# Leasing a lesson horse - what is too much riding?



## Kriva (Dec 11, 2015)

I'm currently leasing one of the lesson horses at the stables where I take lessons. I have a partial lease that allows me three days of riding per week. These days are predetermined to be Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. The BO (also my trainer) knows that I work full time so during the week I show up around 5:30 pm to ride. On Thursday my lesson starts at 6pm but part of lessons where I go are that you catch, groom, and tack the horse yourself and be ready when it's time for your lesson. I agree with that system. 

I was off due to injury for about 9 months but got back to riding in February. My days are flexible since I don't have a lot going on after work and no kids at home anymore. I discussed the schedule with BO prior to agreeing to lease the specific horse I'm leasing now. No scheduling conflicts were noted. 

From the beginning when I showed up on Tuesday evenings, I had to wait for the horse I was riding because she was being used in a therapy session. That has happened every week. They are usually done at 5:30 but sometimes run a little late. If I'm running late she will have just been put up in her paddock and I then go and get her right back out. Last week on Thursday I got there on time and she was already in the arena being ridden by someone else. I had no idea what was going on and so I just waited. BO shows up right around 6:00 and explains that the other girl is going to use the horse in a 4H show because the one she usually rides isn't a good western horse but this one is. This other person will be riding the same horse as me on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. So the horse was handed to me already groomed, tacked, and ridden for an hour. I was slightly annoyed and I think the BO could see that. 

I don't think the BO would overwork her horses. I knew from the beginning that leasing a lesson horse comes with the issues of not being the only one riding the horse and I can't control who rides, or what day they ride. I love the partial lease as I can ride as many days as I usually would if I owned but don't have the cost of ownership. However, is there not an issue of the fact that I pay for a lease, not just a lesson and with that should come some sort of assumption that the horse should not be offered to others around the same time/days that I am supposed to ride? 

A part of me thinks I'm just being territorial over something that's not mine anyway. Am I just being a brat??? "She's MINE"!! :twisted: Lol! Or would you expect to have the days that you lease left specifically for you?


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

So how many hours total is this horse being ridden? And is it always in an indoor or any arena? 

Trail horses can be ridden many hours at a time with no ill effects, I am sure this horse is in good shape from being ridden. My main concern would be "burn out" does this horse ever get a break from being schooled or ridden in a lesson like atmosphere.

one of the biggest issues affecting lesson horses is burn out. Depending on how often this horse is ridden and how those rides are handled I would worry more about burnout.

I would also not want to lease a horse that I did not have a schedule on. What does your lease contract say? How many people could potentially be partial leasing this horse. Does your lease give you any power at all over the horse?


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## NCT (Mar 28, 2017)

Do you have a contract for the lease and what does the contract say as far as use of the horse?

We half lease a horse for my daughter and the same as you that means we get the horse 3 days a week BUT the understanding is that is our horse those 3 days and we get priority over anyone else riding the horse. My daughter also takes 2 lessons a week so she only "free" rides once a week but gets there early for lessons and trail rides those days as well. The barn is closed to lessons mondays and tuesdays so we pick one of those days for free riding when we can so other people aren't using the arenas.

Having said that, we do not have a contract and things are pretty loose in our arrangement. Our daughter is only 1 of 2 or 3 leases at the barn and I like/trust the owners so I've told them I am okay if they need to use the horse for lessons on our days and they are okay if we come out more often on occasion or switch up our riding days. Our lease is also month to month so if things changed and we were unhappy, no big deal we would just stop the lease.

But my daughter rides the horse "harder" than anyone- if the horse is used by some one else it is not going to be an intense ride typically (more like a trial ride or beginner lesson). I would be ****ed if my daughter was handed a horse that made her lesson be less than what it should be because the horse had already been jumped a lot. I would also be mad if some one else was using our leased horse for a show because we get priority for shows as part of the lease (though we arent at a show barn and none of them are showing right now anyways). For awhile my daughter was the only one riding the horse at all really but of course now the horse is doing well so more people want to ride her.

I think you have a right to be annoyed and I would be concerned depending on how much the horse is being worked if it interferes with your riding. You need to have a discussion with the BO and request the other rider changes their schedule so you are not on the same days. Is this other rider leasing as well? I would ask that first. Also, is the show soon and after that the girl would no longer be riding it? Though I assume the same issue could come up again. I would approach the subject with the BO and ask questions first and then make suggestions that would work better for you.
Good luck!


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## Kriva (Dec 11, 2015)

carshon said:


> So how many hours total is this horse being ridden? And is it always in an indoor or any arena?
> 
> Trail horses can be ridden many hours at a time with no ill effects, I am sure this horse is in good shape from being ridden. My main concern would be "burn out" does this horse ever get a break from being schooled or ridden in a lesson like atmosphere.
> 
> ...



I really don't know the horse's schedule outside of the days I ride and that she's being used when I get there. All lessons are usually in the outdoor arena with a tiny bit of trail riding if that's what the person taking the lesson would like. And from what I've seen all lessons are private 1 hour lessons, no group environment. 

At first I questioned the therapy lessons because I have seen her used in therapy for individuals with physical handicaps (not that I have an issue with that - was worried more about her reaction to those individuals if she's getting burned out), but was told that she is only used now in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy where it's just a "connection" type use and not ridden. However, sometimes when I get her on Tuesdays after that therapy they have used the bareback pad so I'm assuming they are riding her some. 

My lease just states that I can ride the three days. No time of day is listed and there isn't anything in there about other people being able to lease her. I have no power over how she's being used. 

I think burnout and being ridden by multiple people in succession are part of my issues. But also since there isn't a time listed in my contract I feel like I ought to be able to show up at any time on any of those days and ride without having to wait. Maybe I'm just looking at it as: my money should buy me three days per week that she is "mine" and I can do what I want/when I want without any issues. That's probably the wrong way to look at it.


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## Kriva (Dec 11, 2015)

NCT said:


> Do you have a contract for the lease and what does the contract say as far as use of the horse?


I have a contract and it just states the three days of the week I am allowed to use her. Nothing about specific times and whether or not she will be used by other's on the same day.



NCT said:


> Having said that, we do not have a contract and things are pretty loose in our arrangement. Our daughter is only 1 of 2 or 3 leases at the barn and I like/trust the owners so I've told them I am okay if they need to use the horse for lessons on our days and they are okay if we come out more often on occasion or switch up our riding days. Our lease is also month to month so if things changed and we were unhappy, no big deal we would just stop the lease.


I have a contract and am also month to month so I can stop at any time. I know there are other horses there for lease and I may ask to switch to one of those instead. They aren't used as much as her because they aren't as "good" (forgiving to novices). I'm really only on her because I'm working my way through getting my seat/balance/confidence back to normal after falling. 



NCT said:


> I think you have a right to be annoyed and I would be concerned depending on how much the horse is being worked if it interferes with your riding. You need to have a discussion with the BO and request the other rider changes their schedule so you are not on the same days. Is this other rider leasing as well? I would ask that first. Also, is the show soon and after that the girl would no longer be riding it? Though I assume the same issue could come up again. I would approach the subject with the BO and ask questions first and then make suggestions that would work better for you.
> Good luck!


As far as I remember, the show is within the next few months. I was really annoyed/confused with the whole thing last Thursday when that part happened so I probably didn't listen as well as I should have. I don't think all of the details were explained to the other people as well. Communication was lacking in this case. They didn't even know they needed to be off of her at a certain time because I was there. I didn't know until I got there that she was being used by anyone at all that day, much less right before me. I waited and watched them for 30 minutes (my usual grooming time) before the BO showed up and told them I was there to use the horse they had. I don't know if the other girl is leasing this horse. She takes lessons and rides another horse that is strictly dressage. But she wants to show in a Western class and this horse does Western very well (has "the look" and is used to being ridden Western in shows in the past). However, since the BO mentioned three days that she rides, there may be a lease. :???:

Thank you for your input!! I think you're right, a discussion with the BO is in order.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Does the barn have an online lesson schedule so you can check to see when she's working before you drive out there? If not online, is a weekly schedule posted on a board at the barn?

When I leased my mare, I had this problem too, as the lesson calendar wasn't updated regularly. My solution was that I would go ride really early, between 7-8 am, when I knew no one else would be there. But I know that's not feasible for everyone. 

I've only leased one horse (and ultimately bought her), so I don't have a lot of experience with agreeing on leasing terms. At the very least, it seems reasonable that you could ask to have access to her work schedule so that you can plan around that. Or, as you said, may be more pleasant for you to find a new lease. Good luck!


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## Kriva (Dec 11, 2015)

egrogan said:


> Does the barn have an online lesson schedule so you can check to see when she's working before you drive out there? If not online, is a weekly schedule posted on a board at the barn?
> 
> When I leased my mare, I had this problem too, as the lesson calendar wasn't updated regularly. My solution was that I would go ride really early, between 7-8 am, when I knew no one else would be there. But I know that's not feasible for everyone.
> 
> I've only leased one horse (and ultimately bought her), so I don't have a lot of experience with agreeing on leasing terms. At the very least, it seems reasonable that you could ask to have access to her work schedule so that you can plan around that. Or, as you said, may be more pleasant for you to find a new lease. Good luck!


Going before work would be great. Unfortunately I have to be at work at 7am. There isn't a lesson schedule posted anywhere. I wish there was. The last horse I leased at the same barn was a privately owned horse so it was just the owner and myself riding. We would work our schedules around each other if necessary. I guess I got a little spoiled with that. 

I've got this month paid out so I will finish up on this horse and see what happens over the next few weeks. Hopefully I've progressed enough to move up to a another horse that isn't as heavily scheduled.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Unfortunately that's part of leasing a school horse. It definitely depends on what type of work she is doing. Is she being worked for an hour? Or is she plodding around in a therapy type lesson as her only ride of the day aside from you?

When I was at a lesson barn max time was 2.5 hours per day MAYBE 3 if we really needed it, preferably and usually 2 or less but we tried to get all the horses out. Now if a horse went out for an advanced jumping lesson for an hour they would have the rest of the day off, if they were walking around with 5 year olds they might be roped into one of the 3 hours. All horses got at least one day off each week, if they worked hard the previous day they may just do a w/t half hour private with a kid etc. Granted, I thought the schedule there was absolutely horrible and the horses were burnt out and miserable... BUT she's a lesson horse, you do need to deal with that to an extent, and depending on the type of work done no I don't think her being ridden for an hour before hand is a big deal. She does need to earn her keep and while I would tweak the above schedule considerably in person on paper as I just wrote it I don't think it's that bad  It would be nice to get her a short break though if it's back to back.

So while (depending) it's likely not a big deal I wouldn't like it at all either, but it's something you will likely need to deal with if you want to continue the lease.. I personally would not lease a lesson horse in the first place due to things like that.


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## PoptartShop (Jul 25, 2010)

I am also leasing a horse. A full lease though. My lease isn't a lesson horse, but I can give you some advice.

I think you need to discuss with the BO that the days you ride, you should have no schedule conflicts with the others- your BO should know that, and put that in some sort of writing perhaps?

Depending on what work she's doing, I think it's OK for her to be ridden before you. But hopefully she isn't being overworked. The lesson horses at my barn get about an hour break, then go into the next lesson (only a few times a week though so they aren't overdoing it). 

Basically, you should have the right to ride your lease horse on certain days. Period! Hopefully the talk with your BO goes well & everything gets figured out so you can continue to enjoy your lease! 

The BO definitely should consider your schedule since you are paying for the lease, and hopefully you can work around it somehow.

Good luck!


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## NCT (Mar 28, 2017)

OP you may also want to ask if you could ride some one else if your horse is being used when you get there? This is probably what I would do if that happened to my daughter- this is what they do if a leased horse is lame or something.

It's not ideal of course but might work for the occasional scheduling issue and drive the point home that the BO needs to work it out and let you know when the horse is being used on your days! I got a text from our BO letting me know they were using my daughters' lease for a trail ride one day because they know she comes out before her lessons to trail ride and didn't want us to show up and not have the horse. I know scheduling can be tough trying to please everyone but seems like they could give you more info.


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## edf (Dec 20, 2013)

I share boarded a lesson horse. Our agreement was: this horse is needed for lessons- major lesson days were sat and thursday. My work schedule- I had every other thursday off. So, naturally, Id show up that thursday, and sometimes had to wait for the lesson to be over. Heck, one time I was grooming and the BO was like he was going to be used. She felt bad- even tried to arrange another horse but I gave her the right of way, since it was a lesson day.

Any other day- the BO would have yielded to me, but if she needed to use the horse, she simply just sent me an email. My agreement was I can ride whenever I wanted, no set days, just have to give up th ehorse on set lesson days. I rode on lesson days ( this horse was pretty much just doing walk/trot to beginners, so wasn't being worked too hard)

About the upcoming show: While I understand that rider will want to practice on that horse- I do think it would be fair of you to talk with the BO about it- why can't that rider have different days than you? Maybe some days you will have to share- but you shouldn't always be stuck with an already worked horse every time.

As far as approaching her- say stuff along the lines of how it makes you feel, but don't accuse. It sounds like you have more of a partial lease, not afull or exclusive lease, so due to that, other people may stil be allowed to do a partial lease on said horse. But nothing wrong with discussing what your lease includes and while you may have to share- it shouldn't always be you waiting to use your horse.

Good luck!


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## Kriva (Dec 11, 2015)

Thank you all very much. It does sound like it's not unusual for a horse to be used multiple times in a day, and since I am just a partial lease that leaves her open to being used by other's. For the most part this is not a show barn so it's mainly small children and a few amateur adults. Not a lot of hard riding happens on the lesson horses. 

More than likely, lack of communication is the bigger issue! 

Sounds like I'll either need to switch horses or deal with it. Or just buy my own! LOL!:mylittlepony::mylittlepony:


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Kriva said:


> Thank you all very much. It does sound like it's not unusual for a horse to be used multiple times in a day, and since I am just a partial lease that leaves her open to being used by other's. For the most part this is not a show barn so it's mainly small children and a few amateur adults. Not a lot of hard riding happens on the lesson horses.
> 
> More than likely, lack of communication is the bigger issue!
> 
> Sounds like I'll either need to switch horses or deal with it. Or just buy my own! LOL!:mylittlepony::mylittlepony:


That always ends up being the best solution!! XD

The other option though it to swap up to a full lease, the leasers I have worked with who didn't like it always ended up going that route eventually. But if she's that popular that may not even be an option. There's no harm in talking to the manager about your concerns. But remember she's a lesson horse and that means she needs to do her job and bring money in, unless she is overworked or not cared for (there is legislature about overworking pretty sure) then she needs to be making money. If not from lessons then from you lease. As I said leasing a lesson horse is rarely ideal when you become more serious unfortunately. It's just a different mindset from another type of horse.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I do think you should have access to the horse you're paying to lease, but I don't think you can expect the horse to be set aside for you all day. In other words, I think it would be best to work out a specific time slot so the horse is available for you at certain times each week. As for being ridden by other people on the same day, that's inevitable. 

We leased a pony for my daughter for a while. The pony was always available because we would come at 3 pm on a school day so we'd be the only ones there, however, the place was extraordinarily disorganized. This barn had too many horses, not enough stalls, so sometimes we would show up and there was a horse or two loose in the indoor (we were leasing in winter so riding outside wasn't an option). We'd have to catch them and put them away so we could use the indoor. Sometimes it got a little stressful. One time the tack room was locked (we didn't have a key) and no one was at the barn or at the house, so we didn't have a saddle or bridle (using their tack was part of the deal). My daughter got her first bareback ride that day - I just led her around since we didn't even have a bridle. Lessons were even worse - once, we showed up and my daughter's spot in a lesson had been given to another girl without letting us know. The instructor was always late and lessons were always falling behind. After a while, we got fed up and moved barns.


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## Kriva (Dec 11, 2015)

Yogiwick said:


> The other option though it to swap up to a full lease, the leasers I have worked with who didn't like it always ended up going that route eventually. But if she's that popular that may not even be an option. There's no harm in talking to the manager about your concerns. But remember she's a lesson horse and that means she needs to do her job and bring money in, unless she is overworked or not cared for (there is legislature about overworking pretty sure) then she needs to be making money. If not from lessons then from you lease. As I said leasing a lesson horse is rarely ideal when you become more serious unfortunately. It's just a different mindset from another type of horse.



I really don't think she's overworked, more like not getting time between riders at certain times of the day. On the days when I'm there I seem to be grabbing her directly from someone else. I doubt any two people ride exactly alike - especially at this level - so wouldn't a horse eventually get frustrated with two people asking for the same thing in different ways back to back? Which is probably how burnout happens. 

I went on Tuesday this week. Showed up and saw that the people that use her before me on Tuesdays were just leaving but that she was tied up waiting. I thought "awesome, they knew not to put her up because I come in right after them". Nope! Here walks another young girl about to get on her. I stopped her and nicely (I tried to sound nice) asked if she was about to ride the horse because I was there to ride her. Just then the BO popped her head out of the arena and told the girl she'd have to pick someone else out to ride. Said she wasn't sure if I was coming or not. :frown_color:

After walking in the arena for about 20 minutes I asked for a trot and she did a weird hop thing. Luckily the BO was still there and I asked her to watch because I wasn't really sure what was going on. Sure enough, the horse was slightly lame on her right front. Poked around on her and found that she was sore in her right shoulder about the middle of where her neck attaches at the shoulder. I fed her and put her away. BO says she won't be ridden by anyone the rest of this week so that she can rest if it's something more than just a sore muscle. Which is fine, since I can't make it to my Thursday lesson anyway.

The month is almost over so I've just got a little over a week to decide what to do. Although if she's got something serious wrong the decision may have been made for me.


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## Kriva (Dec 11, 2015)

Acadianartist said:


> We leased a pony for my daughter for a while. The pony was always available because we would come at 3 pm on a school day so we'd be the only ones there, however, the place was extraordinarily disorganized. This barn had too many horses, not enough stalls, so sometimes we would show up and there was a horse or two loose in the indoor (we were leasing in winter so riding outside wasn't an option). We'd have to catch them and put them away so we could use the indoor. Sometimes it got a little stressful. One time the tack room was locked (we didn't have a key) and no one was at the barn or at the house, so we didn't have a saddle or bridle (using their tack was part of the deal). My daughter got her first bareback ride that day - I just led her around since we didn't even have a bridle. Lessons were even worse - once, we showed up and my daughter's spot in a lesson had been given to another girl without letting us know. The instructor was always late and lessons were always falling behind. After a while, we got fed up and moved barns.



This place is mostly kids and therapy riding so it's actually busier during the day...I think. There's not usually as many people there in the evenings but I guess since it's spring time people are getting out more. 

I use their tack too. During the weeks of summer camp finding the right tack is terrible!! 

So my DH keeps telling me to switch barns. My instructor is super sweet and really knows how to connect with people, but is sometimes a little lax in making sure that she's there on time or even shows up at all. (and she lives on the property) However, she's a single mom who does have stuff to take care of and as I always tell her "I'm not training for the Olympics, not a big deal". Also, she's understanding when I can't be at a lesson. I don't pay if either of us aren't there. I usually let her know a day or two in advance, but have canceled same day before and she hasn't charged me. Of course, most of the time when she cancels it's same day. But since I lease I can still ride on my lesson day even if I don't have a lesson. DH has been upset ever since I fell off and broke my foot. I was there by myself. Was supposed to have a lesson but the BO wasn't there at lesson time. Hadn't heard from her either so I didn't even know if she was going to show up. I rode anyway since I was leasing (rode by myself all the time), and I fell. Now I know that it was my fault, but DH puts some blame on her for not being there when she was supposed to be. I don't think it would have made a difference. She showed up about 10 minutes after I fell. 

Anyway, finding a barn that will work with my schedule in my area is a little difficult. I guess I probably need to start asking around.
:think:


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## seabiscuit91 (Mar 30, 2017)

It can't hurt to look around, see what's available, you don't have to switch but sometimes knowing if you do have options can help on its own.
I'm similar to you, in the sense that I'm very relaxed about these types of things, I ride alone pretty much every time and don't take lessons currently. 
But I do think I'd feel uneasy with both A - Not knowing if my instructor will cancel last minute and B - not knowing what horse I'll be on.
I think at least one of those has to be something solid you can rely on, because having both up in the air would feel a bit uneasy, and you might find it starts getting you a bit stressed and then those feelings make going out their less fun and exciting because you have to worry/wonder who is there/what horse etc.

Anyway, window shopping doesn't hurt! Go see some barns/horses, be upfront with your scheduling and hopefully you can find something great!

Good luck!


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## NCT (Mar 28, 2017)

It's sounds pretty frustrating. I would look around to see what else is available to you. It seems like this horse is needed too much to be leased. Our BO doesn't like to lease horses she knows are needed for a lot of lessons because of the issues.

Like I said, for our half lease, the horse is supposed to be ours on our "days" so no question who is riding the horse- we are okay if they need to use her for another lesson but it shouldn't interfere with our time. The BO should just text you to ask if you are coming in if she is unsure. She has to know this is becoming annoying for you.

And we got a lot of our own tack because I was tired of having to find what we needed when the barn was busy. But I feel if my kid is riding 3-4 times a week its makes sense for us to supply some of our own stuff.


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