Lease your horse

Our free-lease program involves a full lease to the stables for the duration of the school year, approximately August to May. During that time, the Earlham College Equestrian Program takes responsibility for everyday expenses associated with care of the horse. Contact the stables to ask about leasing your horse to Earlham.

School horses at the stables have several jobs. They are used as lesson horses in our lesson program, ridden by co-op members in the arena and on trails, and are used during Equestrian Team practices each week. Our schoolies are most often ridden in English disciplines, but many Western-trained horses have transitioned easily to work under an English saddle in our program. To ensure that the horses are not overworked, each schoolie is evaluated by the horse care manager for the level of work and extent they may be worked throughout the year, ensuring horses are eased into work appropriately and not overworked at any time.

We ask a lot of our schoolies, so it takes a very special horse to be a great one. The ideal schoolie

• is older than eight years old and has developed some maturity in responding to its surroundings.
• is “beginner-safe” on the ground and in the saddle. (Beginner-safe is our first priority in choosing schoolies, because the majority of our lesson students are new and inexperienced riders.)
• knows how to jump and can take part in advanced lessons and team practice.
• stands quietly for tacking up, ties safely, picks up its feet easily, can be bathed and can be blanketed.
• responds under saddle readily to cues for steering and changes of speed, does not speed up as a rider loses balance, ignores the unnecessary cues of beginners, spooks infrequently and is steady on trails.
• has no health problems.
• has conformation that does not predispose it to lameness and has no history of chronic lameness
• does not have hoof or joint problems that require expensive treatment or management.
• is an “easy keeper” who maintains weight through the winter.

Schoolies at the stables have the same care options as boarder horses, but responsibility for their health and wellbeing is entrusted to the horse care manager. There are several policies that pertain only to the school horses.

• Schoolies may not be ridden when the temperature is below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Schoolies may not be ridden on trails alone
• No co-op member is permitted to train schoolies without the express permission of the horse care manager. This includes training of new skills or correction of serious problem behavior. All riders may reinforce skills that the horse already has. Should a behavioral problem arise, the horse care manager is responsible for devising a plan to address the problem.
• Schoolies may not be jumped outside of a lesson without the horse care manager’s permission.