Re: [RC] USEF Leasing the Horse - Elizabeth Walker
I have to agree - that requirement would stop me cold, too (assuming I ever got to that level of competition, which is very doubtful). Maybe - maybe - if I knew and/or had confidence in the management team, it would be a different story, but ... you know ... he's **my** horse. So probably not. :)
On Nov 12, 2008, at 10:10 AM, kathy swigart wrote:
Angie Mikkelson said:
> Ok at the risk of sounding completely dumb, what benefit
> does leasing the horses to USEF provide?
It allows the USEF to make decisions with respect to the horse with which the horse's owner doesn't agree, but since the owner made the decision to lease the horse to USEF in the first place, it is the owner's tough luck.
It makes it so USEF doesn't have to get permission from the owners before doing whatever they want to do with the horse.
Personally, I think any owner who would do that is absolutely nuts, and if I ever had any interest in competing internationally, when I heard about this requirement, it stopped that interest cold.
The ONLY reason for USEF leasing the horse is so that if the owner and USEF don't agree, that USEF has the legal authority to make decisions contrary to the wishes of the owner (if USEF and the owner agree, it is irrelevant).
It has nothing to do with having the authority to ship or whatever, they could achieve this same authority simply by acting as agent. (Agent's do this with other people's horses all the time.) However, if they are acting as agent they are legally required to comply with the wishes of the owner and act in the owner's best interest. As a lessor instead of agent, they are the de facto owner of the horse and can do what they damned well please, wishes and interests of the title holder be damned.
The legal benefits are all on the USEF's side. What the horse owner gets in exchange for that is the chance to point at the horse and say "my horse is on the US team."
kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)
p.s. I do not know under what circumstances the title holder of the horse is allowed to terminate the lease agreement, but I am willing to bet that it doesn't include the right to terminate the agreement because "I don't like what you are doing with my horse." If it does, I am willing to be corrected for being wrong.
