A dreaded How Much... to charge a Sharer??

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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Am thinking I may have to get a sharer to ease the financial (and time) burdens of my horse during the winter
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.

She is a 14.3hh 14yo heavyweight feathered cob. She is very safe and sensible, occasionally spooks at a molehill or the usual stupid horse-eating monsters
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, but never does anything silly. She doesn't really jump but her schooling is coming along nicely. Wouldn't mind either an happy hacker or someone who could school her or even compete her.
She is kept at a yard 100 yrds from my house, down a dead end lane. There is only my and my friend there, no school/facilities but large stables, big field etc. Sharer would be able to do as much or little as they wanted really, as I have work and small chilren and am really struggling with the dark nights now.

How much do you think I could reasonably charge people? On a quick add up I think she costs me about £40/wk. Oh and we are in Yorkshire!
 
I know what u mean. Before I had my horse and my kids I started to share a friends horse. I rode three times a week, she was on full livery so I just turned up and groomed and rode. We did have a school though. As long as you get the right person it can work really well. I used to pay £30 a week. Hope that helps a bit.

Good luck finding someone

Sam
 
Thanks Sam,
I was thinking about £20/wk
I have just spotted an advert on Your Horse website for someone near me wanting a loan! I'm a bit too scared to phone them. Will have a good think about it tonight and see how I feel.
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I think if time is your issue if you can find someone who will pick up the burden of stable duties this should be the main thing. The charge should certainly not be more than the proportion of riding time per week they get. If you charge £20 that is 50% of the cost so they should be getting 50% of the riding too, personally if you want to retain control and final say rather than genuinely sharing your horse I think you should be asking less than half.

If I was paying half a horses bills I would expect to have some influence over what it does and be allowed to do things like competing too.
 
I agree with Katt's post a little but if you think about it, one lesson a week these days is about £20 if not more so if someone's going to be able to look after and ride a horse 3 times a week or more than that if you were happy with that, £20 is a bit of a bargain IMO.
 
If you put a couple of inches on her I'd jump at £20/week, she sounds a sensible sort and if something does happen you're near by plus the chance of competing. My last lesson cost £20 and that only lasted an hour, no grooming or general horse related stuff which, sad as I sound, I find as fun and rewarding.

I think if you're happy with that price you'll find someone quite easily.x
 
If they are able to ride 2 + times a week £20 seems a good amount
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Get the BHS loan contract and modify it to cover yourself, and get them to get BHS gold membership for their insurance too
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[ QUOTE ]
I think if time is your issue if you can find someone who will pick up the burden of stable duties this should be the main thing. The charge should certainly not be more than the proportion of riding time per week they get. If you charge £20 that is 50% of the cost so they should be getting 50% of the riding too, personally if you want to retain control and final say rather than genuinely sharing your horse I think you should be asking less than half.

If I was paying half a horses bills I would expect to have some influence over what it does and be allowed to do things like competing too.

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I agree. £20 might be a bit of a bargain, but it does all come down to proportion really. If you are charging 50% of what your horse costs you then the sharer definitely deserves at least half the riding, and also some say in terms of what they do with her. If you're fine with that, then great, but if you do want to maintain a higher level of control then I think its right to ask less than half of what she costs you.
 
I think 20 a week sounds good for as much riding as they want.

I have to say though i hate it when people say it costs blahblah amount for riding lessons. In which case you are paying for instruction, on which i put a much higher price. Anyway slightly off topic, OP i think what you have proposed sounds really good, am sure lots of people would love the opportunity.
 
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I think if time is your issue if you can find someone who will pick up the burden of stable duties this should be the main thing. The charge should certainly not be more than the proportion of riding time per week they get. If you charge £20 that is 50% of the cost so they should be getting 50% of the riding too, personally if you want to retain control and final say rather than genuinely sharing your horse I think you should be asking less than half.

If I was paying half a horses bills I would expect to have some influence over what it does and be allowed to do things like competing too.

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I agree. £20 might be a bit of a bargain, but it does all come down to proportion really. If you are charging 50% of what your horse costs you then the sharer definitely deserves at least half the riding, and also some say in terms of what they do with her. If you're fine with that, then great, but if you do want to maintain a higher level of control then I think its right to ask less than half of what she costs you.

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What a load of rubbish!! Who on earth loses control and final say over their own horse because of what they charge for sharing? The sharer is not paying the owner's bills, they are paying for the use of a horse. The owner can include yard duties as part payment if they wish but's its up to the sharer to accept that or go somewhere else!!
 
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I agree with Katt's post a little but if you think about it, one lesson a week these days is about £20 if not more so if someone's going to be able to look after and ride a horse 3 times a week or more than that if you were happy with that, £20 is a bit of a bargain IMO.

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Thing is though for £20 a week you get an hours tuition with a qualified instructor on a well schooled horse on a surface, with lighting at a time of your convenience and no jobs to do. So I don't think comparing sharing costs to lesson costs is fair.
 
I usually think of it like this - if she does half the work she pays half the bills. If she does a quarter of the work then she pays a quarter of the bills etc etc.

My horse costs me £145 a month livery, my sharer pays £70, so its roughly half. She gets 3/4 days riding a week. So I think its fair.

However my sharer does not pay for shoes or worming, I choose to do this off my own back.

If she got to ride him 1/2 days I'd only expect say £30 off her..
 
Don't be silly, I think you're completely misinterpreting my post. Of course the ultimate control of the horse will always rest with the owner. However, if the sharer is paying half the cost of the horse, and doing half the work, then it is only reasonable if they get equal rights to the perks as well - say riding on a weekend day, going to competitions/clinic etc. If you charge less, then its much more justifiable to dictate the horse's schedule to suit yourself, rather than your sharer equally.
 
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