What is the market for free lease horses like?

[weixiao]

Has anyone ever free leased a young, green horse for a year? Not sure how to ask this question without it looking like an ad but do (good) people ever lease horses who aren’t made packers, still need some experience and training, but are brave, useful, and will be quite fancy? Or is the lease market generally for older, experienced/established horses?

I’ve historically had horrible luck with leases (2/3 died in the care of the other people) and I swore I would never do it again, but I would like to consider hanging on to this horse while I’m in Europe for a year and I don’t want him standing around doing nothing.

[Duckz]

I would only do it if I already knew the person very well. I can think of only a couple people that I would trust with my young horse for a year. I can’t imagine advertising him as a free lease and having that end well.

Can you afford to send him to a trusted trainer while you’re gone?

[MoonlightsMom]

Is there a trainer that you trust to free lease him to for either the occasional lesson, or for the trainer to sub lease the horse on site? That way the horse would be in the care of someone you trusted while you are gone. I know the trainer I ride with has a couple horses that she was given on a free lease, with permission to use them for lessons and/or sub lease them. She does not have ‘a lesson barn’ but has a private barn with boarding only available if you train with her. The horses are never used in more than one lesson a day, recieve wonderful care, and anybody leasing horses must also ride with the trainer.

good luck!

[weixiao]

The two people I have been working with don’t have anyone who leases horses. I’m lessoning with someone else next week who might have more clients, but I don’t know yet.

Event trainers seem to be insanely expensive. More so than any H/J trainer I’ve ever ridden with (talking big A shows), so I am hesitant to go down that road, and I don’t think this horse is a match for either of my old jumper barns, so I’m not sure about sending him to a trainer. I wouldn’t want to send him to one I didn’t already have a relationship with.

[MoonlightsMom]

What about finding a dressage or ‘all around’ trainer? Depending on where you are, you may be able to find a much more affordable trainer with more clients who may be interested in a lease. The trainer I work with mainly does AQHA, 4H, and dressage, but she has training in eventing and H/J as well. I was hesitant to work with her at first due to her not being specifically an eventing trainer. However, it has been a wonderful experience for myself and my mare.

[soloudinhere]

The short answer is yes, I have done this.

It was basically done in-barn as me providing a horse to a reasonably good junior rider knowing that the vast majority of her ride time in which she was actually working the horse would be supervised by my trainer. It was a way for me to inexpensively get the horse ridden and under the eyes of the trainer without actually paying $45/ride for the trainer to ride.

It doesn’t always work. I am still doing some of the riding to keep the horse tuned my way. But it can work out if you have a relationship with someone who has a student like this.

My horse is 7 this year, she’s been riding him since last August.

I should also add that I do the vast majority of the jump schooling of this horse - she knows how to jump but really doesn’t know how to make small corrections and really school the horse, so I do that. But that’s something you could arrange for a trainer to do, or you could send him off as a dressage horse for a year.

[Janet]

I have leased two very green (i.e., just backed) horses, and took them through BN for one and T for the other.

Both were leased from my vet (who discoverd she had no time to ride), from whom I was also leasing an older horse (after my own horse had ot be put down).

I had taken lessons with her sister for several years.
The vet/owner moved out of state, so she was no longer “my” vet, but my new vet was someone hse had been to vet school with.

So I was very much a “know quantity” to her

[scubed]

Yes, I am usually on the owner end of this and lease mine out. I’ve done this many times and had excellent experiences in all but one case (a long time ago - girl took horse to be a working student, then found it too hard and quit without telling me). I currently have a lovely greenie out for lease with an old friend - in this case there is an option to buy clause. Even better opportunities if you are willing to pay farrier and vet. I definitely feel that I (as owner) get the advantage of this situation, but part of what a young person who is thinking about becoming a pro gets is the opportunity to learn/demonstrate training skills.

[fordtraktor]

I would just find a reliable “retirement” type boarding situation you trust and turn the horse out for a year. Much more likely to come home to the horse you left, IME.

[Heinz_57]

[QUOTE=fordtraktor;8139244]
I would just find a reliable “retirement” type boarding situation you trust and turn the horse out for a year. Much more likely to come home to the horse you left, IME.[/QUOTE]

Agree with this. Even “professionals” with good reputations seem to treat leased horses as disposable, even the older packer-types. I would not lease again unless it was to a barn run by a professional I knew VERY well and could be 100% sure my horse would be cared for and monitored to my standards in my absence.

[blacknwhite]

I am currently free leasing a very very green ISH. I think though that you have to be very careful. I have not met one person besides the owner of this horse in all of my horse world experience who I would trust to free lease a horse that I owned. For us, though it’s turned out well, he doesn’t want to compete only wants to breed and I want to compete. He wanted someone who was going to be serious, and I’m a working student so I’m pretty serious and I also work with my trainer almost every day. Another girl who rides in my group was free leasing an experienced prelim horse and going training/novice with that horse, and that did not turn out well. She barely ever rode him, could not handle him, and a week ago he died in her care (though I would not necessarily say that it was due to her fault). If I was you I would honestly just wait until I got back in country and start working with the horse myself rather than have anyone else mess it up.