Average cost of part-loan/share

[shadeofshyness]

Hi

I'm not new to riding or loaning but thought this may be the best place to do some 'market research'! I'm just curious as I'm currently hunting for my next part-loan and the prices seem to be varying enormously.

How much do you pay for a share or part-loan?
How frequently do you pay?
Where are you based?
What does it include?

My last one started off at a cost of £90 a month for 3 days per week, on assisted DIY so I didn't have to do weekday mornings but I had to muck out and do all jobs in the evenings, and all jobs including morning on my weekend day. The horse was fine to hack, school or jump. He was then sold and the owner got another one, which went onto full livery instead of DIY. This horse was much more advanced. My costs stayed at £90 per month, but with the added contribution of £20 every 6 weeks for shoes. I have to say, looking back on it, I felt that my original set up was a bit steep considering some days I wouldn't be able to ride, so was just paying to shovel **** ... also as I paid monthly, I often missed a whole week if I was on holiday and never managed to 'make up' the days after. The full livery version was much better.

So in my next loan I'm hoping to be more savvy with money, but the adverts I'm seeing have very very varying prices. Some say £20 a day including doing jobs! That's way more than I would expect. Others say free, but then after messaging them, that's only because there's nowhere to ride (no hacking and no school just a field which can be used 'in good weather').

Going to view a potential one soon which is £12 a day including doing jobs, plus the cost of assisted DIY on weekday mornings (as I can't get there in the AM). This seems a bit much when you work it out per month, but I'm not sure now I've seen some of the other astronomical prices...

 

[ihatework]

I don't think it's easy to put an exact price on it.
It very much depends on the quality of the horse, quality of yard, riding opportunities and chores required. And also the quality/experience of the sharer !

So I would say, on a sliding scale the cost will increase the more novice the sharer is, plus increase the more riding opportunities you get. Then decrease for the volume of chores.

Some sharers get absolutely fleeced and used as free grooms.
Other sharers have very unrealistic expectations about how much it costs to keep a good horse at a nice yard on the road!

 

[mystiandsunny]

Just to mention - you are paying for the SHARE of a horse. So if you choose to go on holiday, then you miss your days for riding, just like the owner would miss theirs. That's life.

 

[ihatework]

On the whole I don't use sharers, as if I have a horse in work I want to do the riding myself. That said, there has been a couple of occasions I have used sharers.

Most recently a horse I own had been injured, turned away then bought back into work. I had done the first 6 weeks of walking myself but knew he was t a horse I would keep for myself long term. At the time I was hoping to find 2 sharers to co we him 100% bills & work with a view to him being a RC horse. The original deal was free share/riding until he was fit enough and proving he had a useful job in him, thereafter I costed it at approx £120 PCM a head, all in. As it turned out it be AMD apparent he was only ever going to be a light hack with limited ability - so I kept the sharer I had as she was a good rider & reliable and I never charged her. She was doing me a favour keeping the horse ticking over.

The other time, a few years back now I found myself with 2 and no time. I loaned my older competition horse to a friend as a schoolmaster. The proviso was she fully looked after him a minimum of 4 days a week (she could do more if wanted) and had lessons. He had to stay on my yard under my care instructions. For that I charged £150 PCM plus free use of my lorry. He was the type if horse you would pay £60ph to have a lesson on!

 

[shadeofshyness]

Just to mention - you are paying for the SHARE of a horse. So if you choose to go on holiday, then you miss your days for riding, just like the owner would miss theirs. That's life.

I am aware of that. But there's a difference between owning and sharing in that with most shares you pay for days you actually go rather than the fixed cost of full loaning or owning.

 

[shadeofshyness]

I don't think it's easy to put an exact price on it.
It very much depends on the quality of the horse, quality of yard, riding opportunities and chores required. And also the quality/experience of the sharer !

So I would say, on a sliding scale the cost will increase the more novice the sharer is, plus increase the more riding opportunities you get. Then decrease for the volume of chores.

Some sharers get absolutely fleeced and used as free grooms.
Other sharers have very unrealistic expectations about how much it costs to keep a good horse at a nice yard on the road!

This is exactly my thoughts too. If I ever have time to own my own, I'd change the costs for any sharer depending on their abilities etc, but most people advertising near me at the moment seem to have a fixed price no matter what which doesn't make sense to me - unless of course they are doing it for help with costs rather than to have more time, I suppose, but then that doesn't make sense with the exceptionally cheap ones.

 

[webble]

I am aware of that. But there's a difference between owning and sharing in that with most shares you pay for days you actually go rather than the fixed cost of full loaning or owning.

Yes but if you share something you share the good and bad parts. Eg if the horse was lame for a week you should still pay because the horse is still costing money and sadly that's just the joy of horses. If you are looking for more of a pay as you go arrangement you can probably expect to pay more or might be better paying to go to a riding school

 

[shadeofshyness]

Yes but if you share something you share the good and bad parts. Eg if the horse was lame for a week you should still pay because the horse is still costing money and sadly that's just the joy of horses. If you are looking for more of a pay as you go arrangement you can probably expect to pay more or might be better paying to go to a riding school

Absolutely and in the past I've always paid during months when the horse was off work. I just think it's a bit different if you're away - for example in the past if I was away for a fortnight on holiday, paying per week for my 3 days, the owner wouldn't expect me to pay, but with paying monthly this changes, so depending on how often you pay it can work out cheaper or more expensive - some owners offer it cheaper if you pay monthly, but then if you miss days it can work out more expensive.

Not sure why I'm making this sound like a mobile phone contract now!

 

[ihatework]

Personally I would reevaluate your stance on holidays.

I would expect you to pay even if on holiday.

 

[shadeofshyness]

Fair enough, I have been doing lately but this wasn't the case in the past and doesn't seem to be with other sharers I know. If it's the norm I'm happy to do it, just wary of becoming a sharer who ends up paying to be a groom as I have seen this happen and have been fleeced myself many years ago when I was young and naive!

 

[ihatework]

Well if you were young & naive then you probably weren't fleeced. You were probably given valuable experience!

To leave an inexperienced person in charge of your horse is a massive gamble for the owner. It's them that ends up footing the big bills if things go wrong.

Sharing is always a 2 way agreement

I remember as a you g teenager my first share. It was a horse belonging to a lady who worked full time and didn't have any money. The horse was t particularly nice and was kept on grass DIY. I was only allowed to ride Mon - Fri as owner rode on weekends (which meant during winter I was limited). But I had to look after the horse every evening Mon-Fri and also pay £10 a week on top. I don't look back and think I was fleeced. I look back and think I gained valuable experience very cheaply.

 

[shadeofshyness]

Well if you were young & naive then you probably weren't fleeced. You were probably given valuable experience!

I think I was naive about money to be honest - not trying to sound churlish but I had to do all the jobs Sundays, also Monday and Tuesday nights after college and paid £30 a week for this. This is over 10 years ago now and since then I've paid less for much more, £30 was a lot at the time, so I do think I was ripped off a bit. I'd loaned before so it wasn't as if it was my first experience of doing jobs either. The horse could only hack as there was no school, so in winter I feel I was paying a lot to only ride on Sundays and to do jobs on the other two nights. On the nights I wasn't there, the owner paid for someone to do the same jobs, so in hindsight it seems like I was free labour, or rather paying labour!

I learnt a lot more when I moved onto my next loan after that one, where the horse wasn't actually as nice to ride but they had a school and I could ride more frequently and have lessons on the horse and for slightly less per week. I also learnt a lot more about general care because although the standard jobs were the same, the horse wasn't as easy to manage and could be tricky bringing in/turning out. I think I left that share a lot more savvy and a better rider - I'm still friends with the owner now too!

Each situation is different. Some people want something for nothing, some people want free labour, it's all about finding the right one for your circumstances. I was just trying to get an idea of other set ups and what they entail, seeing as there are so many different variations out there.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

To be honest, none of the scenarios you've described sound like you're being fleeced.

Personally I prefer to pay one of the grooms to exercise H when I don't have time or am away as that way I can stipulate exactly what I want to be done. However if I ever did go down the route of having a sharer I would expect them to pay monthly rather than per day/ride. I would probably not expect then to pay if they were on holiday as I would be sharing him to ensure he got enough exercise rather than financial reasons.

I don't think it's out of the ordinary to be expected to pay and do chores on your days and wouldn't entertain anyone expecting to just rock up and ride.

From what you've said it doesn't sound like you're too keen on what sharing a horse entails.

 

[shadeofshyness]

To be honest, none of the scenarios you've described sound like you're being fleeced.

Personally I prefer to pay one of the grooms to exercise H when I don't have time or am away as that way I can stipulate exactly what I want to be done. However if I ever did go down the route of having a sharer I would expect them to pay monthly rather than per day/ride. I would probably not expect then to pay if they were on holiday as I would be sharing him to ensure he got enough exercise rather than financial reasons.

I don't think it's out of the ordinary to be expected to pay and do chores on your days and wouldn't entertain anyone expecting to just rock up and ride.

From what you've said it doesn't sound like you're too keen on what sharing a horse entails.

I absolutely love sharing a horse and all that goes with it - that's why I've been doing it for so long. I don't mind paying and doing jobs at all - that's what I've done in all but one of my shares over the years, and the one where it was on full livery in the week I actually missed the jobs on my nights and looked forward to my weekend day where I could do them. Money is not the reason I share rather than own, so I don't mind paying and have never expected to just ride, as otherwise I'd stick to schoolmaster lessons. My only issue is scenarios when the sharer end up paying more than half what the horse costs to keep while not getting to ride, etc, that kind of thing. I think it should always be weighed up and balanced against what all parties benefit from it, if that makes sense.

The one scenario as described above, where I felt in hindsight I was ripped off (I don't at all for any of the others), £30pw for 1 day of riding was a lot 10 years ago and I put in a lot of work with barely any riding. To me that seems very unbalanced now and I was giving more than I was getting back. Since then I've paid varying prices and some I've felt were a bit steep and some I've felt I should pay more but it's been kindly refused by the owner! The best for me was £25pw plus jobs for 2 days. Not my cheapest or my most expensive share, but the one where I felt it was fair all round.

I was just trying to see what other people paid, location, etc, didn't mean to come across as if I wanted to ride for free or without jobs - not my intentions at all!

 

[MsChops]

Unfortunately this is a subject that brings a lot of opinion and emotion behind it, mainly from everyones own experience.

Interesting thread about sharing here:

https://forums-secure.horseandhound...ing-part-loaning-debate-paying-AND-doing-jobs

For what it's worth OP I think you were had in the £30-a-week one too. But we all do silly things when we're young.

It is ALL down to who is doing who a favour - where does inconvenience become pleasure?

Currently I'm sharing for free, after paying £90 a month for 2 days for 3 years. The horse I had in that arrangement was sold without notice, and another lady on the yard wanted me to share hers, so I took that on, but she won't accept contribution towards shoes or feed... So I just buy little things for the horse now and then and get her bottles of wine when we go to shows. She also gets a fancy perfume or hamper at Christmas!

Sharing is very tricky. I would also be interested in what others pay and where. I have to move to near Edinburgh this time next year and want to carry on having horses in my life then.

 

[stormclouds]

Hmm it really is a tricky one. I'd always been lucky in that the people I shared from were either friends or my RI, and neither wanted money, just to make sure horse was looked after and ridden. In both cases, they had an extra horse spare/didn't like the horse (to ride) but didn't want to sell. When I moved to where I am now, started sharing someone's horse, but she wanted £20/week for 1-2 rides - which would be fine, but we could barely hack as horse was a bit of a nutcase, and when I had my first lesson, the RI said the horse needed proper schooling at least 5 times a week, which his owner wasn't interested in, and the RI pretty bluntly said I was wasting time/money.

Then found a share which was £45 a month for unlimited riding and use of box. Sadly we lost the horse to colic, and after that I decided I couldn't go back to traditional 2/3 days per week shares and wanted my own. Definitely have been too spoilt in the past by people being so generous with their horses!

Good luck though - finding a share partnership that works seems to be like finding gold (going both ways!)

 

[clippi]

I have a sharer for one of mine, she can ride upto 5 times a week and the only condition is that she poo picks on the days she rides, checks water, feeds that neddy. No charge as she's doing me a favour especially in winter as I can't exercise all 3 properly and work full time

 

[chestnut cob]

I had a sharer for a while with my last horse, as I had two and needed help with everything. I didn't ride said horse often so sharer basically had free rein. The agreement was for 3 days per week but she frequently did more, and could do both weekend days if she liked too. Basically whatever suited her. On her days, she would muck out and also made a financial contribution. There were some activities the horse was unable to do (older, arthritic horse so I didn't want him SJ as it was uncomfortable for him) but when she was able to sort out transport, she took him to DR comps, fun rides, and would have come hunting with me and the new one had the horse not been retired. She did contribute quite significantly, but because she could have the horse every day of the week if she wanted to.

I am now in a position with my current horse where I need a bit of help because I've started a new job which involves a lot more commuting and travel, including out of the UK. However, I am quite particular about what I want. I don't want someone who wants a say in the horse's routine, schooling, my management, or someone who wants to compete. I simply need someone who can help me get him fit after his holidays, and keep him ticking over. I will either pay the yard for their groom to hack him out 2-3x per week, or get a sort of sharer. Some weeks I will be around most days, others only once in the working week, and I want the weekends to be my time with my horse. So because I want to be able to say to someone I need them mon and weds this week, then only mon next, etc, it isn't a formal share agreement. They are doing me a favour by keeping him busy, getting riding on a nice horse, and at most I might ask for a small contribution towards shoes, or they can do a bit of poo picking/ mucking out if they really have the urge for stable jobs (horse is on full livery). The lack of financial contribution, in my eyes, is because I am not guaranteeing them X number of days riding each week. As I say, I can do that or I can just pay the yard to exercise him. If I went for a ""proper" sharer, I would have set days with a set cost, or stable duties.

 

[staceyUSA]

also been wondering about this

 

[Scarlett]

I'm asking for a contribution as I feel a, people take it a bit more seriously and b, I'm more likely to attract the type of person I want - ie a professional person. I have 3 horses so sharer can ride as much as they like and they are kept at part livery on a yard with amazing facilities. I would take less of a contribution is sharer wanted to have a lesson/lessons each month with my excellent instructor as obviously my horses would be getting something from it too. I'm only looking for £120 a month max. My horses are polite, easy horses who are fit and sound, can turn a hoof to anything (and we have transport) and will give someone a lot of fun. I, personally, don't think that's a lot to pay.

 

[hph]

I've had three share arrangements in the last year and there were pros and cons for all.
From what I've heard, a good sharer is hard to find and vice versa, a good horse and owner combination to share with to do everything you'd like to do can be like gold dust.
My first share was a very big and quite sharp warmblood who was too much for me, having only just come back to riding after a long break. I was paying £120 a month (the cost of the DIY livery). The yard was grim - insanely muddy and basically an industrial unit with a couple of stables so not a nice place to be. The horse lived out so I didn't have any jobs and could ride as much or as little as I liked. The horse was off work for about a third of that share because of illness but I continued to pay my contribution.
The owner's priority in this share was the financial contribution rather than having the horse exercised. That shared ended when I had an accident on the horse.
The next one I had was £150 a month during the summer for a 17yo TB X. He was on full livery six days a week. I could ride up to three times a week. The negative with this share was that there were three horses on full livery at the yard and, on the seventh day each week (if I was doing that day, which I often was), I had to bring all three in and feed and water them. The expectation was that I'd muck them all out too, which I thought was too much to ask with me contributing £150 a month, so I just mucked out the one I was sharing.
I had an operation during this share which put me out of action for about six weeks, plus was on holiday for an additional two weeks but I maintained the same financial contribution throughout.
I cancelled the share before winter because, despite being aware of the costs associated with owning and keeping a horse, for the increased cost of £250 a month I would rather have my own (which I'm now about to purchase).
More recently I've been swapping jobs around the yard at a third share in return for riding with no financial contribution. There's no menage (I prefer schooling and having lessons to hacking) and I think this deal works equally well for both parties.
When I get my own, I will be looking for an experienced sharer to help exercise the horse, help with yard duties (mine will be on DIY) and possibly contribute financially.
I'm aware of many people having sought sharers who've had to deal with freeloaders who just want a free ride and also (typically younger adults) who've just been out for themselves and not put the horse's best interests first - not doing feeds properly/washing off after a ride/putting the wrong rugs on etc.
My priority for the sharer will be care of the horse, working it correctly and maintaining its fitness and so I'll need someone who I really trust. Therefore the financial contribution will be a token amount (although I hope enough to still help - maybe £75 a month or the cost of shoeing).
I can see it's tough from both sides because, as a sharer, I never felt I could truly bond with or fall in love with the horse I was sharing because it would never be mine and the owner could cancel the share/move/sell the horse at any time.
I have a friend who has a competition yard and she has three long term sharers who are all in their late 30s/40s. They hack her horses only (she doesn't want anyone apart from her to school her horses) about three times a week when their children are at school and don't make a financial contribution but do a couple of jobs around the yard. This arrangement works really well for them.

 

[abbijay]

I charge the difference in livery price for having my horse on a yard with excellent facilities (could get part livery locally for £60 but pay £85 for arenas that are always useable and floodlit, XC, showjumps, etc). Horse is totally straightforward and the only chore is mucking out on the days for 2 or 3 days. I work on the basis that a riding school lesson is about £25 and for that you get 1 hour on horseback and if you're lucky the chance to tack up or un-tack. For the same price you can ride multiple times a week, do what you want (school/hack/jump) and get some quality time on the ground with a horse, something non-owners rarely get!
I know I'll have seen a lot of the ads you've seen Shades and I never really know where to pitch myself. Complicated youngsters with full chores for £35/week! Or no charge but the horse isn't really suitable to be ridden?
I am currently looking for a new sharer as my existing one (of 18 months) is now confident enough to ride his wife's youngsters. He was the dream sharer: a vet, wife was v experienced and had a horse on my yard so he had riding support and assistance as required and as a kid he had evented to a decent level but had 10 years out. Good shares and sharers are like rocking horse poop but stick at it and just prioritise what you want most!

 

[lbea]

I've just recently started a new loan/share which caught my eye because firstly it was cheaper than the rest, but as I started viewings it was clear it seems to be a win-win situation for both me and the owner! I'm now paying roughly £20 a week- paying monthly for 3 days a week, and if I were to want the odd fourth day that's completely fine. I don't need to do weekday mornings as someone does it for me but all chores included, nice local yard and a lovely pony. Because the loan cost is cheaper I can afford more schooling lessons and the odd bit of tack and that so it works fine for me!

I guess I'm just really lucky in this case

 

[Rhubarb]

I share a lovely horse 2 days per week. I pay £15 per day and do all the usual jobs, mucking out, poo picking, fill haynet, water, clean tack etc. The yard staff bring her in on an evening so I only need to go up once per day. The yard has a school and jumps which we are free to use and an onsite instructor who is very cheap but very good. I sometimes do extra days for free and do ride each time. I can compete whenever I like (BE next year!) and the owner is really keen for me to get out and about to clinics etc. I normally take her out most weeks to something or other. The owner is really nice and sane so that's an added bonus!