It seems like most people at my barn are encouraged to buy instead of lease. I’m definitely not ready to own though. I’m not planning to be super competitive but I would like to get more ride time on my own and have the experience of having a horse without the long term commitment. Do most people want to lease their horses to someone who will show a lot or someone experienced who can put more miles on them? Would I maybe have to switch to a barn that already has a horse available for an on-site lease?
In my honest opinion, it all depends on how much $ you’re willing to spend. This could be different in other parts of the country. However, I just embarked on a search to find a horse to lease off-farm. My budget was extremely low and that was very problematic as I was looking for a horse that I could work on myself with. Everything within my budget that I found was unsound to some degree, untrained or had a “quirk”- such as stopping at jumps, bucking like a rodeo bronc, etc. AKA there was a reason it was cheap!
I did find a lot of horses that were being offered for an off-farm lease (mostly kind of far away from me) that looked very nice… that were also very expensive.
There were also a lot of horses that simply lacked training and whose owners were overhorsed that were being offered fairly cheaply, so if you are willing to take on a project and have the experience to do so, you could always explore that avenue.
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To add to my previous reply- I posted on Facebook sale and lease groups and had a LOT of responses there so that may be a good place to look around. Make sure you have a clear budget in mind- are you looking for a free lease? (Can you pay all care expenses?) are you looking for a paid lease? (Typically all care expenses + fee?) be wary of the cheap ones. Not to say that nice horses with cheap lease fees don’t exist at all but from my experiences there may be a reason why they’re so cheap.
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I think having good connections will help you quite a bit. A couple years ago I leased out my very experienced, very nice, very safe horse when I wasn’t necessarily planning to do so—I was burnt out and needed a financial break, and a trainer I know well just happened to be looking for a lease for a client. Her budget was lower than what my horse is worth, but the timing worked out and I trusted the pro to take great care of my horse. I think there are more of those opportunities than people realize, but you kinda have to be working with a trustworthy pro for them to pop up. I never would have done it otherwise.
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Also look for leases on older horses that are stepping down. This time of year isn’t great (middle of show season) versus looking at the end of season when people are looking to place their horses in a new lease.
I was the recipient of a lovely school-master care lease and while he’s not the fanciest horse ever — we are certainly competitive and he’s taught me more than I could have ever imagined!
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Also talk to vets and farriers.
Thank you!
Do you think I could look at other states too or would that be too far for someone wanting to lease?
I found many that were willing to allow their horse to go out of state and many that were not. I think it is worth looking. Most owners want the ability to come visit their horse so many owners don’t want their horse going more than x hours away. Keep in mind that you would likely need to pay transport costs. Before crossing state lines, many states require certain things. For example, my state requires a health certificate signed by a veterinarian within 30 days of transport date and a negative coggins within a year. Even though my horse had gotten vaccinations and was seen by a vet 2 weeks ago, I had to pay for the vet to come out again when I needed to transport him to another state to do the health cert. so you may need to pay for these things too. You’d have to look at state by state laws.
Thank you!
I’ve had several horses leased out, both free and paid (depending on the horse and the program)
For a free lease, I learned the hard way to keep the horse close enough that I could go visit. I found the people interested in a free lease were also the ones who skimped on properly fitting tack, and quality care. This is a generality, and I currently have one horse on free lease to an excellent show program near me.
For paid lease, I’m a little more flexible on location, as long as the program has excellent references. Generally the paid leases are looking for a show horse, and those situations tend to be less backyard-y and more structured.
A very general rule of thumb is that an annual lease fee is ~1/3 of the value of the horse. For older or quirky horses, it may be less. For short term or extremely fancy/competitive horses, it could be significantly more. Also, where you’re located matters.
If you can find a good match for half or full lease at your barn, that might be ideal, especially if you don’t already own all the tack/supplies you’ll need. If looking for something for off-farm lease, FB can be a good place to post an ISO. Big Eq has often has high-end horses for lease. Your trainer should be connected enough to ask around word-of-mouth. You need to be brutally honest about what you are looking for/need (location, program, level you’re riding, budget, etc) Horse owners take a lot of risk when leasing a horse out. I’ve had horses come back lame, skinny, or with training problems that require time and money to fix -if possible.
Keep in mind, with horses (and tack) there’s a certain amount of you-get-what-you-pay-for. It costs the same to feed/vet/shoe/show a lovely safe and appropriate horse as it does for a green, quirky, or unsuitable horse. Leasing is a great stepping stone to ownership, and some people only ever lease. Lease agreements vary greatly, so be very clear with the owner on who’s paying for what, and what happens if the horse is injured or ill, and make sure that’s all in writing.
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I am the beneficiary of just such a situation. My lease horse is older and his owner wanted to jump higher than he really can at this point. He is a “forever” horse for her so she is not interested in selling him. She seriously considered just retiring him at her home, but someone from my barn told her I was looking for exactly what her horse had to offer. She knew my barn owner very well. My barn owner has an excellent reputation for horse care, so she leased him to me for honestly less than she could have gotten for a horse of his caliber. I know that if I decide to stop leasing him or if no one else at this barn wants to lease him she will retire him rather than lease him out elsewhere.
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Thank you!
