What would be a fair price?

[Remali]

A friend of mine called me today, she has a few horses and about 150 acres, not all of it is fenced in for horses, but she does have a couple areas of land fenced in for horses. She is thinking of leasing out 25 acres of good pasture land (not currently used by her horses), a friend of hers knows someone who would like to keep about 8 horses on the land this summer (till about November). The horses would be on pasture only, no additional feed like grain, and as long as the pasture stays decent, ho hay either) keep in mind around here (Wisconsin) pastures are almost always pretty lush and additional hay isn't always required unless we don't get adequate rain, etc.). There is a large shelter for the horses, but no riding arena or trails. So, it would basically be just leasing the land for pasture for the 8 horses. My friend wondered what a fair price would be, per month, for these 8 horses?? In the past she has leased out the land to a neighbor for his cows, that was a few years ago. She is now considering letting the friend use her pasture for the 8 horses, and wondered what most people charge for something like that? She would not have to go out and feed the horses, the guy runs his horses on pasture and nothing else apparently. I did tell my friend that she needs to consider that what if the pasture isn't good this year, and she would have to feed hay, etc.

[WashingtonBay]

If she's just leasing the land out, she wouldn't necessarily be responsible for hay unless she wanted to be. The deal could be that if the grass isn't good enough he's responsible for either bringing in hay, paying her more to feed hay, or moving the horses out. Then it's his gamble.

[Remali]

I think so too, I told her if she does agree to leasing out her pasture she should talk to him about all of the "what if's", such as the hay thing....he would need to be responsible for that.

So, what to charge for the pasture? lol. I told her I wasn't sure...

[Miracle Whip]

$800 - $1000 a month would be my guess, but I am basing that on what it would cost to BOARD 8 horses at a boarding facility. Like, I know a lady who owns 5 horses although one is a pony. She gets stalls for each of them, a pasture with shelter, hay twice daily. She pays about $1000 - $1200 to board them. I would not rent it out for LESS than $500 a month...but that is just me.

I would base it on the # of horses, or maybe whatever the property taxes would be for the 25 acres...honest, its not cheap to board 8 horses at a stable...

Talk to the potential boarder and find out what he/she thinks is a reasonable price. Find out what they are paying now. Are they interested in BUYING property? Do they know what property costs? OR are they just looking for a cheap pasture? Are they willing to sign a waiver in case the horses get hurt? Will the horses be checked on daily?

[Remali]

Thanks for the ideas! Apparently the person who owns the horses has many horses (they run a camp and trail riding stable), but are looking for additional pasture to keep some of the horses they are not using right now (they may be younger horses that are not part of their trail ride horses yet). They are just looking for cheap pasture for these 8 horses, it doesn't sound like they will be doing any riding with these 8 horses, they just need a pasture for these horses.

Anyone else wanna throw any prices out there? What would something like that go for in your area? Just pasture-only, with a run-in shed.

[alittleoffkey]

Around here pasture board, with just pasture and no other efforts on the land owner's part, runs between $75-$100 a horse. $150 if there's a job for the land owner, like checking on the horses, grooming, blanketing, whatever. I'd think, if they guy can't afford $800 a month, with the 8 horses she could just ask $400-500 a month and call it even, since she's not using the land anyway. :)

But she should check with her insurance and make sure that leasing out that land won't get her into any trouble. If he came onto her property and got kicked by one of his horses and was seriously injured - it would still technically be her fault. If it's a risk she's willing to take (we've certainly one it before), then that's great. She can make a couple thousand dollars from letting some horses cut the grass! :D

I'd also make sure that the lines are clear - whether or not she's willing to be there to help out for vet/farrier/whatever visits. What she would do incase of an emergency; if she would be expected to check on them once/twice/thrice a day. That he's responsible for feeding his horses anything beyond the pasture grass... how's the water handled? If there's a stream and it dries up, whose responsibility is it to make sure they have water? Etc, etc, etc. :)

[TheRedHayflinger]

my grandma leases out a lot of her land--farming or pasture(for cows). She usually just charges a yearly fee...the set fee is what her property taxes would be for that land (a family friend leases the property though)..that way she doesn't have to worry about where the money to pay taxes on her land comes from..haha

but...pasture around here is usually $50-125...owner of horse responsible for everything.

[Remali]

Thanks, all very good suggestions! You've all come up with some good things that I hadn't thought about. :)

[Toodlestoo]

Around here for pasture with no jobs for the owner, you only get $7.00 per cow and $10.00 per horse per month!

[Remali]

Oh wow, it does vary quite a lot doesn't it. I'll have to let my friend know....this has been very helpful, thanks!

[Fork]

Pasture at my old barn for 1 horse (just land, a run in and water) was $120/month. I would say around $950-$960 or so.