. Do you think I will have any problems. I have not made up my mind yet because I am not sure how horses do coming out of pasture and then going to being ridden on a regular basis.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Diane

Hi Diane,

No one could possibly know if this particular horse will take to riding after 5 years on pasture. I can tell you a couple of things that should be helpful as you consider the possibility of adoption.

A basic veterinary exam would reveal if the horse had any obvious unsoundness or defect that would prevent it from being ridden or worked. If the horse passed a basic health exam, then the next step would be for you to evaluate the horse's level of training and determine how much of the schooling the horse retained.

Such a horse should be approached as if it was an untrained, unconditioned horse. That is, you would want to start from square one and review the very most basic lessons with the horse before even thinking about riding the horse. One of my favorite checklists in the In-Hand Checklist.

As you work through these items which might take days, weeks or months, you will be getting to know the horse and giving the horse training and exercise. Then you would want to introduce tack and longeing and/or ground driving. All along the way, you will be increasing the horse's fitness of leg and lung and learning valuable things about the horse that would help you make your decision.

It is very possible that given the right reintroduction to work, the horse could be a very suitable mount. It could also be very possible that the horse has some unknown physical or behavioral trait that would make it unsuitable. Only by using a systematic method of evaluation will you be able to uncover the clues.

My best wishes to you on your possible project,