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Still Haven't Found a Lessee

2K views 30 replies 11 participants last post by  Saskia 
#1 ·
After a few months of putting up ads and talking to candidates, I still haven't found a lessee for my horses. They love the boys, the problem is usually budget. It's very distressing and I'm really, really discouraged tonight. Has anyone else had this much trouble?
 
#2 ·
Are you sure you haven't priced the lease fee too high? A lot comes in to play when pricing a month by month lease, like quality of the horse, what sort of facility, if lessons are included in the lease, etc etc.

Despite living in a huge horse area with tons of showing opportunities for all levels, I always have a hard time finding a leaser. Part of it is that I am picky, and part of it is money on their end. I have one mare who is showing A circuit hunters/eq, been at 3'6"-3'9" so far and will go farther, however, I get a ton of interest from lower level folk not wanting to show (nothing wrong with that!!), but when I have posted in the add specifically that leaser must be willing to show on the A circuit, it's a little bothersome. That, or I do find someone I really like, and then they ask me to lower my prices significantly or the notorious "so what's the lowest you'll go!?". My lease price really isn't that ridiculous or unheard of, especially considering her quality and level, and the barn I am at so I am actually a little shocked how many people ask me to lower it when it's actually quite reasonable.

My advice would be to take those things into consideration, as well as the terms of your lease. For example, if your board is $500 per month and you want to lease your horse out 2-3 days per week, don't charge $400 for the lease. I always base my lease prices off amount of days per month the leaser would be riding. Let's say it's a 3 day a week lease (that includes their lesson day), my board and farrier each month for 1 horse is $720, so 3 rides per week equals 12 rides per month - so $720 divide by 30 days $24 per day, times 12 days is $288 per month, which is actually quite low for what would be considered a half lease around here, most people would bump that price to anywhere from $350-$550 for a half lease in my area.
 
#5 ·
We are looking to lease a horse right now, and I also was wondering if your price was too high? Is it for a full or partial lease? I know for us, if we are to pay full board, we won't have much extra to pay for the actual lease.
Part or full leases generally require payment of a lease fee (a portion of board/farrier), rather than pay actual board on the horse. A "free" lease you would take the horse off the owner's property and pay board at your own barn.
 
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#6 ·
It's a free lease. It's a full lease in the ad. I just want my boys to get the attention they deserve while I'm in school, I don't want to make a profit. I live around a few big schools with equestrian programs and there has been interest, just no one that is able to actually pay, even though they would be fine at a self-care facility and it would be quite cheap.
 
#13 ·
It's a free lease. It's a full lease in the ad. I just want my boys to get the attention they deserve while I'm in school, I don't want to make a profit. I live around a few big schools with equestrian programs and there has been interest, just no one that is able to actually pay, even though they would be fine at a self-care facility and it would be quite cheap.
I'm confused. Is it a free lease (meaning they take the horse off property and cover all expenses), or is it a full lease on property (with lease fee/payment) ??
 
#10 ·
Change your ad title. "Great Horse and Pony Available for Lease". Then spell out that the lessee would be responsible for all care and upkeep, but that there is no lease fee. Don't say free lease or feed lease, people not familiar with leasing won't understand that there is STILL a cost, just not a lease fee. Your ad almost sounds like you are giving them away.

And I would put up flyers in barns, feed & tack stores and anywhere else you can think of that will allow you to post them.
 
#11 ·
I agree, take out the free lease and say something like "although there is no lease fee the leasee will be responsible for all upkeep and care costs including board, feed, farrier and vet".

Is your pony a good children's mount? If so I would market him as that and have a seperate ad.
 
#14 ·
I also think that with two VERY different horses you would be better served by running two separate ads.

If your pony is child safe, you should include pictures and video that demonstrate this (so good pics/video of a child riding) in his ad. The horse could also be better served with more photos showing him under saddle.

Whether it is a sale ad or a lease ad, the more supportive evidence you can provide that the horse is as you describe, the better. I would also look into other places to market. In my area, there are several quite active Facebook groups with various types of horse classified ads running. I think you might have better luck there than Craigslist.
 
#15 ·
The pony is not super safe for little children. I'm brand new to leasing and didn't consider that trying to get one person to take two different horses might be an issue. It is a free lease, the lessee would pay board and the lease fee is free.

I have a great candidate, the problem is the horses would be four hours away. Is that too much? Would any of you do that?
 
#17 ·
Like I said I'm brand new to leasing, so I don't know anything about how to go about it. My horses are in Town A and the area I want to lease them in is Town B because that is where I'll be going to school. Is that a deterrent for potential lessees? Should I pick a barn in Town B and say that's where they'll be? That would keep them more or less together too.
 
#18 ·
I wouldn't be looking to lease them out together. Most people look at leasing as a step to buying, they're not going to want a pony and a horse. I can't think of any situation I have personally known where this would have been possible or acceptable.

They need to be in the area you're planning on leasing them in, so if you want to lease them in town B move them there and advertise them there.

I'd be a bit more targeted in your ads.

Like, Gabriel is a 14 yr old Tennessee walker who is a reliable and quiet western trained trail horse. He is great alone or with others and has no vices. He would be suitable for an intermediate adult rider, or someone looking for a confidence building horse (if this is true). Gabriel is for free, off site lease which means you are responsible for all care, board, feed and farrier costs. If interested, please contact me to find out more about Gabriel.

Then with the pony - if you're not targeting him towards children I don't know who would lease him. I'd probably write an ad for a pony suitable as a second pony or for a confident older child. You've got to look at what the market for your horses are. I'd keep the ads to the point, you don't need to list everything's, all that can be talked about when they come to trial the horse.
 
#19 ·
How far apart are towns A and B? If relatively close, it shouldn't matter.

If they are quite far apart it probably makes more sense to leave them "home" and check on them on breaks and such. Are there any reputable lesson barns that might be interested in using them as lesson horses? This situation has worked out well for a few friends of mine.
 
#23 ·
In my experience, short term leases typical only happen with VERY good show horses who are leased for a specific week or show.

More average to good type horses are typically leased on a longer term basis (6 month to a year or long, most leases I've been involved of or known of have been for a year). An hour and a half is not that far and wherever you have them, people from the same general areas are probably likely going to come look at them either way (with the plan of moving them to their barn/boarding barn if they lease them).

Your best bet is likely to network through horse people you already know - do you know anyone involved with Pony Club, 4-H, high school equestrian programs, etc? These types of riders are often looking to lease rather than purchase and if the program is a good one will have competent adult supervision.
 
#29 ·
Contact local lesson programs and find out if they would be interested in using your horse and/or pony as a lesson horse. Obviously you need to vet these situations carefully but I've seen this work out really well for a few friends busy with school/life. I'd start with contacting any trainers you might know or have worked with in the past and find out if they need a school horse or know of someone who does.

When I needed to lease my horse out for year while finishing up college, I e-mailed literally all of my horse related contacts in the area, explained that I was looking to lease out my horse, what my ideal terms were, included a few pictures of him and also a brief description of his current training level/what we'd been up to. That generated a couple of people seriously interested very quickly and one of them ended up leasing him.

Often the lesson program coordinators aren't the people who will combing through the lease ads but if a nice horse pretty much fell in their lap would take advantage of the opportunity.
 
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