# Care/full/free leasing vs part/half leasing



## ponyluver420 (Apr 30, 2013)

Which one do you think is better (well obviously full is more expensive...), and why? 

Also, it'd be really helpful if you guys could say what level / type of rider or horseperson your feedback would be based off of. i.e., a full lease is the better option for an experienced horseperson, half lease is better for less experienced, etc.

I know a lot of people have strong opinions about it, so tell me what you think of the two lease types! ;-)

Hope this all made sense! :lol:


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## Saskia (Aug 26, 2009)

I think full free leasing is the best. 

Why? Well because I think the benefits of owning your horse, or leasing one is that you're the one who works with it. There is no one messing with your training, your aids, the behaviour, what the horse is fed, when, how etc. It's just one way, the horse adapts and progress is made. 

On a share lease, at least one other person will be riding and doing everything different to you. Now the horse has satisfy two people. Learn two sets of aids, two ways of doing things. You have no real control over feed, ground manners etc. Sure, many horses adapt remarkably well, but I don't know - certainly not for me.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

It really depends on the terms of the leases. 

I partial leased several horses before doing a free lease as my "trial run" before buying. The partial leases I did were very unrestrictive since no one else was leasing the horses and they weren't used for many lessons, so I could ride whenever I wanted and still only paid a flat rate (1/2 the boarding rate). If I had wanted to hire my own farrier or put them on a special diet I'm sure the barn would have been happy to let me pay for that as well ;-)

The free lease I did was also pretty easy. The owner required the horse to have aluminum shoes (even though the farrier and my trainers all agreed there was no real need for them) and she did his worming herself on an 8-week rotation. Everything else was up to me.

You could run across some really restrictive "free" leases that require you to use a specific farrier, feed a specific diet, get permission each time the horse is taken off the property where the horse is normally kept, etc. I think the type of lease is less important than the terms of the specific contract (well, that and your budget!)


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## ponyluver420 (Apr 30, 2013)

^ That's true hadn't really thought of that...

Well, for me, I have a pretty restrictive part-lease, but it does have it's advantages, I suppose.


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## ponyluver420 (Apr 30, 2013)

Bump. :-|


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## Shropshirerosie (Jan 24, 2012)

I don't think there is one answer - the terms of a loan, or lease vary with every horse and owner and loaner out there. The most important thing is to match up each person's time, budget, skill set, and expectations. If all these are matched, then the agreement is heaven for all parties involved. When they are not is when it starts to go wrong.


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