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Feeling uncomfortable with 1/2 lease

Hunter/Jumper
#1

I’ve been 1/2 leasing a boarder horse at my barn for the past 8 months, and things were going really well, but some things have happened over the past month that have started making me uneasy, and I’m not sure if I’m over-reacting.

Prior to a month ago, the horse was being used in lessons on days I did not ride. Then the owner decided to lease out the other 1/2 to a teenager at the barn. What was weird was that the owner didn’t say anything to me. I saw the contract in the tack locker and had to reach out directly to ask about it. I still don’t know who will get priority for summer showing (the main reason I started this lease anyway).

Now I’ve found out that the owner has been riding the horse on my assigned days, and potentially his other leasors as well. I also know she let his old leasor (from last year) ride him on one of my riding days. These haven’t interfered with my ride time per say, but the horse can already be sour and unwilling to work under saddle and I think this is contributing to the not great lessons I’ve had the past few weeks.

This is weird right? It feels like me and this other leasor are covering all the bills and then the owner is still riding - that doesn’t seem right to me. To be honest, I’m not in love with the horse either. He has atrocious ground manners, and as I said, can be sour under saddle. But (when he cooperates), I can work on much more advanced jumping and flat work than I could with a school horse. Unfortunately, the barn doesn’t have many other options either.

Should I talk to the horse owner about this? Or my trainer or barn owner? I’m not really sure what to do, but it feels pretty unfair to me and the horse right now.

#2

That does sound pretty unfair, and frankly the owner doesn’t care much for the horse if they didn’t set up set days with a set day off per week for their horse.

I’d reach out to them, but have low expectations. They’ve already shown who they are. Is your shareboard month to month, or are you on a contract? What does the contract say?

35 Likes
#3

What does your lease contract say? But I agree, I would not be happy with that arrangement. If you want to try to salvage the situation, I’d reach out to horse owner with your expectations, ie you should be the only one to ride the horse on your days. I’d also go ahead and ask about summer showing ahead of time.

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#4

It’s an on-going contract, but I do have to give 30 days notice to end it. The contract guarantees use of the horse on my assigned days, but doesn’t technically state that it’s exclusive use…

My understanding was that the horse got one day off, since I ride 3 days and the other leasor rides 3 days, but honestly I’m not even sure of that any more

3 Likes
#5

I’d call the owner and ask if you and the other shareboarder could lock in days, that way - barring the owner riding the horse herself, which is BS - the horse gets a day off.

I agree that I would tackle summer show schedule on the same call.

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#6

I’d be annoyed about the horse being used on your days, that’s not fair to either you or the horse. That’s a totally valid issue to raise with the owner. I’d double check how your contract is worded before you bring it up so you know exactly what the expectations are, but even if it’s not directly prohibited it violates the spirit of the lease IMO.

I wouldn’t say anything about the owner leasing out the other half without telling you, communication would be nice but it’s really their call. You could ask about the horse’s workload in general and how much he’s being worked/jumped outside of your days, but I’d frame it as wanting to make sure you’re keeping things balanced with your rides and not trying to control what happens outside of your days. Depending on what they say you can go from there and decide if this arrangement is still working for you.

As for priority for showing, unless there’s something in your lease about that I would expect to align your show plans to whatever days you have the horse. If the owner/other leaser is willing to be flexible to accommodate you that’s great but not really required. That’s one of the downsides of half-leasing.

Honestly though, it sounds like this horse and owner aren’t a great match for you either way. I’d probably start looking for something else. Having a conversation with your trainer about your long-term goals would be a good start, and they may have some thoughts about the lease that could help you. It’s possible you’d need to consider another program with more options for half-leases if your barn is short on options and you aren’t looking to purchase anytime soon.

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#7

I guess it all depends on so many things.
If both you and the owner are doing low level not stressful work, it likely does not matter if the horse works twice in a day. Most lesson horses manage just fine doing that.
Now, if you were showing up at your designated time on your day and you could not ride because the owner had someone else on the horse, that would be a complaint.

Before you move forward with complaining about this, please know that it might end with you not having this horse to ride. If you are OK with that outcome, then start making waves.
Where you start depends on, just like I said above, so many things.
Was this lease organized through your barn owner or trainer, or did you do it directly with this horse owner?
If you organized it through your trainer/barn owner I think that might be a good place to start the conversation. I would not start with - this is not fair. Say you have noticed this and ask if they think this is why Dobbin has been so difficult in your lessons lately and is it normal for a lease to work this way.

1 Like
#8

My free-ride days are actually Saturday and Sunday, but I certainly wouldn’t assume she’d give me priority at this point. This did bring up another question though - if the other leasor takes him to a show over the weekend, should I expect my monthly fees to be pro-rated since I’ll lose those riding days?

This is my first lease as an adult so I’m kind of figuring everything out as I go along :sweat_smile:

2 Likes
#9

No, I’d expect you and the other 1/2 boarder to work it out where weekends alternate.

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#10

I can say that when I half leased my horse to someone, when they wanted to show I did not ask them for extra for the show days (which were not their usual lease days).

I agree with the above, this is something you need to organize with the other person leasing if it comes up. Long before the first show you should have a conversation with the owner about how shows will work. Was that not included in your lease agreement?

#11

Oh I know we need to have a conversation about it. The barn hasn’t released the season’s schedule yet, but we don’t do rated shows and only travel 1-2 times/month (weekends only, generally). I’m just trying to figure out how to approach this before we need to actually talk about it.

My lease states I get first priority for shows, but I doubt the owner changed the verbiage on the other leasor’s contract tbh. It’s a boilerplate contract the barn uses.

1 Like
#12

If your lease states you have the horse on all weekend days then I would expect to have use of the horse on all weekend days. If the other leaser wants to take the horse to a weekend show they need to clear that with you and let you know which day(s) you can swap to that week to make up for missing a ride, or if you both want to go to the same show then you can decide if the workload is light enough to both show the horse. If you’re able to be flexible sometimes I think that’d be nice of you but by no means is it required, and I definitely wouldn’t give up any riding days I was paying for without swapping for an alternative.

I disagree. OP’s contract gives her full use of the horse on weekends, I don’t see any reason she needs to compromise on that unless she’s feeling generous. If the owner promised the other leaser use of the horse on weekends that’s on her to solve, not OP.

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#13

I dont disagree, but it sounds like both 1/2 leasers signed identical contracts. I will also state that it’s normal to have to share weekend days and/or show dates.

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#14

I’m assuming the only identical part is the phrase about priority for showing, but the other half-leaser has different assigned days. If they both have contracts giving them the rights to the same days that’s an even bigger problem. If it’s just the priority clause I still think that’s on the owner to solve for the other leaser, OP doesn’t have to give up her days just because the owner screwed up.

In my experience sharing weekend days in a part lease is not common. Usually each half gets one of the days as a standard and there’s an unwritten expectation that they’ll swap or share occasionally on a case-by-case basis. If there’s really an expectation that they share regularly then that majorly undermines OP’s contract, since that’s two thirds of the days she’s paying for every week.

1 Like
#15

This sounds like a pretty sweet deal for the owner… the horse is essentially the equivalent of full leased with the two of you footing the bill and they still get to ride whenever they please, and let other people use him too.

I would probably bounce your thoughts off your trainer first (assuming they are involved somehow?), so you can narrow down what the conversation needs to be about and what is a realistic expectation. And if you should even continue to lease the horse. I personally would just give notice - clearly the owner thinks this is all OK or they wouldn’t be doing it, so complaining about it isn’t likely to change their opinion.

15 Likes
#16

Of course you should!

For horse welfare as well as for fairness to you. It isn’t just how you feel about it, keep in mind that the impact on the horse is everything, as well.

Not having the conversation leaves you in an uncomfortable limbo, and makes planning ahead problematic. And could be very unfair to this poor horse who may be over-worked and tired.

If you will do your preparation for the conversation with the owner, feel comfortable with your options and have them ranked in your preference order, and only then speak with the owner, you’ll be in a good position to know how flexible you can be about what aspects of the lease.

To strengthen your position before this conversation, because you are, in effect, now negotiating for what you thought you were getting when you agreed to this lease –

  • First read through the lease contract. Now that you have some experience with it, write a list of everything that you question, and everything that you wish were worded differently (such as only you to ride on your ride days, and a limit on how much work the horse will be doing for other riders).

  • Then secretly :wink: determine what are your other options for leasing another horse with a different owner. Perhaps a different barn. That is, be prepared to move on, as you should be in any case to keep things balanced with the other party to the contract.

  • With all of the above information written down and in front of you as you phone the owner – Initially approach the owner in a friendly, non-confrontational, “I’m learning” manner, with some ‘general questions’. For now, stick to the lease terms. Just to understand how things are working now. Hear the owner out on each of your questions.

  • “Thank you for explaining! That is much more clear to me, since I’m new to this. I hope you’ll hear me out on a few concerns I have about how things are going now, since I see that there have been some changes for Dobbin’s ride schedule over the last month.” Then talk through conversationally your concerns, doing your best to keep your tone non-complaining. Explain that this is because you think some things are making the lease not as beneficial as you had planned. You are concerned about the horse. About your lessons, your plans to show. It is all about tone. Diligently avoid sounding whiny or put upon. Your tone should be reasonable, adult, confident and friendly.

  • Once again hear the owner out on their response. You’ll likely read a lot into their tone as well. They may be dismissive and recalcitrant. Or they may be as concerned as you are (“I hadn’t realized …”) and interested in your point of view. Once you have heard their response, you will have much more information and be better prepared to assess your best options going forward. Remembering your plans for the next several months.

  • Options from that point: > Continue as is. > Amend this lease (one page with the changes, both parties sign). > If you and the owner agree on substantial enough changes to the lease, cancel this lease to substitute it with a completely new lease for the same horse, one that addresses your concerns and is more favorable to you. > End this lease and move on.

There is a good chance that the owner wants to keep you as a lessee. You are likely paying more than the others (or not if rates have gone up). And are reliable.

In any case, the only way to find out is to have the conversation. You can do this, good luck! :grin:

16 Likes
#17

It is definitely an option just to move on.

But – I would not assume that I know what the owner is thinking/feeling. Often the other party is in a completely different place than we assume that they are. And what is really going on is not something that we could guess, because we don’t know enough about them personally. Sometimes it’s fixable. But we won’t know that without a conversation.

As I said in my post above, don’t approach the owner as ‘complaining’. Be conversationally information-gathering first. The more we know, the better we can work things out in our own favor. Or know that yes, it’s time to find something else.

If what we have in hand can be fixed, that’s usually a much better option than moving on. Not always, of course. But we don’t know the best outcome for ourselves without more information from the source.

1 Like
#18

So, that does seem like a lot of work.
I didn’t read all the comments (17 was too many during a work day to review), but even if everyone is flatting or jumping small a few days a week, that’s still a horse that’s probably pretty over his workload.

I’d talk to the trainer. Ask how often owner is riding. See if some of those days are lining up with your more sour experiences. Then maybe talk to the other leasor and ask if they’re having a similar experience on their days. If the answer is YES, then maybe collectively approach the owner and trainer and say, "Hey, we’re both having negative experiences here and we’re concerned that horse’s temperment might be from over usage. Either we need to figure out a plan where horse is only ridden twice 1-2x a day and only 2x on days when we’re just flatting, or we need to both adjust our leases to account for the days that owner would like to ride, bc no one, aside from the owner and the trainer (who is getting potential lesson $$s) is benefitting from this arrangement. They may get mad. OR they might agree that the attitude of the horse is less than ideal and that something should be done. Personally, if the owner is collecting all that money for their horse to be what appears to be “Fully” leased, then they should be easing off the riding to make it more enjoyable for those paying to ride the animal. If they want their cake and to eat it too, then that’s a problem and the trainer should manage that with the owner privately.

2 Likes
#19

I do not understand what you are trying to say here as it pertains to this particular situation and what I said. Are you implying that the owner could be leasing both halves of the horse, AND riding it themselves, AND loaning it to other people, and not be OK with it? Who is permitting and performing these actions, if not the owner? :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

I also suggested discussing it in the part of that paragraph that you didn’t quote. With the trainer, first, to gain outside perspective on the situation and narrow down what to discuss with the owner. And then I stated what I would do, and why. In my experience with leases, as both an owner and a lessee - owners are going to do what they want with their horse and you can either accept it or move on.

1 Like
#20

What I said was the opposite of that. What I said was: We. Don’t. Know. what the owner is thinking, planning, intending, feeling about what is going on.

ASSuming is not getting to the truth.

We can’t know until we ask the owner, and the owner tells us whatever she wants to tell us.

Very frequently what we are trying to deduce and interpret is not at all what is going on – or why it is going on.

The biggest mistake I’ve ever made in a discussion of terms, in a negotiation, is assuming that I can put the pieces together of what the other party thinks, feels, and intends, without getting the information directly from them.

You can do it another way in your life, if that is what suits you. I was explaining how I’d approach it.

5 Likes

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