If the trainer plays her cards and the timing right, she could have to OP not only juice up this horse with all its 6 month maintenance but then move him onto the next one and have him juice that one all up too 
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(quoting to keep most of the costs easy to see)
I think there is a constant disconnect between trainers and clients (including some people on this board) when it comes to costs and profit.
This horse is owned by trainer and is a lesson horse. So there are some given costs:
-board (as in feed/keep/lead to and from stall, etc) - all of this is set in a horse being a horse.
-maintenance due to being a lesson horse, this includes clipping, injections, adequan, flymask, etc.
So, letâs do the math - $800 (hock injections)+$500 (adequan)+$40 (wormer)=$1340*2=$2680
$225 (dental)+$25 (flymask)+$275 (clipping) = $250
$2930 annual fee is $244.17 monthly fee.
Other monthly fees- $40 supplements, $125 Bemer blanket, $250 Treadmill=
Total additional monthly - $414, add in the pro-rated annual ($244.17)=$658.17
What this horse is bringing in monthly for this leas=$1000+$900+$658.17=2558.17
At $75/lesson, horse would have to do 34 lessons per month to equal the cost.
Now, it may be true that the horse works 6 days a week and does 2 lessons a day on a few of those days. All that maintenance may also be needed. The horse is currently being ridden a total of 5 days a week. On top of that, the trainer is free to teach 22 lessons elsewhere (34 lessons-12 lesson lessee takes) so she is making $1650 elsewhere.
The general argument is she has to (or pay someone to) do all the maintenance so how is she making the extra profit? Well, sheâs doing all that maintenance whether or not the individual is leasing the horse so that time is given either way. The time that changes is her spending the additional 22 hours teaching on THAT horse to make the money that THAT horse costs.
The argument is usually âthey donât make that much moneyâ and/or âbut the work you have to do for X,Y.Z!â - depending on the scenario, that isnât necessarily the case.
Now, if the horse was getting maintenance, getting clipped, etc because heâs been pulled out of a field to get leased, then that is a different discussion re: profit - but the conversation needs to happen before the work is done.
As âhorse ownerâ leasee should have a say in maintenance issues and costs. Just like my chiropractor doesnât just show up, adjust my horse and send me a bill, neither should the trainer just do something, charge the âhorse ownerâ and not at least talk to him about it. If something like hock injections were non-negotiable (like they MUST be done), then the cost should be told up front. Bemer blanket, treadmill, clipping - they should all be optional, in my opinion.
In a similar vein, I remember a construction company owner âworking offâ to buy a particular horse for his daughter and board with the trainer by leveling the ground where the indoor was going (by levelling, I mean he brought dirt from elsewhere, built up one side about 6 ft and levelled off the entire umâŠ200ftX300ft). Then trainer was adding costs and making daughter âwork off boardâ. The father was starting to get disgruntled - in his view trainer underestimated his worth and overestimated her/the horseâs/boardâs worth. He had horses at home as well, but wanted the show horse where an indoor was - he was well aware of show costs (he also trailered horse to shows with his truck/trailer so that was not an additional cost).
AnywayâŠso yes, OP had the wool pulled over his eyes but I see it all the time. Trainers are not good business people and tend to have overinflated senseâs of worth, in my opinion.
The owner where I keep my horse had fecals done on all the horses. She wanted to do mine at the same time so had it done without asking meâŠdid not even tell me how much said she wasnât expecting me to pay since she wanted it done. Supplements she gives all the horses do not cost me anything. The joint supplement that just my and my horse and her older horse get - she told me I would have to pay for half before I agreed to purchase. THATâs how things should work!
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Every lease Iâve been involved with:
*non perishables are provided for the horse. And stay with the horse. Certainly wouldnât expect a $400 blanket to be footed by the person leasing and then expect them to drag home a smelly used blanket to store at home for a hypothetical future horse. Same for any boots or equipment.
*Lots of people get cute and want to buy a matching halter, pad, wrapsâŠsure, but not expected. Keep them or send them with the horse.
*Consumables like fly spray are considered part of board. You might not get the fancy brand you like and if youâre picky you supply your own. Feed and supps are negotiated into board BEFORE the lease. You really donât want the uneducated public having a lot of opinions about supplements. Itâs hard enough arguing with professionals.
At the end of the day, itâs easier to make a baseline all-in price that is fair to everyone than haggle over extras and add-ons SURPRISE!. This creates sore feelings as the OPis experiencing and is bad business.
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Just quoting here as the earlier comments really confused me. I have never bought tack/equipment and left it at the place I left. At a previous location, I used my own, extra bridle when riding the trainerâs horses - mostly so I always had a bridle, wasnât waiting for someone to finish riding, etc. I took it with me - why would I leave it?
Fly spray - I did buy my own at the same place but the flyspray I bought (canât think of the name, silver bottle, concentrate) didnât cost much and I had a few fly spray bottles. It made me happy to fly spray the horses when I fed them, when I rode, randomly when getting one out of the fieldâŠand yep, took it all with me.
Bought a figure eight addition to my bridle for a specific horse I was leasing and guess where it is nowâŠthatâs right, in my house even though I havenât used it since.
I mean, leave it if you want but if I paid $25 for a flymask, I sure am taking it with me!
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The point was, youâre free to keep or send it with the horse, because you bought it, but you werenât obligated. A ton of stuff gets left with horses by people leasing who donât turn into full time horse owners and donât like storing horsey-smelling stuff. Iâm thinking parents whose kids are off at college and didnât âstickâ.
And thatâs whatâs galling about a lot of the comments about how the horse needs XYZ. Trainers are smart and arenât just buying stuff ala carte at full price, the way a beginner leasing is. Theyâre not paying $25 for a fly mask, for example. Theyâre buying them at bulk at end of season sales.
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To be clear, I just quoted you as agreement, since some earlier posts seem to think it standard to buy something for a lease horse (whether you buy it yourself or are invoiced for it) and leaving it with the horse - just odd to assume someone would do that.
In my case, I didnât own the horse, and it would have felt a bit like ânickel and dimingâ if Iâd taken say, a bottle of fly spray with me, or a hoof pick. The stirrup leathers and stirrups I could have taken with me, but since I had put additional holes into the original leathers (with the ownerâs permission, she was seven inches taller than me), I left them with her in compensation. They were nicer than what she had, thoughâthe lease didnât end on great terms, thatâs why I remember it!
However, a whole-ass bridle or a saddle? Thatâs definitely going with the person leasing the horse.
The fly mask in and of itself is small, but I can definitely see it being part of a sense that the owner is like, âgoody, time for me to go shopping for horsey, now itâs not on my dime.â
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I understand the stirrup leathers - similar to replacing used equipment, especially since you put holes in the leathers. I do not the above that I quoted - how is it nickel and diming to take equipment that you bought for your use?
If you are not sure if you are going to ride again at the end of the lease, then I can understanding leaving tack and/or equipment. But like, if you buy a hoof pick that you like and leave it and the next horse doesnât have a hoof pick that you like, you have to buy another one.
For example, I like the smaller curries - ones for kids - they fit my hand better. If I left it everyone place/lease I left, I would be on at least my 10th by now instead of my first or second. No one uses that curry. So why would I keep spending money on the same thing? But then, I also bought my first grooming kit when I was taking lessons WAY back when I was a kid and still have that same kit (and the same curry).
Maybe itâs just not for me to understandâŠ
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Because those items were so small, I thought it would be cheap to take them with me, but youâre right, I probably should have! (And I agree with you on the curry combs, as someone with tiny hands who needs XXS gloves!) I guess (although I was paying to lease), whenever I have, it was always drilled into me how grateful I should be, just to be able to be lease a horse at all, which made me feel bad.
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Is there an assumption that this is a high end made horse? I wouldnât think a 25 year old lesson horse without a lead change falls in that category.
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Ahh gotcha and yes agree!
Perhaps. I guess itâs personal history. Leasing a 20 something made hunter for years. He had an auto change. You just weighted an outside stirrup to get. Care lease. I paid for everything. All maintenance. Worth every penny. I guess I missed the no change. Sorry
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You leased him for years. Of course you paid all the maintenance.
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Okay 
it continued for years. It started off as a care lease that. Continued because it worked so well.
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Being able to ride a 25 year old horse and not having to buy it is a deal. The horse worked for the time it was needed. Being able to move on to another low or mid level horse without having to worry about selling the last one or keeping it until it dies, is a pretty good deal, even if you have to buy fly mask.
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Oh I donât think a care lease on this house is a bad thing. I think the surprise charges are the bad thing.
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I donât think anyoneâs complaining about having to buy a fly mask.
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I would never pay that much for a lease horse. Thats insane. For that amount you can buy your own horse and PR for the care.
Then be stuck with it when it goes lame, needs to retire, etc.
Leasing and being able to walk away if you donât like the ride is invaluable.
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Iâm a bit late to the party on this one, but for anything that is âevery 6 monthsâ I would recommend asking the trainer to prorate it, so for the $800 injection every 6 months, you would be obligated to pay $533 for your 4 months of care. Same with any other services. Your trainer should have negotiated that into your contract. If not, then you will definitely need to have the conversation.
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