Lease a horse, how to

[pasolucy]

I need suggestions on how to do this. I have been working with a lady who has a gelding that is just way too much horse for her. The people should never have sold this 5 year old, ex show horse, ex stallion to a 70 year old woman for a pleasure trail horse. There is nothing wrong with the gelding but it is a bad match, she has been working on this for two years and it is not working.
I have a mare here that we use for a demo horse, she is not for sale, we have never thought about selling her but I would consider leasing the mare to her. I would sell her the mare but I want to be sure that when she is through with the mare that we are the ones that retire her, or find another elder lady to ride her. The mare is perfect, has never done wrong thing in her life, and I do mean that. How do I do this. The lady does not live really close to us, I trust her but if anything would happen to her, I do not want friends or family taking the mare, we want to be in charge of where and what happens to the mare. This would put us in a short term bind of having an experienced horse to ride, and no demo horse for a while but this is the sweetest, kindest worman that you have ever met and I want her to be safe. I do not want to give the mare away, or free lease, she is worth a lot to us just to have her around. I do not know that this will even happen but just thinking about it has got me to wondering which would be the best way to do something like this.

[Pasogirlz]

Great question.
Anyone have any Lease Argreements to use as an example?

[Beth Worden]

I have a mare like this and I am free-leasing her this year, but I requested that the lesee keep mortality insurance on the mare. That way you are not "out" the cost of the horse. There are several leese forms available on the net and you can modify one that suits your needs.

if its registered under the PFHA they have a lease form you can fill out and have her sign.

you should be able to get this form online if you are a member - login on PFHA.org with your membership number and PIN number and it should be under the forms link at the top.

OR you can try this link - not sure if it'll work
http://pfha.org/documents/pdf/forms/Lease%20Agreement.pdf

[Andrea G.]

I have leased 2 of my horses...one horse stayed on my property and the gal paid me a monthly fee - because my horse was older and I still used him occassionaly - I did not ask her to pay for anything else. She leased my horse for 3 years! It was a win-win situation.

Another horse I leased to a friend and she had him boarded at a stable - so she paid the board, shoeing, supplements and any vet bills if needed.
With that person I wrote up a lease agreement so I was covered - and also made sure the boarding facility knew I was the owner of the horse.


I have also sold a horse that I wanted to make sure I had the first right of refusal so that I could buy the horse back - and resell to make sure he got a good home.

So, you could even sell your mare with the written understanding that if something should happen to this woman the horse would be sold back to you. Just a thought...
Good luck!

[Linda Y]

Just make sure that you cover every stipulation in the lease and don't count on verbal agreement to suffice. When it comes down to the nitty gritty, it would be your word against theirs as to what the agreement was.
Have the person leasing the horse get and pay for insurance for the horse. What type is up to you...if it is just mortality or includes surgical or colic.
Be sure it is understood who is responsible if the horse is injured, or injures someone or causes damage to property.
Cover all the bases as to who is responsible for normal upkeep of the horse including vetting and farrier. Put a clause in that you can check up on the horse any time, and if you deem that care is insufficient you have the right to reclaim the horse and haul at your expense.
Since it is a mare, put something in there about breeding, just in case.
Basically, put anything in there that you want to CYA about.