[Belmont]

I am thinking about leasing my upper-level jumping prospect. He is pretty well trained, just needs an advanced rider to keep him going while I am working and going to school full time. He has been on the market for dirt cheap, but getting the money for him as been almost impossible because the market in Nevada is pretty unhealthy. I was wondering what people usually do on leases? Does the lease-y pay for vet bills, do we split them? Does the horse get boarded with the lease-y? I have no idea. I have never leased a horse or been the leaser! Any ideas or suggestions?

[horseluver2]

It really depends on what you want to do.
Some people lease out the hrose the person leasing can take the horse to a barn they pay for everything
YOu can keep him where he is at split all costs limit the riding time, do a full lease
Good Luck!!

[TB7]

There was a thread like this a few weeks ago - buried somewhere by now.

Depends on what you want to do for a lease.

There are:

Full leases - lessee has full access to the horse and permission to ride (and sometimes show) any day of the week. Typically people require 1 day of rest per week for the horse. These leases normally require the lessee to pay for vet/farrier/board. Essentially, someone else pays for your horse and rides your horse, but you still claim ownership.

Half leases - Lessee has access to horse for up to 3 days/week. They often pay half of all the horse's expenses.

Quarter leases - Lessee has access to horse for 1-2 days a week. Contributing to the expenses can be tricky here.

On-site leases - Horse is kept in current barn and lessee has to travel to the barn to ride the horse.

Off-site leases - Horse is allowed to be moved to another barn for the lessee to ride. These are typically only done with full leases.

Some people charge a rate equitable to the price of board/expenses. If board is 800/mo and farrier is 60, price for full lease might be 860/mo. Half would be 430 - etc. Plus annual vet bills. Typically, there is a stipulation in contracts that says if the horse is injured while under the care of the lessee, the lessee has to pay for the vet bills. Doesn't matter if it's a full, half or quarter lease - you break it, you buy it if you were part of the cause. (For instance, lessee is riding horse in a lesson and the horse for some reason clips a standard and needs stitches - lessee is going to be paying for that. If horse is kicked in a field or cuts himself while turned out - if it's full lease, lessee pays, if it's half, you guys would split the bill.)

H/J tends to charge a standard rate equitable to a certain percentage of the present value of the horse. That rate offsets the fact that the horse's value may decrease after the lease is up due to wear and tear on the horse.

Think of it as leasing a car - you pay in monthly installments for the privilege to use the car - and when your lease is up, the car's value will have gone down somewhat from all the miles. Your car lease also doesn't pay for your insurance or gas or parking.

[Belmont]

TB7, thank you so much. You were REALLY insightful, and you pretty much answered all my questions! Thank you, thank you.

[AmmyByNature]

Remember, though, that there can be two different kinds of full leases. Paid, and free. For a paid lease, you get money AND they pay for all the care of your horse. A full free lease (may) mean that they pay for all the care, but you don't get any money on top of that.

As far as if you can swing a paid lease or not, it depends on what your horse brings to the table. I did a full off-site lease with my older show horse when I was focusing on a new horse and wanted to decrease my bills. The lady gave me $X (equal to about 1/3 his market value), took him to her barn, and he was hers for the year. Our contract had appropriate stipulations, of course, but he was essentially hers. She chose when and if to show him, she took care of him, and she paid for all of his bills.

A free full lease might come about with a greener horse, or one whose value isn't very high to begin with. Essentially, if the person leasing your horse is going to give it back to you better that when they got it, you shouldn't expect them to pay you for that pleasure. If the person leasing is going to use your horse to it's ability, or even if the person leasing may train at a lower level, you usually get reimbursed for your trouble/

Another thing you could consider are in-barn leases. I have done free full leases on in-barn horses before. For example, kid goes to college or to study abroad and the parents don't need money, but they'd like to not pay the bills, and they don't want to sell the horse because the kid is coming back. So I paid the horse's bills, but didn't pay the parents anything.

You say your horse is a "prospect" who needs an "advanced rider."

In that case, I wouldn't count on a paid lease. A free least where the leasee pays for his expenses is probably the most you can expect.

ETA as far as vet bills, it's whatever is worked into your contract. With my off site full lease, she paid for all his vet bills. Shots, coggins, hock injections -- she was responsible for all of this. You have to decide what you want to do with a more substantial vet bill and write it into your contract.

[TB7]

^^ Also everything AmmyByNature said.

In addition, with the economy there is another type of "Free Lease" that is sometimes sought after where the lessee rides the horse and doesn't pay any fee or expenses of the horse.

This might be done if the horse just needs more work to keep him in shape or focused and the lessor can't afford a trainer/exercise rider often enough and the lessee can't afford a regular lease. Or you can find "catch riders" who are looking for any saddle time to help build up their reputations as riders or trainers.

Benefit is horse gets trained/worked for free and the rider doesn't have to pay to ride.

I had a pretty sweet one for a couple months with my TB where a dressage trainer came and rode him for me because he just wanted another project. My horse was super supple and responsive for me when I'd ride him the day after the trainer came. I wasn't complaining about getting free training rides! Didn't last long because the trainer got 2 offers from other barns to work F/T as head trainer shortly after. It was nice while it lasted!

[Belmont]

I say he is a 'Prospect' because he has been showing for less than a year. He is a 3'-3'6 jumper, and has been to shows... he just is not finished. But he isn't a push around. He can be strong and hot. My instructor had him listed at $15,000 this summer, but I am a college student myself, so I decided to drop him way low to try and unload him. He has been sitting all winter though, so he is fat and out of shape and schooling. I also have three horses, and I am on a college kids salary that works at a cell phone store... so three is WAY to many.

I am just trying to weigh my options. He is a sensitive TB so he needs a light handed, light seated rider whom understands. I can't just put a kid who wants to learn on him, because he would probably terrify them when he acts hot. He lives at my house, but I am not against him getting boarded and leased.. or leased to own! I just don't know how to go about that.

[AmmyByNature]

That is EXACTLY what word of mouth was invented for!! Tell your trainer that you want to lease him out, and that you're willing to negotiate.

She tells her friends, her friends tell their friends... Someone says, "Hey, I've for a working student -- good kid but can't afford to buy. She can work off board and she'll take lessons and show. She's love to put some miles on your client's horse!" And there you go! He's leased!

This is the kind of situation where I think you'll get much further through word of mouth than through any sort of specific advertising.

In my opinion, of course!