Horse lease agreement

I need to find a rider for LIly and it was the plan from day one to sell her once she was broke. But I am having a very bad time with this idea and am thinking about a free lease. My thought being that way I can keep an eye on her care and situation and if it looks bad, yank her to safety. I hope I do not have to do that ever and hope that she can find a young person to lease her and the two of them can learn together.

Have any of you free leased out a horse, what is the normal procedure and what does a lease agreement look like? Who is responsible for what costs? Example, I want the horse's teeth done every other year, who pays for that? If she needs vet care, who pays for that? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

You state the terms of your lease. Simple as that.

Edit- generally, when you free lease a horse from someone, you're responsible for everything as if you owned it. State your terms in your lease agreement. You dictate the terms.

I have free leased and leased horses out and it was different terms for both.

The horse I leased I was responsible for everything normal ownership entails. All feed, feet, routine veterinary care and minor veterinary emergency care.

I leased out one of my own and they were responsible for feed and care. I used and payed for farrier as I wanted my farrier to be used and it was a way of checking in on her every 6 weeks. I also provided her supplements and vaccines. She did get sick during the lease and I covered the bill - which did not make me very happy.

As hillbilly stated you set your terms. Be very clear in what you expect them to cover and how often. Also if a major emergency were to occur what your expectations are in regards to decision making and cost coverage.

As a side note you mentioned the horse is not broke ( or green?) I would caution in paring this horse with an inexperienced rider. The general rule is a green rider with an experienced horse to learn on. Then once proper experience has been learnt that rider will teach a green horse. It can be distarious and you could end up with problems to fix in the future. I would be looking for a ( young person) who maybe has lots of experience looking for a project with a young horse ( maybe a 4H kid?).

Hope this helps

Anne

I stated in my ad that the horse is green broke, needs a confident beginner or intermediate level rider who will be taking lessons on the horse. This was my subtle way of saying that I will not release this horse to someone who wants to goof around in the back pasture. I also stated what towns (within 40 minutes of here) that I am willing to send her to. Also that she is a rescue horse, has a story and will not go to just anyone. Good grief, when did I become one of those horse people? And I don't even ride!

Hillbilly, you're right, I can determine the terms. Heaven help the poor soul who gets MY agreement!

Thou shalt notify me if the horse burps, trips or farts.
Thou shalt not move the horse to another residence/stable without notifying me.
Thou shalt have teeth floated, feet trimmed, deworming done on MY schedule.
Thou shalt not back out of thy lease without one month prior notice.
If thou fail to meet any terms of this agreement, thou shall be locked in a room with Piet's killer bunny for a time no less than 20 minutes but not exceeding one hour. That'll serve you right!

Just as a side thought for your lease agreement, make sure you stipulate if she is allowed to be bred or not. I had leased out a horse to be used for riding, and they bred her. They then expected to keep the foal for nothing when the horse was not getting ridden like the contract stated. We went to court and they were awarded the foal, but had to compensate me a $100 whoooopeeeee!! The mare had had 90 days riding on her when leased out, but had pretty much forgotten everything, or most of it anyways after being bred and left in the pasture. I was out $1800 in training costs and had a mare with issues also as she came home with a uterine infection and no additional riding.

Smokyriver, PLEASE tell me you are joking! I am horrified at what weedy people are out there! It never occurred to me to stipulate that but now that you mention it, I'll be sure to mention it too!

Back where I grew up (Holland) we have many people with horses that could use and have care takers / riders for them. It is always free and you take care of the horse, groom them etc.
Then the care taker will also help with your garden and clean out stalls and chicken coops for appreciation of you letting him/her ride your horse. It starts with ponies and then will eventually get into horses as the kid grows up, that sometimes means they will advance to another horse owner or stables with more professional views if that is what they want.
Nothing is written in stone (paper), but instead is done with a handshake and good comradeship between owner and care taker. Why take a fee to get your horse conditioned and looked after. It's a "win win" situation and with the right person it can be like a part of the family and that is what it is eventually all about.

Piet

I agree Piet, I would be happy to have Lily go to a good home and receive no money in exchange. But due to the vast distances between towns plus the differences in our cultures, I think a written lease agreement, sadly, is required. If this horse ends up with someone who is an hour drive from here, it is not likely that they will come to my house to help with any chores of any sort and in fact would probably be insulted if I even suggested it! We have a different mind set, not always a good thing.

I would love to see Lily go to a young person wanting to take some lessons and see if they can bring a horse along.

Okay, I see now. You are going to let the horse go to another place. I was talking about when the horse is at your place and people come to you and ride, not at another place. It is different for sure if the horse is not within your view.

Piet