Horses: To Buy or to Lease?

Unlike Car Leases, A Horse Lease Can Give You More Than You Paid For!

You have been riding for years and you think you are ready for a one-on-one relationship.  You know the horse in your lesson program like the back of your hand, and he knows your mood before you even get out of bed that morning (or at least he can sense it the moment he hears your footsteps down the aisle!). 

“This is like a beautiful marriage!” you think to yourself, except you have to share your partner with everybody in the barn!  So, you decide you need to buy your very own horse.

But stop and consider this for a moment: like a marriage, those cute little quirky habits of your partner can wear thin and become unnerving day-in, day-out.  Or, like with a good marriage, you may find that now that you see your partner every day, you love him more and more! So, how do you know which one it will be?  Let’s take a look at the equid-human version of dating: leasing.

Owning a horse is a lot of responsibility: it is a financial investment, it is time-consuming, and it is emotionally draining if something goes wrong.   Leasing, on the other hand, can cut down on at least two of these three factors, at least until you know whether you can handle them all.

Money, Money, Money

We all attach ourselves to our horses, so that factor cannot be controlled with leasing, although some people do manage to be more reserved with their emotions when the horse is not theirs or, they do not yet belong to that horse!  However, the initial financial investment of buying a horse is completely eliminated.  And while there are certainly less horses for lease than for sale, you can have access to better horses through a lease than you would through a purchase, because you are making monthly payments rather than one lump sum and you can ride horses that may otherwise be out of your budget.

In addition, most leases do not include maintenance or medical costs, which are usually covered by the owner.   This includes bi-monthly worming, vaccines in the spring and fall, farrier and dentist visits, etc.  On an average horse, that alone is a savings of approximately $900 a year (East coast prices), and that is if you have a healthy, easy to maintain horse.  A horse with difficult feet will bring up the cost substantially if he requires special shoeing, and an older or well-traveled horse may have health and/or dental issues that require additional care and cost.  And this all is on top of monthly boarding fees!

You can full-lease a horse, usually for the price of his board (but more if it is a successful show horse), or you can quarter or half-lease, which also brings down the need for another full investment on your part….time!

So Little Time….

If you are leasing a horse because you want to advance your riding, there are a few golden gems out there that will ride the same whether you ride them twice a week or once a month and will still be willing enough to teach you a thing or two.  However, most horses need frequent riding and it is definitely healthier to keep them in regular exercise.  But what if you only have three available nights a week and the weekends belong to the kids’ soccer practice or the company picnic?  The beauty of a half or quarter lease is that you get to form a bond with one loving partner while somebody else helps you keep him fit and in a good mood for every time he sees you!

A Visit to the Dealership

Yes, the same places where you find horses for sale are your sources of horses for lease: you will find them advertised in your local equine publications, and flyers are usually posted in local tack stores, feed stores and barns.  And better yet, the Internet has caught up with the lease market too: equine.com, dreamhorse.com and horsetopia.com are just a few of the sites out there that can help you locate a horse for lease based on the same search criteria you would use to buy a horse, such as zip code, state, size, age, color and discipline, among others.

So, take a test drive and get some mileage, but make sure you have a lease agreement in writing that protects your rights and spells out your responsibilities. You might decide that owning is the next step for you or maybe you will be happy to lease forever, trying on one relationship at a time.