Yep, this.
However, usually in full offsite leases, the leaser is responsible for all care. Especially being offsite.
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So much good advice here. Agree with others that the most typical model is for the lessee (person leasing the horse) to be responsible for all veterinary care, but also for the horse to be insured for major medical and mortality.
When horses are older or not insurable or are lower dollar value animals, the lessee and lessor need to agree more specifically on who is covering routine vet care (I would expect the lessee to generally cover this) and what dollar amount of vet care the lessee is responsible for injuries/emergencies. For example, it probably isn’t reasonable to expect that a lessee would pay for major surgery (like colic surgery). I think it’s better to come up with a worst case scenario amount that caps the financial responsibility of the lessee. Also, I think that if a horse is uninsured, it is very important to discuss how an emergency situation should be handled–perhaps the horse is not a good surgical candidate or neither party is willing/able to cover that expense.
The last thing I want to say is that it is very important to put language in a lease contract that handles the possibility of early termination. Let’s say that the horse gets injured and there is a long layup required. The lessee might not want to do all the work of the layup, and the lessor might be concerned about the layup being done correctly. There’s a lot that can happen and it’s important to have some options if things go south.
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There are some pretty good equine law attorneys that will draft lease docs, and you can also get a more general lease doc off of the USEF website
And another lesson I was taught that goes with this bummer of a story:
Never lease out a horse expecting him to come back quite as good as what you sent out. Ideally, everyone writes a strong contract and already knows/trusts the people who will be responsible for the horse’s care. But too many times, the horse comes back “less,” somehow and, of course, the lessee really wants to stop paying ASAP if the horse can’t perform as expected. This is economically rational behavior. It’s also the reason that lease fees are pretty expensive.
But I don’t understand people leasing out horses that they want to ride again or even more strange, leasing out a somewhat green horse whom someone else will train up some while they are doing something else. I know it is becoming more common for riders, even good ones, to need horses to lease rather than own and they can be gems in a deal like this. But it seems unlikely that someone would pay to improve someone else’s horse.
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The best way to do this is have the owner buy the mortality policy and name herself the insured. Lessee pays the owner back for that before the horse goes to her barn. There is a clause in the contract requiring that the the Lessee complies with the insurance company’s procedures and requests.
Do not trust someone else to choose, buy or not cancel an insurance policy that benefits you.
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So in Max’s case, he was a pretty well made kids horse (His job when I bought him) He didn’t need drilling work or improvement, I was only trying to have him do something when I was at a busy point and couldn’t myself balance all the things on my plate.
He did lessons for a long time and then he stopped. And there’s more to it (Lack of vet lameness workup. Lack of disclosure of an issue. Just keeping him in a field and not doing any treatments) But ultimately it was only a care lease to help their lesson program have another horse and my horse to get some exercise.
Em
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No good deed goes unpunished.
I did partial leases on a couple of my horses. My biggest problem was people who wanted to ‘train’ my horse. Often that required a lot of retraining after the fact.
I also had the situation where the horse got injured during a ride and probably could have used stitches, if only they had told me when it happened.
If I were to lease again, I would have an extensive contract that spelled out any possible situation in great detail and required them to train with someone I found acceptable.
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We have been leasing horses for the last 20+ years, and always have the lessee buy and pay for the insurance. We are not a bank or an insurance company. No insurance, no horse.
As the named insured, the insurance company sends us a copy of the policy. The lease will not start without this in place. If there is an issue with the horse, the insurance company notifies us.
In the event that the horse is uninsurable due to age, or a rider on the policy, it is written into the lease as a signed addendum, by both parties, that the lessee is responsible for all veterinary, other health related, and farrier expenses. We also reserve the right to inspect and keep tabs on the horse.
If there are any medical procedures, aside from routine maintenance ( which has to be done, if necessary) need to be run through us
We are extremely rigid about this, but the risk is all ours. We’ve only ever actually cancelled a lease one time in all these years. We repossessed the horse, sadly, in our own barn. The lessee lost their job and couldn’t pay, but thought we should let them continue to use the horse, out of the goodness of our hearts. Yah, nope
ETA, we even have a write in on the lease as to who can ride, and or teach with the horse. I am pretty picky about who we will lease to anymore, so it’s to a tiny, select few people. CYA when you lease out your horse
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Adding two cents here as a lessee – I pay for all vet care, shoes, shots, etc. I pay the owner for his insurance monthly, as I’m on a 6 month lease. Makes things easier for such a short period of time. However, I am buying him, so I’ll be purchasing my own soon.
Agree with what a lot of others have said: vet expenses, requirement to purchase mortality and/or major medical coverage. The only time I’ve seen differ is when a horse has been leased with a pre-existing condition, owner allowed for early termination of the lease if the horse became unsound due to the pre-existing condition. In that case, they would’ve taken the horse back and assumed related vet costs.
Food for thought–you may want to make sure to outline who gets reimbursed with insurance medical claims. For example, does leasee pay up to deductible and then owner takes over? If leasee pays XYZ in medical costs and insurance reimburses 75% does it go payee or the owner? Seems obvious, but for the safety of all parties, worth spelling out. I was presented with a contract that read owner would receive reimbursement from insurance for any medical costs incl. even if I had made the payment as the leasee until I pointed it out and it was removed.
In a situation where I leased a senior pony I covered all routine costs, unplanned “small” vet costs (i.e. needed an unexpected vet appointment for an eye issue) meds, but we had it detailed that prior to any unexpected treatment I would contact the owner when possible. The owner at the time worked at New Bolton so if we had to go to the hospital and I couldnt reach them ahead of time, they would have found us there anyway. Major vet costs like hospitalization would be covered by the owner, but in all reality at 30 years old, we had both discussed ahead of time neither of us would have wanted to put the pony through a surgery even as healthy and spry as he was (and still is!).
Even though the owner was one of my closest friends and we grew up riding together, we still laid it out in an agreement and discussed every scenario we could think of ahead of time so that we were not only on the same page, but so that I would know how she would want me to act in the event she could not be reached.
On the other hand I do not think I would ever lease a high value horse from a good friend for the simple fact that I like to keep business and friendship separate.
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A lease is between two parties. Leases vary a lot. Just be sure both understand what they are signing up for, and that it is thorough to avoid conflicts.
This is a timely and insightful thread for me 
does anyone have a full/offsite lease contract they would be willing to share? Looking for a good reference point to build off of before sending to a lawyer friend for review.
I returned a lease horse to his owner because he was always coming up lame and I couldn’t afford the vet bills any more. I missed two horse trials because of his issues and, as it was after closing date, I didn’t get a refund or partial refund. So that was about $1,000 down the drain. Found out after I returned him that the owner knew he had a history of lameness but, OOPSIE, didn’t disclose it to me.
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You are confusing the terms. Lessor = person who owns the horse and is allowing someone else to use it for a fee. Lessee = person who is paying money to use someone else’s horse.
Pro tip: It’s best if the lessor (owner) carries the insurace and passes on the cost to the lessee. Scenario: A horse is leased and insured by the lessee but becomes injured and needs months of care. Lessee files claim, maybe gets reimbursed for some initial expenses, but returns horse the to lessor early and cancels their policy. Do not assume the owner can take over the insurance policy and continue with a claim filed by the lessee, if the lessee has requested to cancel their insurance. Most insurance policies are not transferrable this way. Whether any insurance coverage remains could depend on both the language in the lease and in the insurance policy. And with an active injury being treated, nobody will offer a new policy to the lessor/owner.
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To me and in my circumstances, it depends on length of contract.
I always hold the insurance and make sure that I’m listed as final say on anything major medical.
If it’s a short term lease (120 days or less), I will usually send horse with general maintenance and new shoes if it’s close to their time when they’re due. If they want to do chiro, PEMF, or massage… all the much better for horse, but not going on my tab.
If it’s 6-12 month leases, I’m doing first round of maintenance and it’s written in contract that any further needs shall be discussed prior to implementation and would be paid by lessee.
Horse always comes with up-to-date vaccines, newish shoes (if possible), and if it’s a short-term lease, they are sent with any supplements. If it’s a 6-12 month lease, I’ll usually send first round (2-3 months worth) and request that horse stays on supplements as per their performance program.
At the end of the day, I want horse comfortable and happy. If that means spending some money to make sure it’s done properly, so be it.
Hire an equine lawyer ! Don’t call them after the fact- Have it clearly spelled out, One big problem I see time and again is what is the responsibility of thee Lessee if the horse breaks down while under leased? Who is responsible for rehab and maintenance ? A good trainer will insist that the their bare the process of rehab, though some lessors want the horse returned to their care. Many successful trainers deal with a set group of friends and feel responsible for the horse’s recovery. Other people want to send the horse back as-is which can be unfair if the lessor’s trainer is on the road showing with customers., Definitely set the rules down ahead of time. I have had two clients have mares returned that wound up being in foal!
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