Lease Horse Contracts and Terms

[MsJump21]

Hello! I’m looking to find an off-site lease horse to do the 1.0m jumpers with that is currently located in the Midwest. For a horse that can pack around 1.0m that is quick and careful but can be complicated, what price point would I be looking at for a year? It can be a complicated ride but as long as there’s potential to place or win at some bigger A shows that’s what I’m looking for. Age also doesn’t matter.

Also, what terms would you recommend for a leasor to include in the lease agreement (I.e horse gets injured unrelated to riding owner and leasor split vet bills, ect.)?

[gertie06]

Does it have to be a WB? There are plenty of TBs that can do this job, and they would be WAY cheaper. I suspect you could buy this horse – if it’s a TB – for $10 or $15K. So theoretically you could lease it for somewhere around $5K to $7500/year.

In regards to terms, when you full lease a horse, you are fully responsible for it. If it gets injured in your care – whether related to riding or not – the vet bills are typically yours until the end of the lease term.

[mmeqcenter]

I agree with gertie. If you want a warmblood, expect the lease to be in the $10-15k+ per year range.

Small correction - a leasor, aka lessor, is the owner that leases out the property. Lessee is the one leasing it. Typically the lessor creates the lease agreement, not the lessee.

Depending on the value of the horse, you can expect terms such as the lessee must pay for mortality and/or major medical while leasing the horse, a “return in same or better condition” clause, lessee is responsible for all vet, farrier, and care of horse. The owner might put restrictions in such as max fence height allowed to be jumped, max number of shows per month, no one else is allowed to ride the horse without written permission.

IME, a full lease means the lessee pays all vet bills, farrier bills, etc., regardless to how the injury occurred. If you’re doing a full lease, it doesn’t matter if the horse gets injured “unrelated to riding.” The horse is in your care, and is your responsibility, and it’s unfair to expect the owner to have to pay vet bills on a horse who got injured while in your care, not theirs. It’s a wonder owners lease their horses out anymore, with the number of people that think a lease gets them off the hook for injuries/illnesses.

[gertie06]

@mmeqcenter I couldn’t agree more! It shocks me when lessees want the owner to help cover vet bills on injuries that occurred during the lease term. Or even worse, the ask the lessor to take the horse back if it gets injured! When you full lease a horse, it is essentially YOURS for the lease term. No get-out-of-jail-free cards.

[findeight]

Depends on what written in the contract. Its not common but you can ask for an escape clause should the horse become unusable for more then x months. Lease terms are whatever the two sides agree to. Its quite unusual in a full lease but not that rare in part leases. Not talking refunds here, just not having to pay the upkeep. When I part leased my horses out, I added that clause. I once full leased a Hunter for a year when I switched to HJ and it was in that trainers contracts. Its out there.

Suggest to this OP she look into a part lease thru a trainer if she is specifically looking to show Rated. Yeah, its just 1m and most can get around but it takes a decent round to pin in that huge crowd and for what costs to show there, she could get more bang with less risk on some type of shared lease rather then a full years lease at 30% of the horses value up front plus all expenses.

[MsJump21]

@gertie06

Does it have to be a WB? There are plenty of TBs that can do this job, and they would be WAY cheaper. I suspect you could buy this horse – if it’s a TB – for $10 or $15K. So theoretically you could lease it for somewhere around $5K to $7500/year.

In regards to terms, when you full lease a horse, you are fully responsible for it. If it gets injured in your care – whether related to riding or not – the vet bills are typically yours until the end of the lease term.

I would prefer a warmblood since all 3 of the thoroughbreds I’ve leased in the past have injured themselves.

[MsJump21]

@mmeqcenter

I agree with gertie. If you want a warmblood, expect the lease to be in the $10-15k+ per year range.

Small correction - a leasor, aka lessor, is the owner that leases out the property. Lessee is the one leasing it. Typically the lessor creates the lease agreement, not the lessee.

Depending on the value of the horse, you can expect terms such as the lessee must pay for mortality and/or major medical while leasing the horse, a “return in same or better condition” clause, lessee is responsible for all vet, farrier, and care of horse. The owner might put restrictions in such as max fence height allowed to be jumped, max number of shows per month, no one else is allowed to ride the horse without written permission.

IME, a full lease means the lessee pays all vet bills, farrier bills, etc., regardless to how the injury occurred. If you’re doing a full lease, it doesn’t matter if the horse gets injured “unrelated to riding.” The horse is in your care, and is your responsibility, and it’s unfair to expect the owner to have to pay vet bills on a horse who got injured while in your care, not theirs. It’s a wonder owners lease their horses out anymore, with the number of people that think a lease gets them off the hook for injuries/illnesses.

Thanks for the correction! I always thought the leasor/lessor was the person leasing the horse. My concern with full leasing is that it could go lame from something like a birth defect or some sort of old injury unrelated to being in my care and then having to pay for all the vet bills for the horse. I do not have a problem with paying for vet bills for a horse that was injured in my care since that’s part of the responsibility of full leasing.

[MsJump21]

@gertie06

@mmeqcenter I couldn’t agree more! It shocks me when lessees want the owner to help cover vet bills on injuries that occurred during the lease term. Or even worse, the ask the lessor to take the horse back if it gets injured! When you full lease a horse, it is essentially YOURS for the lease term. No get-out-of-jail-free cards.

I agree with you on the lessee paying for vet bills while it’s in their care but I was curious what happens if the horse goes lame because of a birth defect or an old injury flares up totally unrelated to anything the lessee has done with the horse. I know that if I ever leased my horse out and she was injured I would want her to be returned to me so I could care for her (but I’m also an overprotective horse mom lol).

[lintesia]

@QcJumper03

I agree with you on the lessee paying for vet bills while it’s in their care but I was curious what happens if the horse goes lame because of a birth defect or an old injury flares up totally unrelated to anything the lessee has done with the horse. I know that if I ever leased my horse out and she was injured I would want her to be returned to me so I could care for her (but I’m also an overprotective horse mom lol).

You could do a PPE on the lease horse so that any issues at the onset could be identified. How they’re dealt with should something come up in the course of the lease would have to be spelled out in the contract. It can be a gray area so the only way to know for sure how it will be handled is to have it in writing.

I had my horse leased out and the person terminated the lease early due to personal things that came up in her life. She gave 30 days notice and was then off the hook for her board/training costs, however she lost 100% of her lease fee since per the contract the lease fee was paid in full up front and was non-refundable. So, I ended up having to unexpectedly pick up board/training for this horse, but I had the complete lease fee in my pocket. I cannot tell you how glad I was that this was covered in the contract and that the contract had been put together by the two trainers involved. I paid a commission to my trainer for handling the lease and it was money well spent.

[Madison]

@QcJumper03

I agree with you on the lessee paying for vet bills while it’s in their care but I was curious what happens if the horse goes lame because of a birth defect or an old injury flares up totally unrelated to anything the lessee has done with the horse. I know that if I ever leased my horse out and she was injured I would want her to be returned to me so I could care for her (but I’m also an overprotective horse mom lol).

That is typically a risk you take, just like if you owned the horse, but the difference is you have an “out” whether that is a termination clause or the end of the lease term. If there is some kind of known issue an owner may do a month to month or have an out that if X happens the lease terminates. But you have to think about it from both sides – the owner is taking the risk of putting their horse in your care for the year, and the benefit they get is knowing that year’s costs are taken care of, you are taking the risk that just like with any horse something could happen in that year, but the benefit you get is that your liability and obligations are limited in time. So, everyone has a trade off, and unless negotiated in advance or there is some pre-existing issue, most owners are not going to want to assume all of the risk of anythign you do with the horse AND retain some of the unknown risk. not to mention, if something happens, what are you going to do when the owner says it is your fault and you are trying to argue it was a birth defect or pre-existing! That’s just a grey area neither side should sign up for, because we all know that sometimes the “why” of a horse injury remains one of life’s little mysteries!!

[gertie06]

For a WB that can do that job, I think you’re looking at more like $25K-40K purchase price, so $10K-20K annual lease price is ballpark.

[mmeqcenter]

Yes, what Madison said. It would be wildly difficult to prove an issue arose specifically due to a pre-existing condition, and had 100% absolutely nothing to do with your riding, your care, your barn’s care, etc. And even if a vet were able to say 100% - “yes this is exactly the same injury as this horse obtained three years ago,” there is no possible way of knowing if the same thing would have happened at the same time if the horse had been with its owner, or with a different lessee, or if the issue might have waited six months or a year longer to represent, if it would have at all. Short of something blatant like you ran into the horse with the tractor, it doesn’t matter who’s “at fault,” what matters is that the horse was in your care when the injury occurred.
You can request that the contract include an “out” as suggested above, where you would not receive a refund on your lease fee but can send the horse back without penalty and not have to pay for board and continued rehab/care.
You can request a maximum dollar limit to be specified that you would be responsible for for vet bills, and if it is reached either you send the horse back to its owner (no refund of lease fee) or owner pays for vet bills while keeping it in your care until the end of the lease.
There’s all kinds of things you can request to be included in the contract to try to mitigate some risk, but keep in mind the horse owner does not have to agree to them.

If it’s that big of a concern for you, you may want to look for a partial in-barn lease instead of a full lease.

[akhunterrider]

Exact terms probably depend on the horse, but expect to pay at minimum all vet and farrier care and of course any applicable lease fees.

My trainer had 3 ponies come back lame from leases last year. One small pony that has been to pony finals more than once (her hooves looked like stilettos), a large that has won a ton of stuff (enlarged suspensory) and a nice large jumper pony (stifle injury). Small pony never did become sound before she unfortunately passed away due to other health issues, the large mare is fortunately sound after some time off and the large gelding’s injury ended up being career ending and he is now only walk trail riding sound (with occasional trotting). Leasing is a huge risk, especially if care is not taken by the lessee to keep the horse/pony in good shape.

[punchy]

I am curious—What sort of lameness do you envision would be caused by a birth defect?

[Redlei44]

Lease terms can (should?) include requiring that the horse is insured for major medical (as much as possible given the horse) to help mitigate some of the financial pressures should the horse get sick or hurt. It’s not a silver bullet, but it can offset some financial risk to both owner and lesser.

[LovesHorses]

My lease contracts state “The horse must be returned in the same, sound condition.” That’s pretty standard and the risk you take for getting to ride someone else’s nice horse for much less than the cost of buying it. Leasee also pays the insurance.

[Mac123]

Personally, 3 pasture related injuries would lead me to question the circumstances around those injuries (pasture quality/footing, weather, turnout schedule, buddies, etc) rather than the particular breed of the horse, but that’s just me.

Lessee should be responsible for all costs, including all veterinary costs, related to the horse while it’s in their care. If you think it’s a bummer to pay for vet costs on a horse you don’t own, think of how much of a bummer it would be to get a broken horse back from a lease!

[gertie06]

@punchy

I am curious—What sort of lameness do you envision would be caused by a birth defect?

Dunno. Maybe “birth defect” = conformation flaws? Sure, a long back, sloping pastern, club foot, or toe-in could cause the horse to be unsound. But that’s the inherent risk you take as a buyer or a lessee. That’s why you PPE, talk to the vet, and decide if you can live with these things.

[punchy]

To me, a confirmation flaw isn’t a birth defect. A birth defect sounds like something hidden and unknown. Which confirmation flaws are not. I was asking the OP, as I am curious why she used that phrase and what she thinks it means.

[findeight]

Please understand WBs are not immune to pasture accidents or getting cast in their stalls and hurting themselves or numerous other ways horses have trying to run up your vet bills and cancelling your plans, Such attempts are not breed dependent.

If OP has had 3 pasture accidents? Thats the pasture situation or pre existing soundness issues, not the breed . If the trainer or BM here blames the breed for three different horses hurting themselves in the same place within a relatively short time frame? You not only need a new lease horse but a new place to keep it.