Can’t find a sharer/ part loaner - Is there no demand ?

[Zoeypxo]

For me that would be 450 a month for the 2 days a week which would have to be weekends only as I would not be able to hack after work in the winter. It would just not be worth it.

Depending on where you are I might be within the catchment area and am the correct size for a 14.2 but £450 a month for 2 rides a week not worth it.

sorry i wasnt the OP, was just posting how i found a sharer!

full livery is £900 a month where you are?

 

[JumpTheMoon1]

Maybe if it was a 16.2hh you had then you might get fixed up and all sorted.A 14.2hh will attract teens and they are erratic.
Maybe the cost also - most want something for nothing these days.

 

[JBM]

Maybe if it was a 16.2hh you had then you might get fixed up and all sorted.A 14.2hh will attract teens and they are erratic.
Maybe the cost also - most want something for nothing these days.

Mine is 16hh and same problem ??‍

 

[Skib]

Unless there is pooh picking or yard work involved, I think one can charge the same rate for hacking a share on full livery as is charged for hacking by local riding schools. Near London that is expensive and I have never hacked a share for less than £50 a time.
The great advantage of a share is that one can ride the same horse every time and can hack solo if one wants to.

 

[FlyingCircus]

£50 a ride! Jesus.

If I shared 4 days a week thats £200 a week, £800 a month...thats more than I pay for 2 horses of my own!

 

[teapot]

sorry i wasnt the OP, was just posting how i found a sharer!

full livery is £900 a month where you are?

Goes into four figures in some parts of Surrey and Sussex.

Unless there is pooh picking or yard work involved, I think one can charge the same rate for hacking a share on full livery as is charged for hacking by local riding schools

Despite the fact a share horse doesn’t come with insurance, an escort (and potentially a learning opportunity, hacks where I ride at are used as schooling opportunities for example), or potentially the staff to sort the horse for you the moment you get off… Not sure the two are comparable.

I was looking at shares last night that were working out at over £50 per ride, plus yard work, and a contribution for shoes etc… I said cynically the other week I can see people taking the mic with the cost of living shooting up, and I hate being right.

 

[staffylover]

I worked out what the total weekly cost of keeping my horse is, including farrier, vaccinations, etc (but excluding vet's bills for injury/illness), divided it by 6 for one riding day, assuming the horse has one day a week off, and that is what I've always asked my sharers to contribute for one day a week riding. I think that's fair.

 

[Spangles]

I am in the same area as you. Had the most luck with preloved for finding suitable sharers that havent come via word of mouth - just have to wait a bit for the ad to become avaliable to non members.

I might be tempted to put up some kind of price though. Full livery normally = expensive so might be putting people off enquiring?

I will have a look at Pre-Loved, thank you. I may re-word the financial bit, I just want shoes & bit of livery covered if possible, nothing compared to the livery costs but I guess you don’t know how people interpret things.

 

[SO1]

No it is almost £800 but shoes are £90 and that adds on more. Sadly I had to have my pony PTS and I am now at a RS. What I like about the RS is the flexibility and there are evening lessons and hacks and indoor school. I can plan around weather forecast and my schedule.

I think that is the problem people don't know how much the full livery is or how much the farrier charges and prices.

Most people cannot ride during the day during the week and those that can are probably students, or stay at home parents or retired and may not be able to afford over 400 a month for a share.

I love hacking but for that price I would want 3 days a week and for the hacking to be amazing and to be able to have surfaces that are canterable on throughout the year. I won't canter on very hard ground or through deep mud or on a slippery surface or uneven surface. You also know you will lose days to bad weather in winter such as heavy rain, or high winds.

A 14.2 may not appeal to adults and teenagers may want to do more than hack and their parents might not be keen on them hacking alone so unless you can guarantee somebody will be available to ride with them that might be an issue.

sorry i wasnt the OP, was just posting how i found a sharer!

full livery is £900 a month where you are?

sorry i wasnt the OP, was just posting how i found a sharer!

full livery is £900 a month where you are?

 

[Smoky 2022]

Nobody wants to share on a full livery yard because it’s expensive. People only want share on dly yard as it’s way cheaper

 

[Spangles]

Nobody wants to share on a full livery yard because it’s expensive. People only want share on dly yard as it’s way cheaper

That’s not strictly true as I’ve had 2 sharers previously whilst on full livery, I ask for a very reasonable contribution which is nowhere near anything like the full livery cost. It would still be a smidgen of the the overall monthly cost. But I appreciate people might assume a figure.

 

[LaurenBay]

I have just found a new share, so there are some of us looking.

 

[Goldie's mum]

Goes into four figures in some parts of Surrey and Sussex.



Despite the fact a share horse doesn’t come with insurance, an escort (and potentially a learning opportunity, hacks where I ride at are used as schooling opportunities for example), or potentially the staff to sort the horse for you the moment you get off… Not sure the two are comparable.

I was looking at shares last night that were working out at over £50 per ride, plus yard work, and a contribution for shoes etc… I said cynically the other week I can see people taking the mic with the cost of living shooting up, and I hate being right.

I'm currently riding at RSs and trekking centres because I'm between horses . I'd rather have a share but haven't found one yet. A RS ride is an exact 55minutes. Where I go mostly, the hack is the exact same route every time because they have an agreement with a land owner & there's only the one way that takes the right time. I get given the pony that's spare & ride with whoever else wants to ride that hour, whatever their ability. For a share you'd get flexible timing, choose your own route, get to know one pony, have less rush & a chat with it on the ground too, meddle with the tack in a limited way*, maybe have a lesson on it or go to a training day sometimes for more variety. No point mentioning specific prices , they're very different up here but I'd be very happy to pay the same per share day as for a RS ride, if there was no yard work as well.

*I hate trekking centre stirrup leathers. They're so random. Whatever you do you can't get them the same length because they're not a matching pair !

 

[SO1]

I am between horses too ?.

I don't think I would take on a share unless it was weekends as when my pony was alive I was part livery for work reasons. I couldn't not be 100% reliable because of work and couldn't always commit to the same day each week. A full livery share would be the only option as if I couldn't make it on my day or was running late then at least all the jobs were done. I did share 20 years ago for 5 years before getting my pony but I was in a less senior role so less work commitments and a lot less salary but my share was an assisted DIY share so only had to do muck out, hay and feed on weekday and at weekend I also did catch in.

The RS I am at has a 100 school horses plus working liveries. They have an online booking system and so far it seems very organised. I have only had one lesson but have booked in for a hack next Tuesday evening and going to also book in for activities such as the bareback drill ride and the bank holiday 2 hour hack. I don't know how it will pan out long term between horses but even if I rode 4 times a week at the RS it would still be cheaper than what I was paying for my pony when he was on part livery if I included shoes, dentist, vaccinations etc.

I also am lucky enough to still be able to go to yard whenever I want to groom YO horses and my belongings are being stored there as will probably all be correct size for new pony, I expect I won't find new pony for a long time as I am very fussy and want a grandchild from my old pony who was an ex stallion. I am not sure if it would be fair for me to take on a share knowing it may not be long term or whilst in the grieving process for my beloved Homey.

The only reason I bought Homey 15 years ago was that my share got sold and I couldn't find another one that was suitable as most shares were big horses. My share horse was 15h and I didn’t buy her as she was18 when sold and laminitic, and had a bit of athritis and laminitis is such a hard condition to manage. Sadly she was PTS 2 years after being sold due to a back problem.

I'm currently riding at RSs and trekking centres because I'm between horses . I'd rather have a share but haven't found one yet. A RS ride is an exact 55minutes. Where I go mostly, the hack is the exact same route every time because they have an agreement with a land owner & there's only the one way that takes the right time. I get given the pony that's spare & ride with whoever else wants to ride that hour, whatever their ability. For a share you'd get flexible timing, choose your own route, get to know one pony, have less rush & a chat with it on the ground too, meddle with the tack in a limited way*, maybe have a lesson on it or go to a training day sometimes for more variety. No point mentioning specific prices , they're very different up here but I'd be very happy to pay the same per share day as for a RS ride, if there was no yard work as well.

*I hate trekking centre stirrup leathers. They're so random. Whatever you do you can't get them the same length because they're not a matching pair !

 

[exracehorse]

Feel your pain. It took me nearly four years to find my current sharer. Who is amazing. Always reliable. Rides in all weathers. She is however single. And no children. Works from home and is at the yard by 4.30pm. And there every weekend. I found from previous advertisements that mums who used to ride or even own a horse were unreliable .. can’t do holidays. Have to leave by 2pm at latest for school run. Can’t do weekends as husband gets the grump. Teenagers can’t do during the week as at school which is ok during summer but not in winter when dark. And unreliable at weekend as busy. And then parents can’t drop them off so I end up being a taxi service. And they spend most of their time on the phone.

 

[melody-maker]

I’m looking for a share horse at the moment and for me, full (or at least part) livery would be necessity because with my working hours, I would struggle to get to a yard, do chores, groom, and ride, and still get home anything like a sensible time (unless it was in my back yard, which is unlikely in east London!) during the week. And I would be happy to pay more for it than if the horse was on DIY. £450 a month is actually a bit less than I pay for 3 RS lessons a week (and I realise there’s a huge amount of privilege that comes from being able to afford those lessons, or a more expensive share horse), and whilst I love my RS, it’s not enough for me in the long term.

 

[Zoeypxo]

Nobody wants to share on a full livery yard because it’s expensive. People only want share on dly yard as it’s way cheaper

weve got 4 on full livery all have sharers

 

[Fieldlife]

Nobody wants to share on a full livery yard because it’s expensive. People only want share on dly yard as it’s way cheaper

That isnt true, you have many types of sharers. Some are time rich, funds poor, and would rather do chores. Others are time poor, funds rich and would rather share a part livery/ full livery horse. Room for all types.

If you have time and flexibility to do chores, then paying a proportion of a 7 day part livery cost, will feel expensive.

If you dont have time for chores, then paying someone else to cover them should be part of sharing.

Horses cost owners a run range to keep. Those DIY, good doers, living out in field with grass cover all year might cost very little a month under circa £150. Those on part livery, around the home counties, at a yard with good hacking and good arena, on supplementary feed, shod etc. might easily cost circa £1000

Both cost ranges allowing for trimming / farrier / vaccinations / equipment / physio / insurance / worming etc.

You can see that covering the costs of 2-3 days of sharing each horse would be vastly different.

What you get in terms of riding experience also vastly differs.

You have what restrictions owner places on sharing arrangement - e.g. no jumping / no competing / no galloping / no boxing off site ec.

Then you have how talented / well schooled / safe / nice to ride / good in traffic horse is. A medium school master would be a different price bracket to a green six year old not yet doing prelim level work in the arena that is scared of traffic and doesnt solo hack.

 

[ponynutz]

i am having the same problem tbh
wondering if with the high prices people want a pony that can do everything not just hacking

 

[Wishfilly]

I think for that sort of price, people will want a horse that they can do more with- perhaps have the chance to have some lessons with, or take to clinics etc.

Also, as has been said, you probably won't get much interest if you are charging the same as/more than local riding schools- where you do get additional things included within the price, and would obviously not miss out on riding if the horse was e.g. lame etc. I know some people would rather have a share for all sorts of reasons, but if you're charging more than a private hack at a local riding school per ride, you will likely find you are limiting your market.

 

[Fieldlife]

i am having the same problem tbh
wondering if with the high prices people want a pony that can do everything not just hacking

I think it depends, some people are time poor, cash rich, and only want a kind safe hacking horse to share. But there are fewer of these IMO. Most people paying part livery share costs want to do a range of activities.

 

[Fieldlife]

Sharing prices really is about what you as owner want and what sharer wants. An ideal arrangement is where both parties think it is a good deal and that might mean totally different things to different people.

One person might be happy to pay more for a bombproof hacking horse. Another might not want to pay more because horse is green in the school and they would be schooling the horse on.

 

[Skib]

*I hate trekking centre stirrup leathers. They're so random. Whatever you do you can't get them the same length because they're not a matching pair !

Exactly.
Problem solved if you take your own. I always take my own leathers and stirrups when hacking. I got bucked off long ago by a RS pony and my boot caught in their stirrup.

 

[Pippity]

Nobody wants to share on a full livery yard because it’s expensive. People only want share on dly yard as it’s way cheaper

Both my share horses were full livery. I wasn't money rich but I was certainly time/energy poor, and the balance worked out far better for me.

One, I had three days a week, including one weekend day. The other, I had all weekdays but only an occasional weekend day if his owner was away. Both were looking for their horses to have more exercise/attention, rather than help with the costs, so I paid FAR less than 3/7 or 5/7 of the livery bill.