Can anyone provide a template for a month-to-month half-lease contract?
Here are two. I didn’t spend too much time looking but I have done several 1/2 leases and they all looked about like this. You can add whatever you want - days allowed, type of work (ie no jumping if horse stepping down, or how shows above XX level dressage, etc) If one party needs to adjust days for some reason- how much advance notice. You can estimate the monthly cost of basic meds/farrier and board and split down the middle - easier. Person half leasing had to give me a full CALENDAR month notice. (ie you tell me today you want out, you owe all of March.) If horse becomes truly not rideable - I’d say no notice but may or may not negotiate a refund. (horse on lay up starting today, on refund on feb payment so you are done now.)
Thanks! And good tips. I hadn’t considered basing notice on calendar month.
How did you handle terms around any damage to tack or injury to horse?
Did not give any consideration to tack. Re injury to the horse - anything that occurred while in the hands of the leasing person was their problem: IE cut/wound related to trailering to somewhere or at a show, hacking in the woods, jumping, etc. General illness, my problem. As example one horse I leased to a woman at a barn a few miles away. After about 15 months they called and said he was NQR and had some neuro signs. My response was “I’m coming to get him, it is not your problem, lease done” Turned out he had cervical arthritis; he was 24 at the time. It was no one’s fault, the woman loved him and had taken very good care of him. Its hard to cover everything, so at some point you wing it.
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This is what I came up with, based on a couple different precedents, with clauses added or amended to meet my needs:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lv0rurOLzygHRmjRnYkEdfpnu3SQ7i63Imubh8CE63o/edit?usp=sharing
