And to think my biggest concern when leasing out a horse is that the rider treat him like her own!
No, it would not bother me, especially if your friend doesn’t mind it. I’d bet she’s just happy she found a lessor that cares about her horse enough to refer to him as her own.
If she’s half leasing, then for her half this horse is hers.
The only time it has ever bothered me, is when riding school riders have made an instagram account based on their favourite school horse, but claim they own and “train” the horse. Yeesh.
[QUOTE=yellowbritches;7908922]
Some people are so overly sensitive about rather silly things.
Over the years, I have referred to horses I’ve had a connection with, whether I leased, groomed, schooled, owned, or just loved, as “mine.” “How’s my boy/girl?” Hell. I do that with friends DOGS. It’s a term endearment. It means they have a place in my heart. Simple. Relax.[/QUOTE]
Ditto…It’s a horse, not a boyfriend. Wouldn’t bother me at all. What would bother me is a person leasing the horse who didn’t really care about him. OR a lessee who over steps the decisions…over shows or over works my horse. Or tries to sell them…you know…important things.
I do not own the horse that I ride but frequently refer to him as ‘my boy’. My name is not on his door and everyone knows his owner but she knows that I love him and treat him as if he were my own. He may not be my horse but he is certainly my baby! I think as long as someone referring to the horse as their own is not trying to be deceptive about it then it’s ok. All that said, I was certainly careful to discuss it with the owner first so she knows I say it only with fondness and nothing else 
I get the feeling, OP, that 1) you are pretty young and 2) you don’t like the girl leasing your friend’s horse. Time to grow up and MYOB, or you could wind up queering a nice deal for your friend.
Good grief, WHO CARES?? It’s not even your horse. I agree with SillyHorse, sounds like you just don’t like this person. The girls at the local lesson barn talk about their horses all the time. I half lease my older horse to a good friend and she refers to him as “my boy.” She also takes outstanding care of him. Do you think I give a rats butt what she calls him? (hint: I don’t) Leave it alone.
This sounds like a plot from a Saddle Club novel.
I got really paranoid when I first started reading this thread because I do refer to my lease horse as “my guy,” “my boy” and occasionally “my boyfriend” when I’m being silly. But luckily this sounds more like one poster’s personal issue than a blanket faux pas.
If I’m at the barn and someone compliments him or asks about him (i.e. “is this your horse?”) I will always throw credit back to the owner; i.e. “oh thanks! This is so-and-so’s new guy, I lease him! Did I luck out or what?”
If I’m talking to my non-horsey friends/family or, for example, COTH, there’s no reason to make that distinction. My aunt is just being polite; she doesn’t want to hear about the ins and outs of my lease agreement. In those situations I will usually just call him “my guy” and clarify if someone asks if I own him.
I never call him my boy in front of the owner as I feel that would be weird for her but she calls him “our boy” so she definitely wants/appreciates the level of care and responsibility I take for him.
I think as long as someone isn’t actually presenting themselves as the horse’s owner it’s fine.
[QUOTE=french fry;7909361]
I got really paranoid when I first started reading this thread because I do refer to my lease horse as “my guy,” “my boy” and occasionally “my boyfriend” when I’m being silly. But luckily this sounds more like one poster’s personal issue than a blanket faux pas.
If I’m at the barn and someone compliments him or asks about him (i.e. “is this your horse?”) I will always throw back credit to the owner; i.e. “oh thanks! This is so-and-so’s new guy, I lease him! Did I luck out or what?”
If I’m talking to my non-horsey friends/family or, for example, COTH, there’s no reason to make that distinction. My aunt is just being polite; she doesn’t want to hear about the ins and outs of my lease agreement. In those situations I will usually just call him “my guy” and clarify if someone asks if I own him.
I never call him my boy in front of the owner as I feel that would be weird for him but she calls him “our boy” so she definitely wants/appreciates the level of care and responsibility I take for him.
I think as long as someone isn’t actually presenting themselves as the horse’s owner it’s fine.[/QUOTE]
I’m with this 100%.
[QUOTE=kboned;7909201]
If she’s half leasing, then for her half this horse is hers.
The only time it has ever bothered me, is when riding school riders have made an instagram account based on their favourite school horse, but claim they own and “train” the horse. Yeesh.[/QUOTE]
Umm no.
Half leasing does not mean that the horse now half belongs to the leaser. The horse still 100% belongs to the owner.
Having said that I have no problems with kids calling the horse they lease ‘my horse’.
Adults I might be a bit annoyed with. After all they get half of the fun and none of the responsibility for their money. Which is not a bad thing and can work out great for both the owner who doesn’t have time to ride and the leaser.
It is still however not the same in level of responsibility and accountability as owning a horse.
A full lease is a bit different and much closer to horse ownership so I can see that.
This is not necessarily true at all. Many half leases include a ton of responsibility - vet, farrier, insurance, body clipping, tack/equipment, commitment to X rides per week or else paying for training rides, etc. It’s not always just pay a flat fee per month and ride or not ride to your heart’s desire.
I do not think that half leasing = owning half the horse. I don’t think the poster meant it literally.
A half lease can be anything from “clean his stall daily and ride all you want, no contract” to a very specific contract that includes a lot of clauses like 90 day’s notice required for termination, etc.
I never think twice about calling my lease horse “my boy” until I read this post, and now I’m a bit paranoid about this. Dear lord, calling him “my boy” is irritating to others? I never claim ownership of him or make any decisions for him outside of giving him treats and love, or buying saddle pads/blankets, or spoil him. It’s a special bond and terms of endearment. OP needs to chill.
I half lease from my BO, and I call the horse mine all the time, particularly with people who don’t know anything about horses. I do it because “the horse I half lease” is a mouthful, and because trying to explain the concept of leasing (let alone half leasing) is often wayyyy too much of a discussion with non-horsey people (YOU CAN RENT A HORSE?? etc).
When people ask if he’s mine, or imply it, I always correct them in the same way that french fry explained upthread (“Oh, he’s not mine! I’m half leasing him from [BO]. It’s the best set up ever!!”). But in everyday conversation (and often on COTH) I’ll say things like “Got to go see my boy today!” Just easier that way.
If the owner had a problem, I would of course immediately stop. But BO has often remarked how happy it makes him to see me treating the horse like my own, so I’m pretty sure he doesn’t mind – as long as I tell anybody who’s interested that horsey will be up for half lease to someone else soon!
There are far better things to worry about than whether a leaser says “mine” or “my horse.” So long as she ultimately respects that legally the owner is the owner, the fact that she loves the horse enough to treat him as her own, and not some horse to be used and abused because she ultimately has no long term responsibility for him, is a very good thing.
Also, I own now, but when I have leased I always thought of the horse as “my horse” or “my girl.” Not because I own them, but because we are a team together. That didn’t mean that I didn’t ultimately understand that the horse belonged to someone else. This was especially true when I was a kid and got “my” first lease pony.
I’ll preface this by saying that I wouldn’t care what someone else’s arrangement is - if the horse’s owner is fine with the lessee calling the horse “hers,” then that would be fine by me. Even if the horse’s owner wasn’t fine with it, I’d stay out of it because it’s not my business.
That said, I’ve half leased…um…I think 6 horses over the years (I was the lessee), and I’ve never called any of them “mine” or in any way implied that I owned them. I loved many of them very dearly, and actually ended up buying one of them. Even with the one I bought, I sure didn’t call her mine until I actually owned her. I was always careful to correct others who thought I owned the horses, as well. If someone said, “I like your horse” or even just “cute horse,” I would generally respond with something like, “Thanks! I actually lease her/him from _____.” It just seems disrespectful to pretend that you own a horse you don’t actually own.
This. I dont’ know how many times they use the word “rent”. Or “your rental horse”
I half lease “my” mare and for all general conversations, I refer to her as mine. Yes, technically I am not her owner but I love her and care for her as if I owned every inch of her. My situation isn’t such that I share her daily with her owners but I know whenever I do see her owners, they are happy to see her loved and cared for. I don’t think for a minute they would care if I use possessive words to describe her. Like others have said, if someone asks me if I own my horse, I will tell them that I half lease her. Depending on the person, I will go into more details but most of the time just that is enough. Nobody has ever thought it odd that I call her mine.
I just find this thread strange because he ain’t the OP’s horse, either. 
[QUOTE=french fry;7909390]
This is not necessarily true at all. Many half leases include a ton of responsibility - vet, farrier, insurance, body clipping, tack/equipment, commitment to X rides per week or else paying for training rides, etc. It’s not always just pay a flat fee per month and ride or not ride to your heart’s desire.
I do not think that half leasing = owning half the horse. I don’t think the poster meant it literally.
A half lease can be anything from “clean his stall daily and ride all you want, no contract” to a very specific contract that includes a lot of clauses like 90 day’s notice required for termination, etc.[/QUOTE]
I don’t mean that sort of responsibility. If the horse has a career ending injury, the leaser can go find another horse to lease. They don’t have to budget for and make plans around retirement, they are not ultimately responsible for the horses welfare and they are not the ones to make the call for colic surgery or euthanasia.
That is a huge reason why people lease - less expense and ultimately less risk. It makes a lot of sense to lease if you know you won’t be able to afford to keep a lame horse and one you can ride and you know that big vet bills aren’t in your budget, then leasing makes a lot of sense. You can enjoy the perks of horse ownership without having to have the funds to own a horse.
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