My friend wants to lease one of our horses PLEASE READ?

Question

she wants to lease a horse because she really likes her and we r low on money so we would have to sell her,we just need enough money to pay for getting her hooves trimmed and buying hay,we can afford the rest,we dont want to make her pay a lot though so we were thinking just $30 a month,we dont have a very good riding pasture and the horse hasnt been ridden that much so we wouldnt want to charge her much,does that price sound alright???

also is there anything we need to do,my mom is worried about if she gets hurt what will happen,because even though her mom and my mom r good friends shes worried she could sue us,so is there somthing we should have them sign saying its her responsablilty???

Answer 1

Make sure you get some kind of contract for the lease.

Answer 2

Each state has laws governing riding on someone else's property (Liability Laws).  You should be able to look up your on line.  Have her sign the waiver and go ahead and let her lease.  Your horse will get some time under the saddle, she will get some in it. The horse will be on your property so you can watch how she treats him. It sounds like a win win.

Answer 3

Be very careful.

Being low on money isn't a good reason to lease a horse.  There are many questions to be answered - for example:

what will be the extent of the lease - will the lease allow the gal to take possession of the horse or remove it from your property for any reason?  

Although this person may very well be a very good friend, it is very difficult be enact a good agreement like this between friends unless you're very lucky - simply mis-understandings can cause more expense and headache than you can imagine.  You could say one simple thing, she could hear it differently than you intended it and it could lead to hard feelings.

If she's taking full possession of the horse - consider her ability to care for the animal.  I have many good friends I would never allow to simply care for my horses because they have different beliefs and habits regarding simply things such as time of feeding.

Even what your horse is fed can drastically affect it's health - and if that's out of your control, and your horse gets un-healthy, a vet bill to bring it back to health could be much more than the cost of a farrier.

Why don't you suggest cost sharing with your friend?  Keep control of the horse in it's current environment, keep control and responsibility for it's feed and offer her riding it in exchange for helping out with the costs to keep it.

There are other things to worry about - a lot of sue-happy people out there.  Maybe your friend understands the possible harm in being around the horse, but you don't know what happens to people in times of enormous grief.  I she gets hurt badly - which can happen in an instant, and is hospitalized, her parents or someone close enough to her could sue you to cover large hospital bills, you never know.  People can say they would never, but I know people who've said this, then their kid has gotten horribly hurt - they are "mad" with grief and the pileup of medical bills and time lost with no way to recover other than to sue for damages.  but this can happen even if your friend is simply over visiting you.

Additionally, if the horse, while in her care, gets lose and causes damage - say gets hit by a car - and a person is hurt or thier car is damaged a lot, they can sue the owner of the horse for allowing it to get out of control enough to be in the path of the car.  This HAS happened before.

I'm not trying to scare you - I know you don't want to lose your animal - but I am trying to make you think and trying to reinforce that getting a legal agreement between both of you will only serve to ensure you both have the same expectations from the experience and there's an agreement about what to do if one of you doesn't uphold her end of the bargain.  It releases you from having to confront a friend and probably destroy the friendship.  It's much easier to say "you didn't hold up your end of the written agreement" than to walk up to someone and try to tell them they didn't hold up their end of an agreement they understood to be totally different than you did - the only way out is to just get in a bad position.

If none of these suggestions help - can you get a part time job with a trainer or at a farm or something to help cover expenses?  A farrier only costs 20-30 every 6 weeks unless the animal needs expensive shoes and such.

Answer 4

Don't do it. Take it as many lessons learn to never do business with family or friends. People you have a connection to are more likely to use your kindness and take advantage, yes, even family members aren't immune to treating their own family this way.

In the long run, think. If something were to go wrong with the horse, you are most likely going to lose that friendship. Just politely decline her offer to lease your equine, but tell her that she is welcome to ride her whenever she likes. It will save you a lot of grief and potentially save your friendship.

EDIT: If your equine is a safe mount you may want to see if a barn won't half lease her and your friend take lessons on her or ride her at this barn. Or you could always sell the equine with a buy back guarantee if the buyers later sell your equine. Here's a great website I recommend you checking out. Also, some states have organizations that help fund horse owners, you may want to see if your state offers this.

http://www.equinelegalsolutions.com/leas...

Answer 5

i have been breaking and training horsesfor most of my life.here are a few things you can think about.i worked with 51 head of horses.i broke and trained gave lessons and sold and leased.so i happen to know a bit.when leasing if the horse is going to stay with you you should write dowm on a pice of paper that if she should get hert that she or her family can not sue you,and for the money.if she is going to feed  the hoser every day and night then i would charge her veyy little. if you ever want to talk about horses i would love to chat [e-mail]

Answer 6

$30 is cheap. I'd make her sign a contract, waiver of liability, and make sure you post those state law signs on the property. I'd have her pay for all the horse's feed, hay, trimming and medical needs. That's fair enough. Friends or not, I'd make sure that agreement was signed to protect yourself. If she is a good friend she won't have a problem.

Answer 7

Depending on the arrangement she would pay for nothing or everything.

Some people just want the horse ridden and can't do it themselves.

Arrange before hand what the arrangement is going to be. How much a month she will pay, who takes care of things such as farrier, vet, hay, training etc.

Get something legal drawn up, preferably by a Lawyer, as to who actually owns the horse, how long this loan/lease will last and in the event of an accident who is responsible for the treatment or disposal of the horse...I mean, if she is on it and it drops down dead, who will pay for what. If she has an accident and the horse needs 4 months of treatment who's going to pay for that.

You have to make clear ANY point that might be argued.

Your Moms might be friends now, but if there is a dispute of some kind they will soon tell you they're gonna sue you....all's fare in love and war!!!

Be carefull and diligent, good luck!!!

Answer 8

Be sure you see an attorney to check on liability laws where you live.  And write a contract with the attorney.  Where I live a parent (adult) cannot waive the rights of a child, and a child can't enter into a contract.  Insurance companies do the sueing when the injured parties file for benefits, so it wouldn't matter what the mom said about not sueing you if your laws are like ours.  So, you may have to carry a liability umbrella on your homeowner's insurance which adds to your cost.

Answer 9

You need to get a contract written up that is legally binding releasing you from all liability if your friend does something wrong and gets hurt.  You ALSO need to make sure that if they cripple or kill your mare (I know this sounds HARSH but it does happen.) that you are paid the mare's full value at the time the lease started.

This will keep all parties on the up and up and hopefully you'll keep your friendship.  I've leased out a lot of horses over my years of horse ownership and have only had a couple of problems during that time and they arose because I trusted my friends and DIDN'T get a contract.

Best of luck.