# Can you do Western with a Thoroughbred?



## Northern (Mar 26, 2010)

Bill Dorrance, (now dead) considered a master horseman, rehabilitated a TB mare for ranchwork. "Beaut"'s story & pics are in Bill's book, "True Horsemanship Through Feel". She did branding, sorting, all the ranchwork.

One thing, though: the arena sports which've evolved from ranchwork require a quick stop & spin & muscle bulk to withstand the rider hanging/dismounting, & to hold the cow, etc., so aTB might be ill-equipped for such events.


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## katieandscooby (Feb 14, 2010)

You can do any of that on a TB. Maybe you will never get to a high level, but she could most certainly do it. See a few Tb's used on ranch and a lot in gymkhana type events. I used to occasionally move cattle with my TB... though I much prefer using my Paints and QH's for the job.
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## Zeke (Jun 27, 2010)

You could absolutely give western events like gymkhana and ranch work a try. Heck, a lot of the WP pleasure horses in the arena now are so tall and lanky they remind me more of TBs then a cow horse. 

I believe just about any horse could benefit from the basics of reining, it's all about light responsiveness and correct movement. From there you'll have a great basis to branch out to other disciplines within the western world.
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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Most of the ranch horses in my part of Wyoming are TBs.


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## LouieThePalomino (Dec 15, 2012)

Yes! lol there js a OTTB who is ridden western at the barn I go to. I dont thing breed restricts really the style they can be ridden in.
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## Phly (Nov 14, 2012)

Why yes, yes you can.








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## Oliveren15 (Apr 28, 2013)

Of course you can!  I have a thoroughbred who is 16.3 hands and he's western, I'm training him for barrels. Most breeds can do anything IMO. Drafts/heavy breeds can be jumpers/dressage horses, and arabs and other light breeds can be reiners and barrel horses and such


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## Fort fireman (Mar 5, 2011)

my wifes dreesage horse in a hackamore. Shes pregnant and in no condition to stop me. LOL:lol: ( not the horse, my wife)


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## horsea (Dec 28, 2009)

Of course they can! Its just like saying a QH can't jump!


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## xGirugamesh (May 16, 2013)

The horse may not necessarily excel at every western sport, but you should definitely give gymkhana a try. Speed sports are a blast. And I'm not a big western pleasure person, but I'm sure you could do some with that, and trail classes. There really aren't any things a horse as a breed CAN'T do, it's just how well they'll do in them. But there isn't any harm in trying, now is there?


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## lilypoo (Jun 15, 2013)

My leased horse is a 16.2hh TB and he is a roper/barrels/poles horse.


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

My bf has a tb gelding that's 28 years old this year. He ONLY dose western (my bf hates ANYTHING to do with english riding -_-') and dose it well. He will beat any QH in barrels, key hole, cattle work really any quick event. He was trained how to do rollbacks really well. That horse can slide to a stop, lift his front end up and spin 180 without completely stopping (why hes so good at keyhole). It really depends on the time and training AND if she enjoys her work. Rocket (th gelding) is not a fan of Dressage (he was trained for mid level) and you can only get him to do it on a good day.


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## tlkng1 (Dec 14, 2011)

Fort fireman said:


> my wifes dreesage horse in a hackamore. Shes pregnant and in no condition to stop me. LOL:lol: ( not the horse, my wife)


Her dressage horse in a western saddle with a small child up there as well (though presumably the child is having the time of their life and it looks like the horse is nice and steady)..you are ASKING for it buddy 

The breeds have more or less crossed the style line all the way across. As was indicated, quarter horses and drafts are doing jumping, eventing and dressage and doing them well, TBreds are being ridden western and do especially well in western pleasure or western equitation classes. Paints/Pintos and Appys are also more in the english side than they used to be..the color breeds, while shown, never did all that well in english classes as they were considered "western" breeds (talking early to mid 80s when I last saw that and that was in the New England states).

I watched a full Percheron in a third level dressage test and he had better movements and was actually lighter on his feet than some of the warmbloods in the same class. I was scribing and the judge was near drooling in her excitement at a beautiful ride on a very nice horse. To look at him you would never have thought of him as a good dressage horse but he was gorgeous and he knew it..the big baby


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## SlideStop (Dec 28, 2011)

Any horse can do any type of work, but the "success" is going to vary. It's no secret arabians were bred to go long distances, draft breeds were bred to pull, TBs were made to run/jump and QH were ment to be agile sprinters. They were BRED to do a job. Can an Arabian pull a cart? Sure but it probably won't be a good as a draft. Can a TB work cows? Yup, but it probably won't be as good as a stock horse.
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## Josh (Jan 19, 2012)

Ha! I can catch a quarter horse in under a quarter mile on my saddlebred! I think you have to take horses on a horse by horse basis.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

My TB would do anything I asked and with enthusiasm. He was about 15.2 so not leggy but nicely balanced. I love the forward thinking horses that seem to ask "what can we do next?"


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