Entering the world of equestrian high finance

March 9, 2023 4:03 AM

My 9-year-old has been taking horseback riding lessons for three years at a small local barn we like very much. She loves it, seems to be good at it, and benefits greatly from the confidence that riding a horse and being in the barn community provide. We've been told that her skills are outgrowing the very sweet (old) school ponies and that we should consider leasing one of the animals at the barn (presumably another pony). What should we know, and what should we watch out for?

Neither wife nor I know anything about horses or horse leasing.

Again, this is a barn we've been part of for several years and we know and like the owners, but I know nothing about this arrangement--and I am leery of leases in general.

We haven't seen any terms yet, which I will review closely--but not being well versed in the different options and arrangements, I think I will be able to get a good sense of my, and the barn's, financial obligations, but not what else is possible to ask for or to ask to delete (I am a lawyer, FWIW).

If you have any perspectives or experience with leasing a horse, I'd welcome your thoughts--again, specifically in the context of a child for whom the lease would include some lesson time, rather than an adult recreation rider, to the extent relevant.

posted by Admiral Haddock to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (11 answers total)

Assuming you aren’t the only family taking lessons there, could you talk with some of the other parents and get a feel for their arrangements with the barn?
posted by Thorzdad at 4:14 AM on March 9, 2023

It’s pretty common, at least in the UK. Here’s the British Horse Society guidance.
posted by corvine at 4:17 AM on March 9, 2023

From having friends that have bought and leased a horse for their child, it seems like the advantage of the lease is that there is greater flexibility if the child needs to change horses due to changing skill levels or height. In their case, they purchased a horse and then discovered that horse was a bit too advanced for their rider. Now they are leasing another, smaller horse while theirs is being leased until the child is ready for the purchased horse.
posted by statsgirl at 4:18 AM on March 9, 2023

Thanks so far, folks—to clarify, I’m looking for specific experiences with the lease itself, which may include financial terms, customary arrangements for lessons when leasing from a teaching barn, renewals, etc. Totally agree on the merits of leasing vs buying (I do not want to own a horse!). We certainly will do more online and in person research, but was holding to plumb the experience of HorseFilter as we do that work.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 4:41 AM on March 9, 2023

So my wife has leased her horse out on and off for years. It's probably simpler than you're thinking of, although there's probably a range. For Magni, it's not like leasing a car - we keep the responsibility for bills, vet visits, farrier, etc. What the lessee is doing is leasing his time - usually two or three days a week, agreed on in advance, where they can expect him to be able to work. When the lessee has been taking lessons at the barn, unless the lessons were from my wife (which they usually have not been) that's a separate arrangement made with the teacher, who my wife knows and approves of. Usually there is a written agreement about what kinds of activities are ok - some lessees have been approved to take him on trail rides, some are arena-only, depending on their experience and my wife's comfort with them. There's always been at least one, sometimes a couple of sessions where they ride the horse with my wife there, make sure they understand what cues he's used to, which tack to use, what his rights and obligations are re: cookies, etc. The barn management has generally always known at least in general what the terms of the lease are, although they're not strictly required to enforce anything, but when one (brief) lessee decided it was cool to bring her boyfriend and let *him* ride, that was swiftly communicated to my wife, who had not approved that and it was handled. (This was probably entirely informal, now that I think about it - barns are gossipy places.)

This is definitely a question you could ask of anyone you know well at the barn - just in general what the customs are there, what needs signing, etc. That's probably going to vary state to state and barn to barn. But it is fundamentally a business relationship with the owner of the horse, so you might well want to talk to several of them, too. Horse people are sometimes... erratic, as I suspect you have discovered (or are discovering) and you want to find someone whose expectations seem in line with your needs and whom you can talk to.
posted by restless_nomad at 5:13 AM on March 9, 2023

At least for hunter jumper horses, the usual leasing terms in the US are a third of the horse's sale price each year. The lessee is generally responsible for insurance and all of the horse's costs. Leases are generally year to year with no option for early termination.

That may seem stiff, but the future value of a horse is difficult to estimate, and they are very easy to break and are not really a fungible commodity the way, say, a given model of car is.

In the case of a non-exclusive lease (e.g. if the barn can use the pony for other students' lessons) then it may be possible to work out a cost-sharing arrangement or a discount.
posted by jedicus at 5:14 AM on March 9, 2023

And jedicus's answer makes it clear that I should specify that my wife's horse is purely a pleasure/trail horse, suitable for intermediate riders but with no special training other than very basic dressage, no jumping (he... tries. It's cute.) and nothing remotely resembling competition. Serious training or competition leases are probably wildly different. We were looking at more like a couple hundred a month, month-to-month.
posted by restless_nomad at 5:17 AM on March 9, 2023

Lease terms can vary wildly from barn to barn. I recommend clarifying whether your child will have an exclusive lease, or another student will be leasing the horse, as well; this can absolutely affect show season, as the two riders would likely be at similar skill levels and would have to negotiate who gets to enter which class/show.

I’d also make very sure you know who covers major medical expenses in case of injury or illness; routine costs are often the responsibility of the rider, but who pays the emergency vet bill seems to change from barn to barn and those are not cheap surprises.

I’d also recommend checking on whether the horse will be for sale during the lease; I’ve seen several mounts sold from underneath the kids leasing them, and while the barn had reserved the right to do so, that doesn’t help a broken-hearted 9 (or 27) year old much.

Check whether this is an on-property or off-property lease, whether your kid would be allowed to trailer out to shows that their trainer is not attending etc. And you might ask whether this lease offers flexibility around riding times (if you have to skip your Tuesday night ride because of whatever, can you reschedule? Or is it Tuesdays or nothing?), and whether the contract will allow you to terminate without penalty in case of horse injury or lameness.

Good for you for leasing instead of buying. Half my nightmare clients (I’m a farrier) would not be nightmares if they had simply leased an appropriate horse instead of jumping into owning without realizing everything that entails.
posted by wind_up_horse at 5:33 AM on March 9, 2023

Leasing a show hunter or jumper is completely different from leasing (or half-leasing) a dressage or lesson horse. I've leased and half-leased a few dressage horses, and the terms were always similar. There was no up front cost, and the leases were month-to-month. I paid the board (or in the case of the half lease, half the board). The owners always carried the insurance. If my negligence caused injury to the horse, I was responsible for anything not covered by insurance.

The owners provided the tack, blankets, grooming equipment, etc.

The details included what I was permitted to do with the horse (take the horse off site for a show or trail ride), whether I was required to take lessons, and in the case of the half-lease, what days I had use of the horse.

Wind_up_horse's advice is very good regarding flexibility and whether you can terminate the contract due to injury or lameness.

It's been a long time since I leased, so this is about as much help as I can be. You can find some sample leases here. As wind_up_horse points out, they can vary wildly.
posted by Dolley at 6:29 AM on March 9, 2023

I lease a horse right now, and it's month-to-month. I get two lessons a week and one day where I can go hack on my own. I'm not responsible for medical bills, shoes, or feed, so there are no costs other than my monthly payment. This has been typical of any lease I've had. I've also leased out horses I've owned for the same terms. There shouldn't be any unexpected costs and you should know exactly how much time per week you get with your lease horse.
posted by OolooKitty at 12:33 PM on March 9, 2023

We leased a horse for a couple of years before going all-in and buying a horse, truck, and trailer. And we started leasing when our daughter was about 9. We leased directly from the owner, who had a small farm, so it wasn't a commercial operation. The lease was month to month and the only expense we were responsible for was the monthly lease. We weren't leasing from a training barn, so no lessons were included. I don't remember what limits we had on riding, but my daughter rode a lot (seriously - a lot) so it was super generous, whatever it was. It worked out great for us, and 15+ years later we are still friends with the woman that leased to us.

I will say, if you are serious about this, be prepared to spend a shitload of money. I once calculated I spent a little over $100K after we bought a horse when my daughter was 10 or 11. (Truck, trailer, lessons, tack, etc. travel for shows, etc. etc.) I loved every minute of it and weirdly, I kind of miss getting up at 4 AM to be at the barn by 5 AM to load Skip to head to a show.

We were super fortunate that the riding and 4H academic achievements helped our daughter get a near full-ride scholarship for undergrad, and then she got a fully funded assistantship to get a grad degree. So by not paying for college, I actually broke even on owning a horse.
posted by COD at 3:06 PM on March 9, 2023