Horse lease agreement

Leasing a horse or a pony is a practical alternative to buying or selling.

Under a lease, the person leasing (known as the lessee) has the exclusive right to use and enjoy a horse for a period of time in return for paying the costs of stabling, food and care. Often the lessee pays a lease fee to the owner (the lessor), but a 'free lease' is also possible.

About this document

This lease agreement template has been written to be suitable for use in a wide range of circumstances. It covers the loan of a horse or pony for competition, whether eventing, jumping, cross-country, dressage or showing.

It can be used for high value transactions, where the horse requires particular care, and for low value transactions where the aim is simply to allow someone else to enjoy the competitive side of equestrian sports.

The term of the lease can be as long or short as you like, from months to years. We suggest a short lease period so that the contract can be renewed and terms (such as the lease amount) updated.

Using an agreement such as this one protects both sides by providing a record of the arrangements and the condition of the horse, helping to prevent and more easily resolve disputes.

If the lease is a free one, documenting the arrangement makes clear to the lessee that the arrangement is not a gift of the horse, avoiding the risk of that on taking possession the lessee claims ownership.

To make your life easy, we have provided multiple options in many areas including responsibilities for care and maintenance, payment of the lease, option for purchase at the end of lease, participation in competitions, insurance obligations and much more.

The lessor and the lessee can agree that insurance must be taken out at a certain level to cover against veterinary costs, injury and death of the horse. Loss of use of the horse is something that both parties should consider carefully. Accidents and unforseeable events do happen when leasing a horse.

The law allows you, by and large, to set the terms you want.

The document should be edited so that it reflects exactly how your deal works. Our guidance notes will tell you what you can change safely and what we don't advise changing.

Application and features

• Comprehensive agreement suitable for a horse or a pony

• Suitable whether the horse is competing in eventing, jumping, cross-country, dressage or showing. You should discuss the permitted use of the horse early on and document in the lease agreement both what the lessee can and can't do. The lessee rides the horse at their own risk.

• The document allows use of several schedules to record the detail of the agreement. This keeps the legal wording of the commercial transaction separate to the subject matter, creating an agreement that is easier to read, amend and reuse

• Written in plain English and provided with explanatory guidance notes that explain how to edit the document

Contents

• Full description of the horse - the subject matter of the lease
• Lease fee
• Warranties and exclusion by the owner
• Testing and checking of horse by the lessee and conditions of acceptance
• Prohibition on selling and subletting
• Termination or premature termination
• Optional provision for insurance
• Responsibilities of lessee for care and maintenance
• Options that lessee shall compete in specified competitions
• Supply to buyer of documents and record of achievement
• Buy-out provision
• Owner’s right to inspect horse during lease and many other strong provisions on owner’s rights
• Set of lessee’s obligations
• Lessee to indemnify owner
• Various legal matters to protect your interests.

Alternative to this document

Use our horse loan agreement if the arrangement is much simpler - for example if you are lending your horse for free to a friend or family member who you trust to look after it.