I am considering leasing my mare, where do I start?

Question

I am considering leasing my mare to a gentleman that summers here in Montana to be used as a trail and pleasure horse. What is a fair price, and how do I handle the legalities? Please, only educated responses, I'm not looking for opinions or random comments. Thank you!

Answer 1

well are you considering full leasing to him? like the horse is pretty much his for the summer? or half lease, where you two share the horse. I would first figure out whether its a full or half lease. Then i would talk to the gentleman. See if he wants to lease in the first place and if he would be willing to lease. Have him try out the horse to see if he likes your horse. Then write up a lease contract (a legal contract, you can usually find templates of these on the web). State all of your terms and conditions in the lease. Maybe talk to a local trainer with help on a lease or a lawyer. A fair price for what? is the horse going to be boarded at your place? usually the prices are the leasee paying for the horse's maintence, not a fee to the owner. I have only seen a fee at lesson barns when a student leases a school horse. For a price, just have him pay for half of the horse's upkeep (that would be a half lease).

Answer 2

I have both leased out my own horse, and leased other horses for extended periods of time.

Price: The price depends on a lot of things. Most importantly where the horse is kept. If its going to be at your house and you don't pay a monthly boarding fee then you should charge less. If you board at a costly stable then keep that in mind. You don't want to charge him less then you pay to keep your horse every month if you won't even be riding your horse at all, or as much as usual. If your hoping to make a profit than make sure to charge him more than you pay to keep your horse.It also depends on what your leaser is required to pay for. If he is going to be expected to pay for feed, shoes, wormer, vet bills, etc. then it would be nice to cut the guy a break on his leasing fee. Also think about if hes going to use your tack, or buy his own. A whole new set of tack can be upwards of $1500, so it's really not fair to charge him a lot more to lease. Also think about if you still want to ride your horse occasionally, or if he will be the only one riding. If he is then its a full lease and generally costs more.

Safety: Think about having a release form made up, and having the man sign it. This will free you from being liable or financially responsible if something unfortunate happens to the man leasing your horse. Check with your barn, they may already have one that you can use. If your worried about your horse getting sick, or being badly injured while under the care of the leaser, and don't want to deal with the heavy financial costs that will follow, I suggest having your leaser buy insurance for your horse for the period of time that it will be under his care. It is fairly cheap to have Major Medical insurance for one horse. I highly recommend EMO insurance agency, and I'm pretty sure they operate nationwide.

I think I covered all the important stuff just  be sure to go over all relevant details about your horse and the care he is to recieve before you begin leasing him. Make sure the leaser knows what he is, and is not allowed to do with your horse. Tell him in depth about the tack he is to be ridden in, and the feed and wormer you generally give your horse.

Answer 3

Alot of horse owners are opting to lease out their equines to help cover the rising costs of owning.  Good for you that youre looking into that and not just getting rid of her.

Since you already have someone who wants to lease her then we can skip how to get the word out on her availability.

First, you need a contract between you and the gentleman you are leasing the horse to.  As mentioned your trainer may have a standard lease already but if she does not you can buy a form off Mary's Tack and Feed.  They are about 10 bucks plus shipping and alot less expensive then ones you can down load.  All the legal concerns are on  the forms already.

The lease needs to state how much the lease is, when payment is due, any late fees if charged, notice required before he can terminate the lease, what days he will get to use the horse and if it is just mornings, afternoons, or all day, what he gets to use the horse for (shows, trail, arena work), when the lease starts and ends (usually min 3 to 6 months min.) what happens if the horse is injured, vet fees, shoes, supplements, feed, and training fees.

Typically, someone leasing a horse will get use of the horse for 3-4 days.  The fee for this is half board, training fees, shoes, and supplements.  As for vet fees, the contract clearly states that if the horse is injured or needs medical attention while it is a lease day it is their responsibility to pay for all vet fees.  If the horse is laid up then they also pay for any vet fees while the horse is recovering and are required to pay the determined lease fee during the lay up.  Having this stated in your contract is what will protect you from someone injuring your horse then just walking away from it.  Leasing is a great way to learn about the costs of owning a horse with out actually owning it and not having the full costs but a good idea.

If you are paying for training on your horse they pay half or they pay for their own lessons.  Another thing to consider is will he be using your horse for what she has been trained for or will he be using her for something compleatly different?  Then you have to consider it from a training aspect.  Youre doing one thing while he does another.  That can sometimes set you back in your training.

It almost sounds like your horse is on your property so for a "boarding price" I would find the average of board in your area.  Then divide by half for a board cost.

As far as costs I can give you a reccomendation since the costs are different depending where you live.  Being from california a half lease is on average $700-$900 per month.  The very least, who ever leases your mare should pay half of board, half of feed and supplements, half of shoes, and half of vet bills for regular maintance (teeth floating, injections, worming.)

Make sure it is clear when the lease days are and if its for the whole day or not.  Another thing is you should have the gentleman try the horse to see if they get along and if you like how he rides your mare.  He may claim he is an expert when in reality he has sat on a horse twice in his life and just has a cowboy fantasy of running through the mountains.  You need to know if he can handle caring for a horse too.

Answer 4

i would start with letting him do a week trial to see how they get on then do a writern agreement like this one http://www.bhs.org.uk/DocFrame/DocView.a...