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Questions about leasing a horse

I have someone do a one day a week lease on my horse. She just pays me a flat fee. I pay all the expenses. It works out great for all parties. She can cancel anytime. My horse is a been there, done that school master.

Run away, donā€™t walk.

Yes you will cry. We have all cried about horses. The crying will not cost you anything.

Everything else will cost money if you try to save this horse, and that needs to be addressed with your family. It will be a small fortune.

Also a helmet and vest will keep you hopefully safer. They will not keep you safe.

We all could have told you that this would have ended like this. You cannot lease a horse to two students and expect them to learn from the horse without also training the horse yourself.

The saddle sores are because the saddle doesnā€™t fit and/or the horse is not being looked after correctly, so has rain rot, this is something that is the trainerā€™s responsibility. If the horse has saddle sores, the trainer should be telling you, you cannot ride the horse not the other way around. At the first hint of a spin or buck the trainer should have substituted another horse and taken this one to train or vet.

If you are willing to spend a small fortune, then find a horse that will help you, do not spend it on a horse that needs help.

Yes hard hearted, but you can not save them all - and if you do save this one, the trainer will just buy another one and the same thing will happen over and over and over.

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OP, its kind of you to consider paying for a vet ā€œ work upā€ on a horse thatā€™s not yours. But theres three problems that make seriously considering doing it an exercise in futility.

First, vet wont touch a horse for an exam including any invasive diagnostics or meds/ tranqs without actual owners consent.

Second, cost. Have you priced what a decent ā€œ work upā€ will run? Theres a reason even well meaning owners often are reluctant to authorize one.

Third, what if something turns up that needs a long lay up and treatment? If owner is not participating, what then? You would be out hundreds in exam costs owner will ignore.

Its putting yourself in a real no win situation. Probably could buy the horse for the cost of a good exam. If you donā€™t want or cant do that, seek another, more ethical place to ride.

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Thank you - I really needed to hear all this that I have known deep down. It stinks but this feedback is giving me strength and validation to do what needs to be done.

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just wanted to quote and repeat.

sometimes we all need to step back and remind ourselves of these wise words

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I got attached to a school horse. She was the first horse i purchased myself. Was an ornery lesson horse, feisty and fast. They were going to ā€˜send her awayā€™ because she bucked the other person who rode her and tossed the girl into the wall(only two of us were riders enough to ride her) and the girl was hospitalized. I could not let them sell her to the knackers. So, i paid 2,000 (a LOT back then) for a bucking angry mustang mare. In my case it worked out great. Her outlook and attitude about life did a 180 in ā€¦oh maybe 6 months. And she was such a safe mount that i rode her bareback, in a halter and leadrope down to the beach and around the park, sometimes ponying another horse. She was SO TAME! Like dog-tame.

When i think how this wild little mare could have been put down iā€™m so glad i gave love a chance.

At first though, she was dangerous. Sheā€™d take off runningā€¦i couldnā€™t stop her, but i could turn her. One time i turned her into a verysteep cliff (not to fall off it lol but to have that cliff face stop herā€¦ ) and she went STRAIGHT UPā€¦like 40/50 feetā€¦ Just scrambled up that sandy cliff! (i stayed on). Another time, she reared upā€¦7 times, in the middle of an intersection. On pavement. (i stayed on). Eventually, without incurring retribution, and lots of time spent grooming and walking around on lead, grazing on lead, getting sliced carrots every evening ontop her hayā€¦she came around. Would not do it that way NOW, iā€™m too brittle and way more smart about horses but way back then when i was young and quite crazy, we clicked. It worked. 25152395_1779771392033677_5486425639337611747_n 25158048_1779771752033641_4692807760684774682_n

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I half leased a horse for my daughter for years and frankly Iā€™d still pay for anything that horse needed even though we moved on to owning our own horse.

Not the same situation as you are dealing with because the owners were more responsible but I paid for vet visits and was willing to pay for treatment after an injury. I paid for saddle fittingsā€¦ all sorts of things I didnt have to do.

Iā€™m not saying itā€™s the right choice for you but it was for me and the owners were okay with me arranging care for the horse if I cleared it with them first.

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