Leasing a Horse: An Overview of Pros and Cons
Your passion for horses goes far beyond just the want to ride and spend time with them. You’ve contemplated owning a horse for a while now. You’ve done all the research you can possibly think of but it’s a rather complicated thing to own a horse. The horse you want is an expensive purchase. And then you thought about where you were going to house your new partner in crime.
Owning a horse requires a lot of space that you don’t have living in your current accommodations. So, you start researching barns that have space to board which leads you down a rabbit hole of what it would be like to own a barn yourself! Once you shake that dream, unless you’re ready for that investment like I was, you can realize how much work it is to own 1 horse.
It’s not just about the cost. It’s the living space, the care, the food, the vet, the farrier. Finding all of these things can be just as difficult as finding a place to board your beauty. Thankfully there’s another option than just buying a horse. My name’s Hana and I’m co-owner of Moonlight Equestrian Center in Epping, NH. I was in your shoes before I dove into owning my own stable.
Taking care of a horse is more than just about how much it costs. There’s a lot of time and love that goes into it too. Nowadays, it’s hard to find that much time let alone be financially capable of owning your own horse. That’s why we suggest leasing to those like you, who want that thrill and contentment of owning your own but don’t have the experience, time, or funds to do so.
Now there are pros and cons to every lease and by the time you’re done reading this blog you’ll be able to figure out if leasing is the right path for you. So, let’s look at the different types of leasing you can choose from.
Styles of Lease
Leasing? Leasing. It seems a little strange to some. You lease a car. You lease an apartment – a house. Fun fact, leasing a horse is very similar. You use said horse like your own and cover part or all the cost with perks like lessons, boarding, and an even-tempered horse. As a beginner, it’s easy to look at beauty first before temperament. All horses are beautiful, but not all are good tempered around multiple handlers.
When it comes to styles of leases there are three common options:
Full Lease – This is the closest to ownership you can get without having your name on the dotted line. A full lease means that you are responsible for all of the expenses when it comes to the horse.
Half Lease – This is a great middle ground. You split the cost with the owner of the horse right down the middle. A half (or partial) lease means that you’re responsible for half of the costs of everything the horse may need.
Free Lease – This is a bit different. Instead of paying a steady price like a full or half, you pay for the maintenance the horse requires when you ride.
Pretty easy to follow along with those. What we offer here at Moonlight is a half–or partial lease. It makes it easier and more cost effective for both the lessee and us. Before we go into the pros and cons of leasing let’s figure out why you’re looking at owning or leasing in the first place.
Things to Consider
You found your way here so there’s a reason and that’s likely trying to figure out whether you want to own a horse or if leasing would be a better option. While both have great potentials, here are somethings to consider when talking about owning or leasing.
Are you looking to try out owning a horse without the long-term commitment?
Are you looking to increase your lesson count?
Are you financially capable to handle owning a horse?
These are just a few questions to start thinking about and are likely the reason you found this blog in the first place. With those in mind we’ll head into the pros of leasing.
Why Leasing Is a Good Option
When you get right down to it the absolute best reason to lease is what drives many away from ownership in the first place. Cost. While you think about riding styles, leasing styles, what you’re really interested in when it comes to ownership the biggest thing on everyone’s mind is cost.
The costs of ownership can range anywhere from $6,000 to well over $20,000 a year for 1 horse. If you aren’t ready for even half the high end a year it’s probably best if you test the waters with leasing. The next big thing is time.
There’s a level of time that means how many hours you can put into owning your trusty steed or tending to the horse in general. When it comes to owning you are the sole care giver unless you’ve got your horse boarded at a stable that helps with turn out, feeding, grooming, or other day to day maintenance that your horse requires.
Leasing gives you the opportunity to take partial responsibility, giving you more time to ride or go about your day-to-day life in case things come up. With time though, its not just about the daily tasks that are in this equation.
Horses have an average lifespan of 25-30 years! So as an owner you need to be prepared for having a 25–30-year commitment to that 1,000lbs toddler known as your horse. Leasing gives you the opportunity to have less of a commitment time ranging from 1 month to a few years if you enjoy the horse you start leasing. Worst case, you end the lease and change to a different horse.
As an owner you also have to look into the fact that you might outgrow your horses abilities down the line. This leans into the concept of flexibility. As an owner, you have all the flexibility in the world in what to do with your mount, however if you outgrow your horses abilities unless you get another horse you’re locked into what your horse is capable of.
When leasing you have that flexibility to sit there and change horses when you do outgrow the horse. Even if that means swapping from English saddle to Western since your skills and tastes as a rider can easily change too.
In a short list the Pros of Leasing are:
Less financial responsibility
Less time dedicated to care giving
More time dedicated to riding
More flexibility on choice of horse
1-month commitment minimum
So you can see why leasing is a great stepping stone on the path to owning. You get all the joys without any of the draw backs of owning. There is always a flip side to the coin though so let’s talk about what the cons are to leasing before you settle in one way or the other.
Why Leasing Can Be Bad
The reasons that leasing can be considered a poor choice are the reasons why owning can be a good one. With leasing you’re subjected to the rules of the owner of the horse. So while the cost, time required, flexibility of your choice in horse, and the commitment time are all great reasons to lease, you lose some key abilities. Things like you can’t just take the horse to a show you’re looking at without clearing it first with the owner.
You might want to put in some extra ride time but because the horse you have is a lease you may not be able to add that into the schedule if the horse is also a lesson horse. With owning its your horse, you can ride, when and where you want. That means, bringing it on trails, to shows, to the beach. You name it as the owner you can do it. As a lessee you have to make sure you have permission first.
The most heartbreaking thing about leasing a horse is that at the end of the day, even if you’ve fallen head over heels for the gentle giant you ride their still not yours. So when the lease is up you may not be able to get that horse again for a lease. In this case, its pretty easy to see why owning your horse would be that much better.
Sharing can be hard especially with horses. As a rider there are plenty of bad habits that can be instilled in a horse as its worked. When you’re leasing those bad habits follow the horse for you to work around. When you own your horse, those bad habits are whatever you gave your horse. So less hands can help with a horses temperament and ride style.
In a short list the Cons of Leasing are:
You need permission to do anything with the horse
Bad habits get picked up over the course of time and numerous handlers
If you fall in love with the horse, at the end of the day it isn’t yours
It’s a shorter list on the negative side of things with leasing but these are the more disheartening ones at the end of the day. That’s why while leasing is a great option for someone looking to try out ownership you have to be ready for the eventual emotions of having to leave the horse behind.
Leasing or Owning
By now you’ve got a pretty good idea of what the pros and cons are of leasing and some of owning. So here’s where you get to start making some tough decisions. Are you ready to jump right into owning a horse? Or, are you looking to dabble and see how things go? As I said before, here at Moonlight Equestrian Center we offer a half lease. On our Horses page we have a list of available horses for lease and their temperaments. It’s regularly updated so you know who’s available for our equine beauties.
If you’ve already looked over our horses fill out this form on our main page to inquire about leasing one of our horses. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter for our monthly updates.
