>>> In Southern Oregon, all the leases I know are "free" leases. It's a good idea to draw up a contract outlining what the responsibility of each party is, but what we're seeing is that the person who leases the horse is expected to pay for its upkeep - feed, board, farrier, vet bills. You can write a term for the lease and might want to require that the horse be insured.
Believe me, you can't be TOO specific! And even a good lease can get out of hand too over time. If you are the one doing the leasing, you may put lots of time and effort (AND emotions) into bringing a horse along, adding to the horse's value - only to have the horse sold out from under you, leaving you with nothing for your effort. The other extreme is that a good horse with a inexperienced or irresponsible rider can lose ground in training, trust, etc., so the owner can end up with a less-usable horse than when the lease began. With either of these options, there is much potential for heartbreak on the part of the humans and the horses - to me, it's just not worth it in many cases, although it can be. If the lease is going to be in place for many months to years, it's probably best to think about a "right to buy" option. At a minimum, I'd certainly keep any lease period short, and renew often, to give eveyone plenty of time to bow out gracefully if/when things start to change. Karen Thomas, NC
