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Discussion on "Leasing" a horse
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Posted on Wednesday, Apr 5, 2000 - 2:59 pm:
I am considering providing board in return for riding priveleges to an individual who needs to temporarily board a horse but does not want to sell the horse just yet. What are the typical arrangements regarding feed and other expenses in such an arrangement. Would this be considered "leasing the horse"? What release forms would best protect me as the "lessee"?
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Posted on Sunday, Apr 9, 2000 - 12:15 am:
Some concepts to consider:
1. will there be any payments between parties or is this an "exchange"--boarding for riding? Or is it more of a "free lease":owner looking for a good home for horse, lessee pays all expenses but there is no "lease fee payment".
2. Do the parties contemplate any restrictions on the use of the horse: breeding, riding, driving?
3. How will the horse be maintained? Stall size? feeding? type of feed? veterinarian care? standard of care and feeding of horse? Instructions for care?
4. Who has the obligation to carry the mortality insurance and/or risk of loss?
5. can the parties assign the lease agreement?
6. Lease term?
7. Option to buy horse? At a stated price? or formula?
8. If lease payments are contemplated, are there any remedies if the payments are not timely paid?
If you can give me a better idea of what is contemplated I can better focus a response. But this will give you some ideas for your consideration.
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Posted on Sunday, Apr 9, 2000 - 5:33 pm:
Re: Horse lease. There is a sample horse lease agreement at www.zerolitigation.com under equine law.
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Posted on Saturday, May 13, 2000 - 2:39 pm:
hello I have a question about the legal standings of a free lease where no money is exchanged but the leaser is fully responcible for the care and maintnance of the horse. iwas a verbal agreement for 1 year min with second year opption if both partys were still in agreement.if the leaser mistreats the horse and then calls the leesee to pick the horse up and fails to tell the owner of medical problums the leaser has caused from abusing the horse will the leaser still be responcible for the financial respocibilitys. for the remainder of the 6 month period in which the orignal agreement was made. in short I was contacted by fax to retrieve my horse immediatly and told he was not being cared for.
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 16, 2000 - 11:00 pm:
I am pondering the idea of leasing one of my two horses. Since I've never leased a horse before, I don't have any idea of how to, or if I'm sure that I really want to. I have found that the next couple of months I will be very busy and not able to give my horses the 4-5 days of riding/exercise that they are used to. I guess I could just allow them the winter to rest, and light work on weekends, but I would prefer to see them stay in "show-shape" (physically and mentally). Are there partial leases, full leases, leases that require the horse to remain in the stable I currently board? Leases that allow me to still ride my horse on occasion? Please...I am asking that anyone out there, who wouldn't mind typing a bit for me, can you please help me out?
Vicki
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Posted on Friday, Nov 17, 2000 - 3:22 am:
Hi Vicky,
I have leased horses for years, finally bought my own horse a few years ago, and now with my mare retired, I am leasing another horse. (can't afford to buy another show quality horse)
With leases, you can be as flexible as you want.
Any of the leases you list above can be done!
It is very important to find the right rider for your horses.
Most of the leases I have done, have been "full leases", I take the horse to the barn that I board at, pay board, supplements, shoeing, routine vet, etc..
Some leases (mainly in the H/J world) require the lessee to pay the owner in addition to full board for use of the horse, usually a percentage of the horse's value. I have never done one of those.
If you find the right rider, it is a win-win situation for the horse, owner and lessee.
You can require the lessee to carry major medical and surgical on the horse. (I have it on my lease horse, but it was not required by the owner), it is peace of mind for me and his owner.
You really need to communicate with the lessee and be VERY clear on what is required by you in regards to the lease.
I keep in touch with the owner on a weekly basis and let them know how the horse is doing, I take regular lessons with an FEI trainer, and if I am taking the horse to a show or on a trail ride I like to let the owner know.
Screen your "applicants" carefully, try to find someone that has similiar "philosophies" as you in regards to horsecare and training.
Feel free to ask more questions or email, there is too much to list at once! 
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Posted on Friday, Nov 17, 2000 - 2:56 pm:
I half leased for 6 months and found the arrangement to be very satisfactory. We had him 3 days each and he got a day off. It was through the boarding facility where he was and I only had to pay half his board. I think the most important thing is a good relationship with the other person. He was sold in the end but I was close to out growing him anyway.
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Posted on Friday, Nov 17, 2000 - 10:20 pm:
Angela and Dr.Artlett,
I really appreciate the info. You both have a different type of lease, and that is exactly the information I was searching for. I do think that the lease you have, Dr. Artlett, is very much as I was thinking. I don't feel that I am ready to "give up" my horse completely, but if I can find someone willing to half-lease, that would be ideal. I would love to find out more though. Such as what happens if the horse is injured/lame (as we all know very well that it's more than possible). Does the leasee still pay? Does the leasee have some responsibility for care. I guess what I'm asking is who goes to the stable every night to wrap/unwrap, medicate...etc. Oh, and what about tack? Do you both have your own tack, or do you use the owner's?
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Posted on Saturday, Nov 18, 2000 - 1:46 am:
Usually on a half lease, the owner and lessee split the routine vet bills and shoeing along with board.
One way to deal with major vet bills, is to carry mortality and major medical insurance on the horse, you can also ask that the lessee pay half the premium. This way if something happens, the horse will get the care he requires, and out of pocket expenses will be minimized for both parties.
There are many different ways you can go with this, talk to people...there are as many nightmare stories out there in regards to leasing as there are good stories.
I have a few of my own, LOL! (bad and good, mostly good)
Screen your potential lessee carefully, and make sure you would feel comfortable with her care and level of experience.
Oh, and about tack, if the lessee has tack and it fits the horse properly, allow her to use her own tack, if not, I would recommend you allow her to use your tack.
The horse I am leasing now did not "match" with my saddle, I had a saddle fitter come out and he bascially said what I figured. <sigh> Luckily for me, I was able to borrow my best friend's "spare" saddle that fits him fine, and I am able to use that one.
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Posted on Monday, Nov 20, 2000 - 1:35 pm:
Victoria,
I had a 30 day renewal which worked extremely well except right at the end. For me the arrangement was that the owner would pay for any vet that was required while he was leased. Fortunately he didn't require any vet visits. I did pay for having him clipped for winter as at the time she was pregnant and did not ride him. She was actually very good to me in that I went home to Australia for a month and she didn't require me to pay the lease. My trainer said if that was her, she would have made me pay for him anyway. The lease was really facilitated through my trainer who thinks horses first, people second. My trainer would not have agreed to the lease if he wasn't right for me and she also kept an eye on everything. I used the owners tack, which I made sure was cleaned every week. I have to say I was very paranoid about her saddle as it was a Hermes. If I had a saddle that fitted him at the time, I would have used my own. The barn where we were was full board. They medicate, etc for the fee. The only thing I did not do was wash him. The owner had said he was really bad with baths and I confess it scared me a little bit so I never bathed him.
It was either Equus or Practical Horsemen that had an article on leasing fairly recently.
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Posted on Monday, Nov 20, 2000 - 10:01 pm:
Thanks Dr. Artlett. Since I subscribe to both magazines, and am a bit fanatic about keeping the issues, I will have to look back. I probably didn't notice the article before, since I just started thinking about the "lease thing".
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Posted on Friday, Nov 24, 2000 - 1:02 pm:
For members in Britain and Ireland, the British Horse Society produce a leaflet on issues relating to loaning or leasing horses which you can easily adapt into a draft lease/loan agreement (I helped a friend draft such an agreement this year. It worked out very well. She leased the horse for 6 months, learned loads and is now planning to buy her own).
www.bhs.co.uk - though I think it's only available in printed form.
Imogen
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Posted on Sunday, Jan 28, 2001 - 3:40 pm:
Hi - I am a horse owner and I am in search of sample horse leases as well as information on major medical insurance for my horse. I'd greatly appreciate your input! Also, I've leased my horse in the past and have required that the rider put down one month's deposit, so that they will honor our agreement to give me a month notice before ending the lease. Is this unusual? A lady I'm considering leasing my horse does not want to give a deposit. Thanks
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 31, 2001 - 10:44 am:
Have you checked out the contracts on the article page that you accessed this forum from?
DrO
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