Does anyone here have multiple sharers???

L

Loulabelle007

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And how do you 'manage' them? Is it purely for financial purposes?

Do you think it is ok for your horse to have several riders?

Interested in people's thoughts!

Thanks x
 
Not currently but 2 years ago I had 2 horses with 2 sharers each. Long and complicated reasons why I ended up with three nice ridden horses and a full time job!

I had no time to ride more than one, so sharers was the way forward for me, full loan people who are happy to come to you are few and far between but lots of people seem happy to do 2/3 days a week so 2 kepted each horse in full time work.

The cash helped but at £20 a week didn't go a long way really in the grand scheme of full costs, for me it allowed me to keep all three happy and in work and out competing but under my close supervision!

The often had different styles but horses didn't seem to mind, I matched sharers and horses to compliment each other ie, if one sharer wanted to happy hack then found another one who loved schooling etc.
 
I have been a multiple sharer with every share horse at one point or another!

We always had set days which don't change without notice. I only ever met one of the other sharers once when she rode one of the other liveries horses on my day. Most of the time I would forget they even shared the same horse!

If you do get more then one, I'd highly reccommend getting a notebook in which everyone writes down what they did ridden wise with the horse on their day. My first share had this and it made life so much easier. My last share didn't, and I had no idea what the horse had been doing the rest of the week. From what people said I believe the other sharer and owner only really ever hacked him, but it was always at the back of my mind, what if he'd just been in the school all week? He was only 5 so I worried about him getting bored!
 
No and I don't think I would because it would probably cause stress, not necessarily to the horse, though some horses might find it hard if they had very different riding styles and requirements. I would find coordinating and managing more than one sharer might also take up more time than I want to devote to someone else's enjoyment of my horse.
 
I personally wouldn't with my horse as he is only young so between me and the groom that rides him I think that is enough for him to cope with.

I do however share my friends horse three days a week and she also has another person who rides him one day a week and he copes fine with the three of us riding him. He is older and only really used for hacking tho. We all have set days so works well and I do get to see the other sharer on her day as I usually am riding my horse so we get to chat and discuss how he is getting on.
 
I was one of two sharers with my old share horse - so his owner rode him once a week, me 3 times per week and the other sharer twice per week. I must say it was a bit of a nightmare! She had a very different approach to me, we were both new to the horse so I was taking it slow and getting to know him, whereas she just wanted to jump and pushed it way too far with him. Even though the owner knew the girl (I was the stranger who had seen the ad online, the other sharer was a friend of a friend who was always at the yard), she turned out to be a bit of a disaster. After falling off in a jumping session and then a bad hack (she tried taking him out on her own despite him not being great to hack alone) she quickly gave up.

I dont think it hurts a horse to have a few different riders, many people on this forum will tell you otherwise but I actually think it can be good for them. They need to have manners with any rider and respect whoever is on their back, and if all the riders have the same approach then it might work. But it will be a huge challenge to find 2 or more suitable sharers that all are at a similar level of experience, want to achieve the same thing with the horse and all take a similar approach to riding.

I think 1 sharer would definitely be easier, but the decision is entirely yours, it all depends on the horse's character, what the horse is used for and what you would want the sharers doing with him.
 
I agree that being ridden by multiple people is good for a horse but I think I'd not be keen to have more than one person schooling my horses - happy to have a 2nd/3rd, etc, sharer to hack them out though.
Or I'd insist that anyone who wanted to school my horses had lessons with my instructor.

Good idea about the notebook!!
 
Sort of! I have a sharer for my horse while sharing my friend's. The three of us manage the two of them between us, and we all ride both. My friend works full time and has two young kids so can't manage by herself while mine can't jump due to foot problems so me sharing hers suits us both, but to do that I need a sharer for my boy as I can't give the two of them enough exercise on my own (friend can only ride about once a week) and I have a few early starts and late finishes in work which means I need help with turning out or bringing in.

I tend to let most people at the yard ride them if they're horseless too so they get ridden by a few people. We all have different strengths and weaknesses which probably even themselves out. The boys don't seem to be bothered and have probably developed fewer bad habits from having a variety of riders as they're not picking up on our bad habits by being ridden by one person.
 
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