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If you are considering offering your horse to STAR for a lease or donation please read this page.

Shangri-La Therapeutic Academy of Riding currently houses 24 therapeutic riding horses year round and we are always looking for out next great therapy horse.* STAR will consider horses under the age of 17 for donation or lease. However, horses over age of 17 are only considered for our Lease Program. With the Lease Program, horses will stay in the program until he/she can no longer effectively do the work required. At that point, the horse would go back to the owner (for retirement). This option is great for your family horse that you want to have a special job, but want to have at home in their last years. All of the horses we accept are on a two month trial period before being fully accepted into the program. Therapeutic riding is a very demanding job and we want to ensure that our program is right for your horse. We do, though, look for kind, gentle, well mannered, sound horses with basic training and good health.

*24 Horses is currently our maximum capacity. However, we do keep an Equine waiting list that allows us to record information about available horses in the area if a spot becomes available.

Characteristics of an excellent STAR Horse

STAR partners with horses and ponies varying in shapes, sizes, ages, and breeds to enrich the lives of persons with disabilities. Since our horses have such important jobs it is necessary that they meet specific criteria and standards for the industry. STAR horses work an average of 6 days a week and often carry unbalanced weight. They need to be fit, healthy, and sound. Their duties include walk/ trot/canter arena work, field riding, and ground work. STAR can only accept gaited horses that are under 15.0 hands tall due to volunteer limitations with larger gaited stock. Taller gaited horses are just too difficult for our wonderful volunteers to keep up with on the ground.

Listed below are a few characteristics that STAR looks for in their next Therapeutic Riding Horse:

  • Patient, gentle, and tolerant
  • Easy to handle on the ground
  • Easy to handle under saddle
  • Stands quietly in crossties for grooming and tacking
  • Easy to keep/maintain
  • Strong backs
  • Low spook reaction
  • Behaves for the farrier
  • Sound at the walk/trot/canter
  • Mares or Geldings only
  • Horses between ages of 3 and 23
  • Smooth, slow gaits
  • Up to date on shots and coggins

There are also chronic factors that will effect placement in the program which include but are not limited to:

    • Navicular Syndrome
    • Arthritis
    • Moonblindness
    • Ringbone
    • Cushings
    • Severe Founder/Laminitis
    • Heaves/COPD

Please contact our Equine Manager at 865-988-4711 or send an e-mail to submit your horse for consideration or to ask further questions regarding horse lease or donations.