The Leasing Game

["Corry, Lynda H." <lcorry@velaw.com>]

"Is it just me...or does it seem INSANE to even consider leasing a horse
to a rider where there's THAT MUCH money up for grabs? ...  I actually had a
good friend lease a horse for the World.  The person who leased him was very
conciencious.  He did everything she told him to...to the letter...the horse
had over 3,000 miles and had never been treated...Well, there's always a
first time I guess...and this one was a doozy!  ...I don't think there's any
way a person who has never been on a particular horse should be running hard
in a 100 mile race...  There are too many little subtle things that we don't
even realize we react to.  Maybe that guy didn't know some little something
that encourages the horse to drink...maybe he missed a clue that the usual
rider would have caught.  I just don't believe in it..."

	Folks, I would have to agree with the above statement from my good
friend Angie McGhee.  The horse she is talking about here is my veteran of
ten years, Baskhari.  My only horse.  I never thought anything would happen
to him, and I thought the lease was a great opportunity -- it was "all the
prize money I'd never won."  But we all know what happens when we get
greedy...  God teaches us humility ... and He taught me in a Big Way.  My
horse was so close to death that I'm positive he saw the light and the
tunnel.  He was at the Kansas State Veterinary School for over two months.
Thanks to the expertise of some truly wonderful vets who immediately began
pumping him full of every kind of drug imaginable when he collapsed shortly
after completing, he is alive today -- even after being down on the dirt
floor of that treatment barn for over three hours -- and unbelievably, he is
completely back to normal except for a missing right jugular vein, which was
removed after a bacterial staff infection developed at the I.V. site.  My
experience has led me to believe that competing with your horse in a
100-mile endurance event is a very personal thing.  As both the owner and
the trainer, you know that horse backwards and forwards, inside and out.
You know when you need to hold him back, and you know when you can let him
go.  You can almost read his mind.  Unfortunately, your lessee cannot --
ESPECIALLY if he does not KNOW you or your horse.  If you are not planning
on accompanying your lessee every step of the way during a 100-mile event,
think about Baskhari before you lease your friend and trail partner to an
unknown.  ...If that doesn't work, think about a $7,000 vet bill.  ...And
yes, it CAN happen to you.

Lynda Corry 
	& Baskhari (a guy with a lotta heart)
lcorry@velaw.com