Advice please anyone!!!????

[PaulMc]

Hi,
I wondered if I could ask some advice please, if anyone could help???
My daughter is 14 years old and has been going to riding lessons for about three years now. She is jumping up to about 60cms, trotting with and without stirrups and cantering. She's also done plenty of hacks. What I'm wondering about is if it would be suitable for her to "share"/loan a horse with someone local as she is desperate to be more hands on with horses, and have a special friend (horse) to spend time with. She would love to have a horse of her own but we can't commit to full ownership just at the moment and wondered what you guys thought would be a good way round this??
She is a very keen 14 year old who has volunteered at a local yard for a few years too, and has helped in the running of lessons etc. She is determined and a good work horse, pardon the pun!!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

[Cortrasna]

Well I am guessing that you possibly can't commit to a full loan either if buying isn't on the cards right now for similar reasons. So perhaps a share for a few days a week might be a good way for her to get more experience of caring for a horse as well as some more riding hours. Plus if she show willing to turn out on a freezing, wet and miserable winter day to take her turn of looking after the share horse, it might prove (or disprove!) her commitment to owning her own horse .

I took on a sharer a few years back very similar to your daughter, same age, probably less capable riding though than your daughter sounds and it was a great success for her and for me. (I am an older rider and was then in my 40s and knew her parents so they were happy to entrust her to my tuition and time I think!)

Could you ask around locally, perhaps place an advert in her riding school and local tack shops etc.? I am sure with the winter now upon us there must be a good few working owners who would welcome some help over the winter in return for some riding for your daughter.

 

[Jessey]

I agree a share sounds like the logical next step for your daughter, it is a whole new learning curve when you move on from a riding school and a share with an experienced person can definitely benifit both parties.

 

[chunky monkey]

As Cortrasna has said. Winter is a good time to find out how committed she is. Turning out on a cold day not nice, wading through a muddy field to get the horse in, would you be the one ending up going feed it if she refused to come with you. If you have a share/loan which wants the horse brought in at night, would you manage to turn out twice a day at the yard. You have to decide whether you can manage this as well as your daughter. Winter might not be the best time with the short nights, she might not get much riding practice unless you have somewhere with an indoor school. Will this curb her enthusiasm if she couldn't ride much.
Equally she has a couple of years before her GCSE's could this distract her from her school work. I'm sure you've thought about this as well.
You need to look around to see whats available and how things would fit in with your circumstances.

 

[PaulMc]

Thanks a lot for your replies everyone!

 

[eml]

I see this from a different side as we run a RS!! We run Pony Club and Yela ( Young Equestrian Leaders) schemes for teenagers, let then help school young horses and ponies and do shows, competitions and horseball teams with our school horses. I personally feel this offers them better experience than a loan horse but appreciate not all RS can do this. At 14 with weekly lessons for three years she can cope with a safe loan pony. How much experience had she got on the ground, tacking up etc

Most of our 14-18 year old have been riding for about 8 years and can be left in total charge of a horse , catch in, groom, tack up, rug, turn out, muck out ,feed etc and ride without supervision.

 

[Cremola Foam]

I helped at the riding school I was having lessons at. I learned basic stable managment (mucking out, filling and putting up haynets, grooming, rugging, tacking up) helped in lessons (leading in beginner lessons and putting jumps up in the more advanced ones) took horses back to the field, usually bare back (generally they had all been brought in early in the mornings by the staff ) and for helping out you got to ride. Sometimes it was just a half hour ride in the indoor school with all the other helpers, other times it was out on a hack or in a lesson. I loved it and had such a laugh there!

I didn't get a share until I was old enough to organise it and pay for it myself (in my 20s) and a few years after that I bought my first pony myself.

However, if my parents could have afforded to buy me a pony they said they would have. My. Mum said its her biggest regret that they couldn't get me a pony when I was younger. But I have no regrets about it and tell her not to either!

But yes, if you are able to (financially and time) organise a share for your daughter it sounds like it would be a great thing for her. I'd look to somewhere that has liveries of a simelar age to her. She could find it boring if she's sharing a horse on a yard that's predominantly adults. Also somewhere that help/lessons would be avalable. Check with the riding school she currently goes to as a lot loan out there horses a few days a week, especially in the winter when business gets a little quieter. You never know, she may be able to loan her favorite RS pony a couple days a week.