Leasing a Horse help?

So after years of riding on and off, I finally got permission from my parents to lease a horse. I recently restarted riding after about two years, and I am about at the 2 - 2'3" jumping range but improving quickly as my muscles remember old things. However, my max when I used to ride regularly was only about schooling at 2'6".

Anyway, I looked at my barn and the ones owned by the barn available for lease, and none of them and I really clicked. I checked Dreamhorse.com and found people who are like pregnant or busy and need someone to take care of them, and I found this horse and spoke to the owner. DreamHorse.com Horse ID: 1348231 - Smoke The only thing is that she told me he is really rusty on jumping and I am not sure I have the ability to bring him up, but I know my friend does.

Anyway, after my lesson yesterday, when I was untacking yet another school pony for lease that I didn't like too much, I met a young adult woman (older than me) and her gorgeous chestnut TB. I commented on him and she told me he was for sale/lease. She started telling me about him, and I learned that they used to show at 3 foot Adult Hunters. I just found him on DH. DreamHorse.com Horse ID: 1348812 - M Street

I really really liked him. He was really sweet and so gorgeous and he looked really great, like great shape and great conformation and everything. He kept snuffling me.

The only thing I am worried about if I lease him is that I would ruin him or he'd be too much of a horse for me or a waste on me. I don't think I am a bad rider, and I've never tried to ride him, or seen him ridden, but I just want to know what you guys think. I think his owner asked my instructor about me, so I guess she'll know what my instructor has to say about me and if she thinks I'd be worth of him.

And don't worry, I'd def practice ride him a ton of times before I committed to leasing.

Sorry for the 800000 page long thing but I am very excited about this and its awesome haha and I really really wanna find a horse to lease.

As someone who's currently leasing a horse, I have nothing but good things to say about it! It's a great way to "test drive" horse ownership and really get your feet wet around what it's like to have a 1,100 lb animal dependent on you!

So this gelding is at the barn you ride at? That's super convenient for you, as you have a lot of ways you and the owner could work out the lease. First off, you're spot on to take as many test rides as you can before you commit to leasing him. Or, you could start with a month trial in which you're paying to lease him but at the end of the month you can opt out if you're not clicking. Just because the TB you like used to school 3' doesn't mean he wouldn't enjoy working with you on lower fences. Unless his owner is looking for someone who is going to show him at that level regularly to keep him in that shape, I wouldn't worry about it. In reading the ad, does it seem like you'd be a good fit for him in other ways? Do you ride with soft hands?

You sound like a competent rider whose given this a lot of thought, and if you could keep taking lessons on this guy while leasing him, even better Your instructor could help you best work with him.

As far as leases go, since it's on-site (it seems like) you could do a full-care lease (where you pay for EVERYTHING from board to vet to farrier), a half-lease where you may only get to ride him 2-3 times a week or any combination of a million different things. It's up to you and the owner to negotiate. What I did is take my gelding off-site (to the barn of my choice) and I pay for everything but his vet, and I pay a small monthly fee to his owner.

My fingers are aching from typing all of this, but let me know if you have any questions! It definitely seems like this is worth perusing-all I can say is communicate as honestly as you can with his owner so you're confident it's a good fit for both of you.

I do ride with soft hands, but I am surprised she put that in the ad because it seemed like he had a really intense bit. But I don't know that much about bits. File:Mullen.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia was his bit. What does this mean about him?

I emailed her and mentioned that we'd met last night, I'll have to see what she says when she replies.

I'm sure the owner wouldn't mind if you do a 'test ride' with him to make sure you guys are a match. Ask her if you can do a weeklong trial with him (with you paying for a week's worth of expenses, of course). If she cares about her horse, I'm sure she won't mind.

I'm not familiar with the mullen either, but here's what I found:
"A mullen design which forms a shallow arch over the tongue when the bit is carried correctly in the mouth does not allow as precise a signal for lateral flexibility training, but will work for horses that do not tolerate other types of snaffle bits. The mullen works more on the bars and lips than on the tongue, but does work on the tongue too. Pretty mild signal for any mouth, and it does encourage the horse to reach down and forward, even if he does not do that in any other snaffle bit. If you have a horse that fights in a regular snaffle, noses out and star gazes, the mullen may be more comfortable and may help him accept cues for head lowering and bending that he was too distracted to respond to in another more traditional snaffle."

So maybe he's got a sensitive mouth but also tends toward distraction

Ask your trainer
Ask your trainer
Ask your trainer!!

Did I mention ask your trainer? :) she knows your riding level, she knows what you need, I take since this horse is at your barn she knows this horse as well? She should be able to tell if it's a good match, arrange a couple of test rides, and get the paperwork in order.

He sounds like a nice horse (a mullen mouth is actually not a severe bit) but why is he only $5000? That's absolutely nothing for a 3' horse around here! Also before anything gets decided you need to put down on paper what will happen with this horse being for sale if you lease him. Will he be off the market? Will you get a 3 day notice for termination of the lease if he sells while you have him? Etc.

She told me she wasn't going to price him very high because she needed to sell him fast and in today's economy, all her friends were having issues selling their horses. She needs him gone fast for the 5k but also to save the board money.
But as of right now I can only do a 2 month lease anyway, so a short lease is a good thing for me.
As for talking to my instructor, I believe that his owner talked to her about me when she went down to the arena, because I met her when I was untacking from my lesson and she was tacking up for her ride. But I won't know for sure until my next lesson on Wednesday, but both my barn owner and my instructor are aware that I am looking for a horse to lease, so that is good.

Just curious-why lease a horse for such a short period of time?

Because I am sixteen and my parents have finally given me permission to lease after like 10 years of begging but I have to pay for it all, and volleyball starts in two months and then I will not have a job any more and wont be able to afford it anymore.

I don't think I'd take on a 2 month lease. Just ride the horses at the barn and start looking seriously after Volleyball season. (save your money up)

**I know you're excited, but the mom in me had to throw that out there. Sorry if I'm tromping on your dream, that's not my intention. (parents LOVE IT when their kids make wise decisions and *sometimes* reward that smart decision by doing things like....paying the lease while you are in volleyball next year ) Lets call this post " Food for thought "

Good Luck!!!