Your views/tips on sharing your horse

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Kate&TheHerd

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Hello

Well as some of you know I have a lovely cob (with the must have pics of course!)

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Recently I have been thinking about getting a sharer/rider to help me out in the week. I work 9-5:30 mon to fri so cannot even go to see her after work as it is so dark so my mum goes up to feed her. I can only take her out at weekends too. I thought Annie Annie might like someone to come out and ride her in the week, it would also be a great help so mum could go down less and I'd know shes getting out.Things are ok as they are, but I remember when I was at uni and didnt have my own horse, but as I have been riding for 17 years I didnt want to stop my weekly riding, I thought it would be great to give someone this opportunity.

I would have an experienced rider, I know Annie is a great horse, and she could take novices but you need to be firm with her and I dont want her ruined. I guess it would be nice to keep her fitness up as I would like to do xc with her this year (would not like sharer doing this) and she just loves getting out anyway. out of your experiences sharing your horse, what tips can you give me and did you ask for a contribution? many thanks in advance
 
I have a sharer for my horse (who has recently told me she's unable to carry on so im looking again :() and it works really well!
I just dont have time to do him everyday myself with 6th form and work, i also need help with the costs of keeping him.

So far i've had 3 sharers, number 1 i didnt like and ended up going up to the yard everyday even when it wasnt my day just to check on Pride :o. She was fine with him but i just didnt get on with her too well. Number 2 was really good but could only manage 1-2 days a week so i was still struggling for time. Number 3 is soo good with Pride. Everyone at the yard comments on how good she is with him, how well she looks after him and how shes the best sharer they've known! She's helped me soo much, doing extra days when i've had exams, doing loads of work on his schooling and jumping. I know i could trust her to look after him if for some reason i wasnt able to. Unfortunately she just cant afford it anymore and i cant afford to drop the amount i ask for. :(

Now i'm looking again i'm going to make sure i can find someone as good as her (which will be hard!).
The only tips i can give you really is make sure you like and get on with the sharer, it makes it MUCH easier to be able to trust them. Take your time to find someone and spend a bit of time with them at the yard with them to see how they get on with your horse.

I ask for £80 a month for 3 days a week including a saturday. So it works out at about £7 a day :)
 
Personally I would not for my horse but it really all depends on the horse and you. I know that I gave my sharer 3 days, and I ended up missing him and in the end she ended up telling me to sell him just because he tried to buck her off (before we realised he was in pain) and I wished I had never got a sharer.

But I know some people have simply wonderful relationships with sharers so don't let my negative one sway your opinion. You know your horse better so only you can decide really.
 
instead of a sharer why not look for someone who could exerise her once or twice a week?
no money involved just riding her for you?
:rolleyes:
thats what i do, although i pay for a lesson once a week (£20) and its a great way to get to know someone else, and they would go around telling people that she is their horse cause they have to pay for her.
:o
 
This is the sort of reply you really don't want to hear (:rolleyes: ) but I couldn't share Red...I'd either have to have full "custody" of him, or none.
 
Well I have a sharer who does 2 days per week.

This arrangement suits both of us. Sharer does not work so weekdays are perfect for her and as I work full-time and have 2 children it gives me 2 evenings free to give them a bit of attention.

I wouldn't be very keen on having a sharer who wanted to do weekends though.

My sharer pays a proportion of Logic's upkeep too which comes in handy.

Good sharers are like gold dust. Good luck in your search if you do decide to take that route.
 
i have alway had a sharer up until now - where i dont feel i want to share my new boy - my first sharer stayed with me for 6 years and up until when i got my new one a few months ago would still come and help when on holiday from uni - my other sharer i had for 18 months until the loan pony i had went back - she bought her own 2 months ago and we ride together a lot as she chose to stay 'with me' on the yard im at even though its miles away from her home.
So i supose ive been lucky when it comes to sharers - i say what i want right from the start i let them know how i want thing done eg not banging saddles down on backs, not throwing the girth over so it bangs pony's legs, no mounting from the ground unless in an emergency ect. I have always given the rules from day one - that way every one know where they stand. i have also always insisted on a text to say they have arrived to do my horse and also another to say all is well and they have finished - that way if for any reason they dont get to the yard i know my pony is not stood waiting for feed or turnout. ( can you tell im quite fussy!:eek:) but it has worked verywell for me in the past.
Hope that helps x :)
 
EmmaArr said:
instead of a sharer why not look for someone who could exerise her once or twice a week?
no money involved just riding her for you?
:rolleyes:
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I did think about this, not trying to sound dopey but whats the difference between someone who rides and someone who shares?

I'd like someone to take her out a couple of times in the week and do her on those days, feed her and do the droppings. I havent decided whether to ask for a contribution or not yet. I think it may be nice, so how much sould i ask, or how can you work it out?
 
perkypinky said:
i say what i want right from the start i let them know how i want thing done eg not banging saddles down on backs, not throwing the girth over so it bangs pony's legs, no mounting from the ground unless in an emergency ect. I have always given the rules from day one - that way every one know where they stand.
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very helpful tips thank you. If I got a sharer it would only be someone who is'like me' if i cant find the right one, then i wouldnt get one, i have other friends at the yard who are around and very knowledgable so if i got anyone, they could see how they are doing with her
 
Unfortunately i don't think i will be getting another sharer either. I'm not very good at sharing lol. I also found a lot of people got on my nerves because they did things differently to like i do. eg... booting my mare in the sides rather then asking her and then hanging on to her mouth because she 'tried to bolt'. i also found my mare wasn't keen on sharers either and took the mickey out of them a lot. she scared two off all by herself:rolleyes: one she didn't like so would rush off and the other she wouldn't let catch her. The only competent rider i had had a slight problem with doing chores:eek:

I do have a girl that i mentor and that is great...gives me company, halves the times i do chores and she gets a lesson/ride under my supervision. also gives me someone to chat to. she pays me 20 pound a week for one to two days mentoring.

I also have a lightweight adult that will come and ride Lacey for me if i want her to/offer. she is a competent rider and does chores for me those day. no payment either way but also not regular
 
k8_doran said:
I did think about this, not trying to sound dopey but whats the difference between someone who rides and someone who shares?

I'd like someone to take her out a couple of times in the week and do her on those days, feed her and do the droppings. I havent decided whether to ask for a contribution or not yet. I think it may be nice, so how much sould i ask, or how can you work it out?
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Someone who rides is just that - a rider who goes on an agreed day and rides your horse. Sometimes, it can be someone who does a few jobs (such as mucking out) in exchange for rides.

A sharer usually makes a financial contribution to costs and on set days the horse is "theirs" (for want of a better word) to treat as though it is their own, although legally they are not at any point the owner of the horse.
 
I have had a few sharers for my girls.

I struggled until i found the right one. I have 3 girls, my 11.3 has had a few sharers but i dont really see her as mine as i dont have much to do with her. I had a sharer for a while for Jess (link on sig of her!) but she didnt like other people very much and i was always worried she was going to hurt them.

now Flo is my first pony, and she has always had bad legs and goes lame quite easily. I advertised on here....i had a few teens that i knew ride her and would muck out etc for me, that went on to get there own horses. I had a few sharers who i decided i didnt want as i worried for flo. However the lady i have now iv had for about 18 months. From an advert on here, who actually rode where i used to work. She loves my pony so much and is careful with her but also enjoys her. Now flo is just a happy hacker but iv done endurance rides with my sharer on my other pony. Its nice to have someone i can trust with her, she does her twice a week in the summer and once in the winter. She also puts to bed my other 2 girls and does any chores that need doing!

If you look hard enough you can find a good sharer and will make your life much easier. I know she will look after flo and knows enough that if something goes wrong she can handle it and reconise problems like if she comes in from the field lame!

Sharers make life easier as long as you have a good one!!
 
can i give you a perspective from the sharers point of view?? i used to loan a pony from my then friend, i did everything for him, and paid for his livery and shoes, however she was not suited to loaning out a pony because she was incapable of letting someone else ride/look after her pony, as she got very jealous when watching me ride and compete her pony. I can totally understand this, i would never be able to loan out kaiser, however if you are serious about sharing your horse, you must make sure you can cope with seeing someone else ride your horse, possibly better than you some days, (not saying you are useless but sometimes it happens!) and trust them enough that you can let them look after them on their days without having to go down anyway just to check on them.

Hope this helps!
 
skewbald-mad said:
...however she was not suited to loaning out a pony because she was incapable of letting someone else ride/look after her pony, as she got very jealous when watching me ride and compete her pony.
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I dont mind people riding her, this lady at the stables has been taking annie out now and again for me, i know she is a good rider so i dont have a problem with it. I dont have a problem with people riding my horse, thats why i dont mind a sharer. but, like others on here I am picky and i wont just have any one riding her and they wont be competing her at all, i'd make that clear
 
If you dont mind other people riding her then its just finding the right person. It's findong someone who will treat them as there own but knwoing they arent. like i treat the horses that i work with slightly different to mine.

Just put some ads up and see who you get, some will put you off but you will know if you find the right person, what have you got to lose? if you dont find someone you havnt lost anything? but if you do it will make your life easier!
 
I am in a similar situation to you, but keep my horse at home so can do all the chores after work myself. But I cant ride during the week in winter as have no school, and would like my horse to be fitter for x-country and hunting. Last year I had a girl who hacked out once or twice a week for me, which was great. I havent found anyone this year, but it did work out very well (she is at uni in Edinburgh now). I wouldnt consider a proper share, as he is all mine, and I dont really need the finincial assistance.

However I did have a half share for a few years before buying my horse - it was great - I paid half of the costs, did half of the work, and got to ride pretty much wheneveere I wanted and compete. it was a great opportunity for me at the time, and gave me the confidence to buy.
 
I am a sharer and i think the most important thing, for both owner and sharer, is that the two of you get on well, that you find each other easy to talk to and that you trust each other. If you as an owner don't like your sharer, its unlikely that the sharing relationship can ever develop properly.

When Brook's owner, C, first got in touch with me about sharing her, it was out of the blue, but when I went to meet her, we realised that actually. we vaguely knew each other through a mutual friend. That helped break the ice really quickly, and we get on very well now. We work quite close by each other as well, so go out for lunch every so often, etc. The other thing that really helped me is that C isn't what i'd call "precious" about Brooklyn - she trusts me to look after her properly, and leaves me to get on with it. She has 8 other horses, plus the liveries, plus the polo ponies to look after, so Brook and i do our own thing and I simply report our progress back to her (and call for help when things go wrong!).

I think my arrangement is fairly unusual, though.
 
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