Accepting a "free" horse may turn out to be the best thing that you ever did. I have had two horses in my life and both were free. The first one was Big Man, a retired police horse who had worked the streets of Newark, NJ. When my brother and I first met him, we knew he had to come home with us. He was old, 30 years old, some kind of Warmblood mix, about 16.2 hands, and had bad arthritis from pounding the pavement for so many years, but we both knew he'd be perfect for me, a timid rider, and a great companion for my brother's young stallion (who was not free by any means!).
We brought Big Man home and turned him out in the field then watched in horror as he galloped off and did a huge somersault as his shoulder gave out! He lay there for a second and we both thought he wa done for. But he stood up, shook himself off, and went trotting off again! I rode him almost exclusively bareback, taking him up along a nearby State highway where he would completely relax. He was good on the trails too. He would snort and look around but he never shied or bolted. I think it was all the police training he'd had. We had Big Man about two years when he went down in his stall. We called the vet and she couldn't get him up either. It was a very sad day when we had Big Man put to sleep! He was an incredible horse!
One and a half months ago I was offered another "free" horse. This one was an 8 year old Appaloosa gelding, Sundance. I was wary since he had a suspensory ligament injury which was being treated with shock wave therapy and stall rest. Lots of stall rest. No turn out at all, only hand grazing. When I went to meet him, he tried to bite me and had to wear a muzzle to keep him from chewing all the wood in his stall. He had been given a seventy percent chance of full recovery in a year with careful rehabilitation. I decided that was a good enough chance for me! I gave her a token amount to make it a "legal sale" and Sundance came home with me.
For the first week he did nothing but pace in circles in his stall with severe anxiety. I was getting worried because he hardly drank, ate hay, or relieved himself. Finally he settled down and started to relax. I hand walked him and let him graze a little longer each day. After a month I started to turn him out to pasture an hour more each day. I no longer had to muzzle him as he lost his desire to chew when I started him on some mineral supplements. Finally I got the courage to put a saddle on him and mount up. He was fine! I now am up to riding him about 15 minutes at a walk two or three times a week and he is showing no signs of lameness at all. If all goes well, I think I will have a good, solid horse in a year. To top it all off, all of his nastiness has gone away leaving a rather affectionate horse that whinnies to me when I pull into the driveway and runs up to greet me when it's time to come in for dinner.
Should you take a free horse? My answer is YES! No free horse is going to be perfect, otherwise they wouldn't be free. But with some careful consideration to what you want to do with the horse, you can get one that will fulfil your life and give you many years of joy!