Part Ownership?

Hey guys,

I've been doing some serious thinking about some things. I have some cousins who are extremely horsey and love to ride. They are three sisters. Lexi is 5. Autumn is 13. Whitney is 15.

All three of them love to ride. Lexi usually rides with Whitney double because she's too little to ride by herself. Whitney has two horses... her mom's Pinto Raching horse mare Patch and her pawpaw's Racking Horse/x/Quarterhorse mare Nugget (Nugget is essentially hers, though, since she's the only person who can ride her and she trained her).

Autumn usually rides her pawpaw's mare Buttercup, but Buttercup is twenty-five years old now and her pawpaw has said that it's about time for her to be retired from long trail rides and she can only be ridden near the house from now on.

It got me to thinking... I have three horses. Gypsie (mare, partially retired), Dakota (gelding, my personal horse), and Jaxxon (stud, soon to be gelding). Autumn rides Gypsie a lot when she's not off, but Im afraid that I'm about to have to permanently retire her due to joint stiffness and on-and-off lameness issues. If I reitre Gypsie, then Autumn will be left without a horse to ride at all, because she can't ride her mom's mare Patch (Patch isn't a very 'steady' horse and Autumn likes a reliable horse).

So, I was thinking... about giving Autumn part ownership of my stud. Of course, he'll be gelded, as I've been meaning to get that done when I get the money and should have the money in the next week or so. Anyway, as Autumn is only thirteen, and Jaxxon is only four, I was thinking of a possible game-plan...

My idea is this... I'd like to draw up some sort of contract detailing that Autumn co-owns Jaxxon with me, making him essentially her next riding horse. She's ridden him several times in the Lot and can control him fine by himself and with other geldings and she really likes him and he responds really well to her (well, he responds well to anyone). Now, if I did this, I would work with Jaxxon a lot after getting him gelded to make sure she'd be able to control him well and to make sure he'd be fine around other horses.

Eventually, if this situation continued for a few years (if Autumn's parents don't buy her a horse... they spoil their eldest and youngest daughters, but often Autumn is left out), when Autumn turned... let's say, sixteen, or got a job, I would extend the part ownership into more of a 'lease-type' deal and it would have things for each of us to meet.

I wouldn't demand a lot on her part... let's say... maybe buy wormer for him (since wormer isn't a lot), pay half on his trimming/shoeing, and buy a bag of feed a month. I would take care of the rest, though if we had a huge vet bill (like, several hundred dollars) maybe I would expect her to pay for at least a quarter of the bill.

She would be sharing the horse with me, so on my part, I couldn't sell or trade him without her consent and vice-versa. I would pay most vet bills and I would pay the most of farrier costs (for example, my farrier is $35 to trim... I would pay about twenty of that and she'd pay the other fifteen, etc...). I would buy any supplements Jaxxon may need and would buy most of the feed, she'd just have to buy one bag a month (which is about $8)

If she wanted to cut his mane or tail, she'd have to talk to me about it first. If she wanted to change his tack, she'd have to talk to me about it first. She'd be able to buy whatever she wanted for Jaxxon and would be able to ride him whenever she wanted and vice-versa.


I wanted yalls opinions, though... Does this seem like a possibly god idea? My cousin and I have several years between us (she's 13, I'm 22), but we are extremely close and agree on just about everything, and doing this would give her a horse to ride when she isn't able to ride her pawpaw's mare anymore.

Every co-ownership I have ever seen, including between friends and family, has had problems. It might work out for awhile and then go downhill. It might work out great. It might be a disaster from the start.

I'll never co-own a horse. Its not worth it.

I see nothing wrong with allowing her to use the horse whenever she wants. But anything more then that, gets tricky.

I forgot to add, I'll only do this with her if, after the horse is gelded, he proves to be reliable and not go nutsy over mares.

Instead of part ownership, draw up a leasing contract. Much cleaner IMOP. You can customize it so she pays for X amount or not at all (free lease) but that way the horse belongs to you still but she can still ride him.

I like the sound of that.

I'm still in the beginning stages of thinking this up, as you can probably tell. It just hit me earlier today that soon she won't have a horse to ride and that yes, there is something I could do to help her out, as she's like my little sister.

If I do a leasing thing, I wouldnt expect her to start paying for anything such as wormer, feed, etc... until she gets a job when she's sixteen, as she's just thirteen now.

I would talk to her parents about it. I just worry when I hear the words 13 year old in conjunction with 4 year old horse and stallion. I know you plan on gelding him. I would honestly, get him gelded, see how he does and then make decision on what kind of rider he needs. A four year old horse in my opinion still has a lot of growing up and learning to do. The average four year old horse could be a disaster if combined with the average 13 year old. I know this co-ownership sounds like a great idea but co-ownerships are dicey. I have seen some work and some go down in the most amazing flames you have ever seen, sinking everything in sight (including the horse). Things like where the horse lives, what food to feed, how you address certain behavior problems can be sources of contention. Which are all issues that may difficult to explain and discuss with someone who is 13. In addition, with worming (20 bucks we assume), a bag of grain (8 dollars) and a trimming (15 dollars), you are asking a probably unemployed 13 year old to come up with 35 to 43 dollars a month. That does not seem like much to an adult but for a kid that's a lot of money. It might work out great but it could create a stressful family situation in my opinion.

I stated in ar post that I adefinately going to get the stallion gelded first, then work with him a lot befor really thinking further ahead. I would make sure he would be ok with her as a rider and would be giving him a lot more riding and training than he is already. She has ridden him quite a bit and does good with him, but I would definitely make sure he is road safe, etc... before making anything up and signing it.

I also stated that I would not expect her to pay for anything until she's older (around sixteen/seventeen) and has some sort of job (y'know, fast food, etc...). My boy does still have a lot of growing up todo, it's obvious in both his looks and attitue, but he's not a horse I wouldn't let other people ride, even right now. My cousin has been riding all her life.

But I do understand where you are coming from and, like I said, this is not set in stone, I'm just trying to find a way for her to keep riding after the mare she rides is completely retired. I would let her ride my 6 year old gelding and I'd ride the four year old, but honestly, the four year old is a lot more accepting of other riders besides myself than my spoiled brat of a six year old, lol!

Before I would let her on the road with my four year old, I would make sure their foundation with each other is solid and all that, plus, this is not something I'm doing right now, it's just an idea for the future.