Is buying or leasing a horse better?

Question

Okay..so I'm 15 years old and I've been riding all my life. I finally decided it's time to lease/buy a horse..but the thing is - my mother doesn't know c**p about horses. Lol. We're re-doing our basement, living room, kitchen, and deck. So I need to know tons of useful info on which is better, leasing or buying, and which is less expensive, because I'm not that educated on buying and leasing, only riding. Thank you so much!<3

Answer 1

It depends on what type of time and money you are wiling to comit to the horse.

Owning is very expensive-board, farrier, vet, food, tack, training, and everything in between. Leases can be expensive too, depending on the person  you are leasing from and if you are doing a full or half lease.

I half lease a horse at a local barn. I pay $150 a month, which allows me to have three days a week for whatever ammount of time I want with him doing whatever, and also allows me to use him in my lesson-so a total of four days. This means I can take him down trail, hack, jump with him, take him to shows when I want, or just practice different things-they are even allowing me to train with him on getting him to work from behind and on the bit-so in turn I am doing the owner a favor as well. For me, that&#039;s more than enough-I&#039;d be happy with two days, so four days is almost a dream come true. I don&#039;t have the money to own my own horse, and between working 7 days a week and trying to keep up with my dogs (not to mention school in the fall-winter-spring) I have a very tight schedule-so leasing is the best choice for me.

Every lease is different, it just depends on what the owner expects and allows. Owning, and everything is up to you. The cost of the horse may not be the problem (I could walk to a place up here and get a young thoroughbred for free if I wanted-no problem, honest-to-god). I don&#039;t live off of my parents&#039; money anymore, gas is insanely high (I live a good hour away from any decent barns-so the price of gas IS a factor) and college costs a fortune-there is simply no way I would be able to afford boarding, vet, farrier, etc etc, and still be able to live. But if you can do it, then go for it. But in my opinion, until you start getting very serious about riding, leasing is the best option.

Answer 2

Most often times when you lease a horse the owner simply wants to find someone that will pay for their feed bill and have the horse ridden. Your out of pocket expense is your monthly board bill or feed bill if you are keeping it at your home. However, depending on the type of riding you want to do with it, it really should depend on the lease arrangements you agree on. For example you want to show the horse in a hunter jumper class and due to your time in the saddle and efforts that you put out to work with this horse let&#039;s say you place do you want any recognition for that?

Bottom line is yes the initial cost out of pocket is definitely cheaper to lease but no matter what you do with this horse no matter how much work you put into it or how much love you have for it a leased horse is not your horse.

Answer 3

They are each good in their own ways.  Leasing is a good way to learn the responsibilities of horse ownership.  But when you buy, you can walk into the barn every day and say that horse is mine (I am still not used to this and I have owned my horse for almost a year).  As for price, it really depends.  Leasing is cheaper per month..But if you lease for ten years, you could have bought a whole herd of horses.  I think it is more about what is better for you.  Are you ready to take on the complete responsibilities and care of a large and expensive animal? Owning a horse isn&#039;t just riding.  It&#039;s waking up early and feeding, and mucking stalls, and spending hours trying to brush that mud off.

Answer 4

haha the same thing happened to me. i leased a horse, i got to ride him 3 hours a week and each month it costed 530 dollars. buying a horse is a lot of money. but at my barn, you can ride whenever you want for however long you want with your horse, &amp; everythings cheaper (just incase you want to ride with an instrucotr you get 20 dollars off)

in a personal sense, i think buyings better because not only do you have total control of what happens to the horse, you have your own bond. i&#039;ve been riding all my life as well, and as well, my mother knows nothing. but as long as you know what to do, it should be fine.

best of luck

Answer 5

I would start out with leasing a horse as a start before deciding to buy one. If your mother doesnt know much about horses, then tell her! She might learn a lot if you told her. If you dont want to lease a horse, buy one! If you are going to buy one, then make sure to talk to your mother about how much she might spend on re-doing different parts of the house and then you can decide on how much money to use to buy a horse. Good luck!

Answer 6

the least expensive is half leasing, then leasing then buying.  there are A LOT of extra fees for owning a horse.

Answer 7

If you think that you are experienced rider than i would buy on.

Answer 8

buying

Answer 9

I would lease first just to see if your life is suited to having a horse to deal with. I would also find a good trainer (if you don&#039;t already have one) to check out horses with you. A six month lease with first choice to continue the lease is probably good. This way if you don&#039;t mesh with the horse you are not stuck with him forever and if you do like him he cant be leased out to someone else at the end (unless you turn him down). With leasing (espcially half leasing) the owners still have a lot of say in what you do and things can get crazy fast. I would find out stuff like:

Does he have to live on your property/can I move him to my barn?

Can I take him to shows/off the property?

How else may ride him?

Leasing also means the owner can choose not to lease him back to you when the contract is up.

Buying a good horse is EXPENSIVE and the expenses keep pilling up. Vet, Farrier, Hay, Feed, Board, Tack, ect. None of which is optional (except maybe the tack...). If you and the horse dont mesh then you are still stuck with him. Lots of people will not let you but a six month lease with option to buy is really nice. I would not take a horse without a week trial period and I like to have a 30 day trail period. I have so many friends that jumped at buying a nice horse and within two weeks of buying everything came apart. It was obvious it was comming after a week. The horses had been in rigirous training to keep then really nice for intermediet(sp?) riders and they found that as soon as a professional was off the horse wasnt what they needed (became to wild/out of shape/bad). Also be sure you are honest about your level and know your short/long term goals. You want to buy a horse that can help you fufill them but is also safe/fun to ride now.

When looking at horses beware of owners that just give you a bad feeling or dont want to answer questions (ask lots buy the way). Have them tack up/get on and ride first. Go for a second or third visit. Get a vet check. Some owners of half broke horses are not afraid to drug them (been there not fun) in order to sell them. Some will also work them really hard before you arrive so they are to tired to act up. An experienced horse person (trainer, friend ect) can help you avoid these people.

For the first horse I would do a six month lease and if things seem to be doing well then look into buying him. Good Luck with your search!!

Answer 10

It all depends on what type of lease it is... at a barn that i used to go to they had a &quot;half lease&quot; and a &quot;full lease&quot;... A half lease was where you could lease your horse but one other person could half lease the same horse and you would &quot;share&quot;... Then the full lease was like buying the horse but you would have to give him up at the end of a certain period of time. I personally think leasing is pointless... We bought our horses.

Try looking into your leasing options, however, I think buying is better!

Answer 11

well if you lease a horse say for $300 -$500 dollars a month (that&#039;s what the average least cost in my area) then within a year you&#039;ll be spending about $3,000 - $6,000 a year..and with that kind of money you could have already bought 1 or 2 good horses... so i always buy never lease

but that&#039;s just me

your mom may not know alot about horses but i bet she will know business and money so let her deal with that part

and since you are experienced enough i&#039;m sure you can own your own horse, but are you boarding? or keepnig a horse at your place? some barns will give you free board if you lease your horse with them, that might be a possibility

but i will never lease lol

Answer 12

Actually I would do a shareboard. A shareboard is when two people share a horse. You split all the bills for the horse, and you take turns riding and taking care of the horse. (Example: I ride Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. You ride Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. We take turns caring for the horse on Sunday.) Good luck!

Answer 13

I&#039;d say leasing would be better for your first horse. Because when you buy a horse, your gonna fall in love and then if its not the right horse its to hard to let go. But if you lease a horse, you can just let that horse go as your riding skills go up, if your constantly improving that is. Also leasing, is cheaper cause your just paying half of vet, shoes, board ectt.

Answer 14

Well it depends on the situation but mainly leasing is cheaper than owning a horse. You have to buy a horse (lets say it cost&#039;s 2,000) then you have to buy tack ( at least 600 dollars for an English saddle plus bridle, bit, and reins) Then you have to buy it feed, shavings, and board it. Boarding places usually at least (200 dollars per month) Then vet and farrier (farrier can add up depending on the horse at least 180 dollars) Vet bills can go through the roof. Per year a horse usually cost 6,000 and that is if nothing goes wrong with the horse. ex. lameness, colic. Leasing you may have to pay for board, tack, shoes but it would be costing a lot less per month than owning one. You could have the same benefits of owning one such as riding, and bonding with a horse just the financial responsibility&#039;s and responsibility&#039;s of owning a horse wouldn&#039;t be there. All in all I would suggest you lease a horse, you are able to experience what owning a horse is like, yet you don&#039;t have to be (financially) attached to it. It depends on how much the lease is too. Half lease usually has some restrictions on riding times, and such but full leases are when you can go whenever you want and it has unlimited riding time. It should be much cheaper and you will learn a lot. Then after a while if you like leasing you could start to consider buying a horse.  Leasing is like a test run to see if you are &quot;cut&quot; out to be a horseowner. Good luck!