My budget for annual lease fee was 5k. My trainer found a horse for sale for 9,500 and suggested that this horse would be a good fit for me and rather than lease, I could contribute my max budget to the cost of the horse. So low and behold I put 5k into this horse and my trainer put 4.5k. I’m not considered a co-owner…is there benefit in me being added as a co owner?
is the horse’s name Shenanigans ?
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How are you NOT a co-owner when you paid more than half? I think you are definitely getting a bad deal. First thing to do is enforce the contract with the leaser,
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You just bought your trainer a horse. Was there a contract?
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What were the terms of the deal? Were you actually buying the horse together, or did the trainer effectively buy the horse and is leasing it to you for the year for your $5K? Either way you should have had a contract up front. It sounds to me like OP and trainer are not on the same page about what has happened here.
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Agreeing with the others that there should be a contract. You paid for half the purchase price so I would assume you’d be a co-owner. If it is a situation where you $5k lease fee went toward the purchase price for trainer, but you get to lease the horse for a year, I’d also expect that detailed in a contract.
I’d have concerns over the latter option (looks good on paper but tricky). What happens if you want to end the lease early (unsoundness, bad fit, falling out with trainer, etc)? What bills are you responsible for?
It’s time to have a sit down with the trainer to go over the finer points of this, and get them in writing. This is not “handshake and go deal” type of money.
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That’s a bit shifty. Contract is needed for all the things.
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A friend of mine co-owned a horse with her trainer and it quickly went south (friend was very nice and taken advantage of).
You are the co-owner of this horse, it sounds like.
Or, did you pay $5K to the trainer to lease the horse for a year, which your trainer put to the balance of the purchase?
What exactly was the agreement?
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The cynic in me wonders where your trainer “found” this horse. Back behind a good friend’s barn, maybe?
Did you have it vetted? Did you get a copy of the report? If the answer to either of these is no, and especially if this arrangement is actually a lease, please think about getting your own post-purchase exam to make sure you’re on the same page about what you’re liable for this time next year…
I have another set of questions about the match between your riding and the horse’s training. Are you a good fit for each other? Now? Without any extensive remediation? Or is this perhaps a horse that needs a lot of pro rides and/or trainer supervision in order to meet your goals? Input which your trainer would, of course, be delighted to provide? For an additional fee, naturally?
Perhaps the arrangement is a lot clearer and fairer in real life than is conveyed here. If it is, I’m sorry to be snarky. But based on what I read in your OP, something smells. And it ain’t the bottoms of my muck boots.
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What are the terms? How much of vet/farrier/ feed bills are you responible for? What did YOU think was happening when you paid the money?
If you have a contract, follow that. If you don’t, keep all voice mail, emails and texts about this transaction. Those between you and trainer and you and seller.
Screenshots of trainer’s social media pages are in order. Now, please, before they block you or remove posts.
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Thx for advice. I think we reached an agreement after a candid, face to face discussion. Things get lost over email. Too complex to write out. We can close this thread. Thanks yall!
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I’m glad to hear you were able to sit down and discuss this. I hope things work out for everyone involved.
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Congrats! Now get it all in writing. Really, do.
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I’ve done this before with my trainer. If I don’t WANT to own a horse at the end of the lease term (the reason I would be leasing in the first place) then why would I want to be co-owner? It’s no different than you lease-to-purchase the horse with no intention of purchasing it, but your trainer (or whoever) pays the buyout at the end and then they own the horse.
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