Why Is It So Hard to Find a Reliable Half-Leaser?
This is totally a rant, and I'd love to hear your crazy half-leaser stories as well.
My horse is an older guy who needs to get out every day. He also gets a lot of maintenance, which is expensive. Thus, it's really important for me to have a half leaser to 1) defray costs, and 2) give me at least 1-2 days off from the barn where I can do chores/work stuff/etc. That being said, he's a blast to ride and has done UL eventing and jumpers, so he's got all the "buttons" so to speak.
I've had a string of less than desirable full-leases/half-leases over the past two years. First there was a junior who loved him to bits, but was awful at grooming him and taking care of my tack. She wanted to jump higher and he was getting older, so she ended the lease. Then there was a lady who fell off at the trot and was scared to ride him again (although he's very mellow 95% of the time) and wanted a quieter horse, so she ended the lease after a few months. Then I finally found a perfect fit - an old friend getting back into horses - who just got pregnant and has to stop riding. It's been about 4 months.
It's so incredibly stressful every time this happens. I feel like I'm scrambling looking for another half-leaser every 3-6 months. Have I had especially bad luck, or has this been other people's experience too?
Now I'm looking for a new half-leaser, and it's been pretty frustrating. Lots of inexperienced people seem to want a free lease in exchange for doing "chores." This isn't super helpful if you're at a barn that provides all major services. I've been telling people that if they have owned/leased a horse before and are a fairly intermediate to advanced rider, they can ride unsupervised, but that people with less experience would need to take at least 1-2 lessons/week, at least at the beginning. Am I being unrealistic or unreasonable? People seem to balk at this requirement, despite the lessons at the facility being pretty reasonably priced and the lease fee being fairly standard for the area.
One girl came out and rode him twice and loved him, acted like she was ready to sign a long-term half lease, then she took a lesson with the on-site trainer. She was a ball of nerves and looked like she was going to have an anxiety attack. The trainer was pretty easy on her as a result. The girl told me afterward that she wanted to back out because she didn't think the learned anything in her lesson. I told her there was another trainer at the facility, and she said she was "not on speaking terms" with her. It's probably for the best since she seems a little crazy in retrospect, but seriously, why is it so hard to find a good half-leaser?!
Are there any tips or advice you guys have?
Submitted June 27, 2018 at 04:47PM by Mustang_Gold
via reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/Horses/comments/8ue4yf/why_is_it_so_hard_to_find_a_reliable_halfleaser/?utm_source=ifttt
No comments :
Post a Comment