Forever Lease

[O So]

Today I went down to the stables to find out the horses name that I may be able to ride. I found out that she is a handful and not the best for a not so experienced person to deal with. I have experience but it has been almost 20 years since I have tacked up my own horse, that and dealt with a biggie. Anyway, I was talking to the boarder that has a horse next to this horse and she is going to let me ride one of her other horses! I met him and he is a doll. His name is Buster and he loves to kiss. LOL I didn't realize boarders are this nice! I just can't believe that they are willing to let a stranger work with their horses! I have to sign a waiver of course, so they are not responsible for me getting hurt, but I am good with that!

I was talking to Paris, the one that is going to train me and O So, telling her about my neighbor. The neighbor goes to another stable and helps out. She has been doing this for years. Somebody ended up giving her a horse. Paris say's to me, "i didn't know you wanted a horse, I have one you can forever lease"! My mouth about dropped! For those that don't know, forever leasing is when the owner gives you the horse, but you have to take care of it and any expenses that it will incur. The hitch is, you can never sell it or give it away. If you can not take care of it, you have to give it back to the original owner. We talked some more and the next thing I knew I was looking at a Pinto mare. I guess her (the owner) is possibly looking for a forever leaser! So now I may have a choice of 2 horses! LOL The Pinto mare is going to be perfect for me.

There is only one thing that will hold me up on something like a forever lease, well 2 actually. The biggest thing is going to be trying to convince my husband to do it! LOL We would have to board it at the stables and that will be the biggest cost ( 2nd reason). I realize if something goes wrong with the horse there are vet bills and will deal with that if the time comes. Paris is going to try to work it out that I can work 4 hours here and there to cut part of the stable fees down. If she can do that, I may be able to convince hubby into letting me do this! I could probably afford 150 - 200 a month for boarding, but the total fee now, I can't. I need to work on my cc bills! LOL I know one of the arguments my hubby is going to bring up is, what about O So? I already have that figured out too. LOL I will still have us trained to drive and all, so nothing is going to change there! I figure I take O So down to the stables all the time anyway ( on non rainy days that is), so when I get there, I will turn O So out in the arena. When he is in there working off some energy, I will be in brushing down my biggie. When I am done with that, I will turn the biggie out in the arena and proceed on working with O So. Then when I want to go for a ride, I will put O So in the biggies stall while I am away on the ride! (yes I will make the biggie stall mini friendly.)

See, I got it all figured out.

Now just to convince hubby of this. LOL Wish me luck.

Oh, here is a face shot of one of the biggies I may be able to lease!

If all else fails, and I don't end up with my own "forever lease" horse, I can always ride Buster.

Here is a head shot of the horse I may be able to lease!

All I kind of know about her right now is, she is either 4 or 6 years old! Not sure which age is right, one person told me 4 the other said 6. LOL She has been trained by a trainer, but never finished. So she is broke to ride and lunge and all that good stuff! She is also "almost" my favorite type of horse, lol, a Pinto. My most favorite is a Paint and I could possibly forever lease one of those, but the Pinto is a bit larger so she would suit me better.

Wish me luck trying to convince hubby of this! Or maybe I should just keep my mouth shut and do it, and just say that it is a boarder that let me ride it and call it mine.

 

[O So]

I'm going to reply to my own thread! LOL

I just got off the phone with my Dad. I am going to go pick up his saddle this Saturday. Anyway, we were talking about all of this and we came up with a better idea. Instead of leasing a horse, I should put an ad at the stables for my services!

Something like, "For as little as $20.00 a month, I will lunge, turn out, and ride your horse." Meaning they pay me to ride and take care of their horses they don't have time to take care of.

We joked about how if I got enough people to pay me to do that stuff with their horses, I could pay for my own horses stable fee. Then we decided I wouldn't have time to ride mine because I was so busy riding the others, that I would have to pay someone to take care of mine.

 

[Ashley]

I am going to say that you should say no to the pinto mare. If she is only green broke and you havent done or rode anything in 20 years or so thats not a good fit, and I would say a accident waiting to happen.

 

[jleonard]

What a pretty mare! Sounds like you are at a good barn with a lot of nice people

 

[MajorClementine]

My first horse was a "free" thoroughbred retired from the track. I love him to death but let me tell you first hand... there is no such thing as a free horse. The shoes, shots, wormer, and feed feed feed add up in a big hurry. And for some reason my big guy is accident prone. Always finding new ways to hurt himself *sigh*. But all that being said, I wouldn't trade him for the world.

He was "broke" to ride when I got him but had only had jockeys on him for the past 4 years... we had a little work to do before we were ready for the mountains. So my point here is, if they trust you not to hurt them they will do everything in their power to keep you safe. Low and slow just like working with O So. You don't have to put a saddle on her the minute you get her (if you decide to). You can work on trust and ground manners for as long as you need.

Whatever you decided to do I wish you the best of luck. She's beautiful!

PS I'd pay you to ride my horses

 

[Katiean]

My brother has told my niece that if they move to horse property he will get her a big horse. Then my nephew wants one and then my brother says he is going to get a mustang. I informed him that just one of those horses will cost what all 4 of my horses cost each month. I also keep telling him that the cost of the horse is not the biggest cost of owning a horse. You have shoes every 5-8 weeks at $120 (what I spend on getting all 4 of mine trimmed), worming, shots, feed and tack. Also what if the horse gets sick or hurt? When you think about taking on any horse (big or small) you need to make sure that you are not going to short your family to properly take care of this horse free or not.

 

[Ashley]

My brother has told my niece that if they move to horse property he will get her a big horse. Then my nephew wants one and then my brother says he is going to get a mustang. I informed him that just one of those horses will cost what all 4 of my horses cost each month. I also keep telling him that the cost of the horse is not the biggest cost of owning a horse. You have shoes every 5-8 weeks at $120 (what I spend on getting all 4 of mine trimmed), worming, shots, feed and tack. Also what if the horse gets sick or hurt? When you think about taking on any horse (big or small) you need to make sure that you are not going to short your family to properly take care of this horse free or not.

A horse doesnt necessarly need shoes and I wouldnt shoe them if they didnt need it. Thats expensive for shoes. The one we have here its $50 to shoe her.

 

[Eohippus]

A horse doesn't necessarily need shoes and I wouldn't shoe them if they didn't need it. That's expensive for shoes. The one we have here its $50 to shoe her.

I second that. My mustang mare has wonderful legs and feet (which really is the only beautiful thing she's got going for her... But I love her all the same!) and she's never needed shoes nor has she ever needed even a trim. Sounds crazy, I know, but when ever we have our farrier out here he checks her out and gives her an ok to go. Also keep in mind my mare is semi-free range, which really helps with wearing down her feet. Plus, we've all taken farrier classes ourselves too, so we can keep up on the mini's trimming and know when we can do something or when we need our "pro". Mustangs are pretty hardy in general too, most I know don't need shoes unless you're doing an extreme sport (reining for example). And barefoot is better for blood circulation in the legs, which is better for hoof growth.

We pulled the shoes off our Missouri fox trotter when we got him too. We don't do enough heavy riding to warrant shoes on him either. And when we are going out on trail or where the area will be a little too rough we put on easy boots (the newest model, the glove or something like that). I looove the easy boots-same protection as a shoe but the benefits of barefoot and totally removable and replaceable at a whim.

But, like others have said, keep the vet costs in mind. Shots, teeth, medications.. Kinson had to go on ulcer medication right after I first got him. He's small enough that one tube was enough for his entire course of the medication! A full size horse would require about a tube a dose for 10-12 days. Did I mention it was $60 a tube? Yeaaahh..

If you can afford the vet care and maintaince (baord plus the vet, farrier, etc) for a biggie, ontop of the expenses you have now, with out stretching money too thin, I say go for it! Its nice every so often to get up on a horse and ride. It sounds like you've got two neat horses to choose from, though I would agree, the more experienced one seems like a better fit, especially if you're trying to train O So too.

That mare has a really pretty head and really neat markings! But remember, there's no bad color on a good horse.