Advice or tips on half loaning for the first time?

[vvolfgang]

I found a horse that someone is having out on half loan, I’m interested and the horse seems perfect but I’ve never had a horse before. I’ve been riding for years(4-5 years, alternating private and group lessons), but I’m still really anxious about the choice since I’ve never done anything like this before.

What are some things you’d like to have known before you started loaning a horse? Any particular mistakes I should avoid? Etc etc

Also, he’s asking $175-200 a month for winter for 3 days a week and then half for eventual shoeing, then he covers insurance himself. Is that a fair price? I’m not exactly rich but I‘ll just be able to cover that with my halftime, so I just want to check that it’s fair from people that have experience.

Also also, can you decide to just stop half loaning a horse if it isn't working out or is it more complicated than that?

Sorry for the dumb questions, thanks!

 

[Abacus]

It is a really good way of being more involved with horses (one horse!) and their daily care as well as just the riding that you get from lessons. If you would like to have your own in the future it would be a good step. Price wise it sounds like a reasonable amount for half the cost of maintaining a horse, assuming that you feel that you get good value for it from your perspective. Of course it has to be a horse that suits you and that you want to ride 3 times per week, as you won't then get the variety of horses you experience at a riding school.

There are many questions to ask prior to or at the viewing. What chores are expected of you? Will you be able to catch, groom, tack up etc alone, if you haven't had to do this before? Is the horse safe to hack alone and in company, and is there hacking company if you want it? What will the owner allow you to do (hacking, schooling, jumping, competing)? Is there the possibility of having lessons on the horse? Which days of the week are available and do they fit with you? Would you be expected to contribute any other costs such as vaccination, vet bills, physio, teeth.

I would expect to have an agreement in place setting out the notice period and what is expected of you and the owner.

Do you have an experienced friend or instructor that you could take with you to see the horse? Viewing can be difficult and it's hard to remember all the right questions at the time. Make sure you see someone else ride before you get on. If the horse doesn't look safe, don't ride it.

 

[sportsmansB]

Make sure that you have the budget remaining for lessons on the loan horse, especially at the beginning but ideally very regularly on an ongoing basis.
If you are not accustomed to riding and schooling a horse independently, it will take a bit of adjustment.

 

[Annagain]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm guessing from your use of $ that you're in the States? It quite hard for us to make a judgement on the costs as they're very different in the UK and the US (read Michen's posts about Boggle moving stateside and SibeliusMB's post about Sig making the reverse journey to get an idea). If the horse is on what we call full livery - so the yard (barn) do all the care and jobs - that's probably not a bad price but if you need to do all the care on your days, that seems quite steep (by UK standards, I think the US is generally more expensive though). Essentially, if you're happy to pay that and it's what the owner wants, it's a fair price.

I've both shared a horse and had a sharer for my horse and these are my golden rules

1. Agree everything at the start. Establish exactly what's expected of you and what you expect from the horse's owner.
2. Have set days so you know where you stand - but with a bit of flexibility so you can swap (with plenty of notice) if something comes up.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate. To begin with my sharer would text me to say she'd ridden and was back safely which was great for putting my mind at ease. After a while we decided that wasn't necessary but she would still drop me a text or give me a call if there was something she wasn't sure of or she thought I needed to know.
4. As a sharer, accept you're not in full control - the owner may do things in a way you don't like but as long as it's not dangerous, suck it up and get on with it. Likewise as an owner, accept you're giving up some control and don't micro-manage the sharer. (For me, as long as the sharer and horse were safe, she could do what she wanted with him on her days)

Yes you can decide to stop, that's one of the perks of sharing. It would be polite to give a bit of notice (I had 5 months as my sharer was pregnant!) but unless it's specifically stated, there's nothing to stop you just walking away.

Good luck!

 

[vvolfgang]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm guessing from your use of $ that you're in the States? It quite hard for us to make a judgement on the costs as they're very different in the UK and the US (read Michen's posts about Boggle moving stateside and SibeliusMB's post about Sig making the reverse journey to get an idea). If the horse is on what we call full livery - so the yard (barn) do all the care and jobs - that's probably not a bad price but if you need to do all the care on your days, that seems quite steep (by UK standards, I think the US is generally more expensive though). Essentially, if you're happy to pay that and it's what the owner wants, it's a fair price.

I've both shared a horse and had a sharer for my horse and these are my golden rules

1. Agree everything at the start. Establish exactly what's expected of you and what you expect from the horse's owner.
2. Have set days so you know where you stand - but with a bit of flexibility so you can swap (with plenty of notice) if something comes up.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate. To begin with my sharer would text me to say she'd ridden and was back safely which was great for putting my mind at ease. After a while we decided that wasn't necessary but she would still drop me a text or give me a call if there was something she wasn't sure of or she thought I needed to know.
4. As a sharer, accept you're not in full control - the owner may do things in a way you don't like but as long as it's not dangerous, suck it up and get on with it. Likewise as an owner, accept you're giving up some control and don't micro-manage the sharer. (For me, as long as the sharer and horse were safe, she could do what she wanted with him on her days)

Yes you can decide to stop, that's one of the perks of sharing. It would be polite to give a bit of notice (I had 5 months as my sharer was pregnant!) but unless it's specifically stated, there's nothing to stop you just walking away.

Good luck!

Tysm, this is incredibly helpful! And Sweden actually haha(I figured translating to dollars would be the easiest for most people), I didn’t know price varied so much country to country! Owner said there’s not a lot of things to do at the barn but it’s not full care(not sure what the term is in English).

I’m guessing it’s a lot less expensive in summer as food cost is split, but I’m not sure