Exercising Other People's Horses/Ponies

[ahorseandadog]

**Posting for a friend**

Would any of you ever look to have someone (not a professional) ride/exercise your horse/pony for you?

My daughter is looking to gain experience (and potentially even earn but that's another question) through helping people exercise their horses/ponies. She's 15 and 5ft 3 so short enough to ride most quite ponies.

I have a few questions about her plan though, if any of you have any experience in this matter and wouldn't mind answering.

- To begin with, would any of you even consider someone who's not a professional to ride your horse?

- Are there people that are also looking to have non-rideable (such as small horses or companions) horses exercised or people looking to have their horses lunged/worked on the ground etc.?

- Would you expect to pay for this service, as in for transport or more or even that she should pay you?

- Are there qualifications/experiences/references that you'd expect her to have if she were exercising your horses?

- She can only really do saturdays/school holidays. Does this mean that it's unlikely she'll find someone who's looking for their horse being exercised on those days?

- As she's under 18, would you want her to be supervised? (However, I'm not really that horsey)

- Where should she post ads for this?

- What do we need to think about in terms of insurance/liability in case she or the horse gets injured?

- Is there anything else that's worth thinking about/keeping an eye on whilst doing this?

I apologise for the masses of questions(!) - thank you for reading through this.

 

[Shay]

Lots of questions....

Would I have someone not a professional ride for me? Yes. And indeed my daughter has performed this service from time to time too. Particularly if they are small as they can exercise / ride otherwise difficult ponies.

Are there people looking to have horses exercised? Probably.

Would you expect to pay? No. I wouldn't necessarily expect my rider to pay me - although some do. It depends on who is benefiting from the situation.

Are there qualifications? Absolutely. If providing a service I would expect a minimum of BHS Stage 2 (or whatever it is called now) or PC B test. In no small part because if a member of the BHS or PC they have insurance! If you are paying someone for the privilege of riding then no - although I do personally insist on experience.

Saturdays / school holidays? Not necessarily an issue - but depends on what you find. You are more likely to have to pay someone for the privilege of gaining experience through.

Under 18? She doesn't technically need to be supervised as long as she is over 16. But if she is paid for the service the employer must have permission from the local council to employ someone of school age - and employer's liability insurance. Under 16 - absolutely.

Where should she post ads? Ideally she shouldn't this would be a child protection nightmare. Can you imagine who might respond to such an ad? Start through your local pony club and build contacts from there.

Insurance? She needs third party liability unless she is already a member of BHS / PC. If she is being paid she'll need specific groom's insurance. It would be a good idea to have rider insurance for herself as well.

ETA - just noticed the individual in question is 15. She would need to be supervised and is too young to gain the qualifications I mentioned - you have to be 16. She won't be able to get the relevant insurance either. To be honest I think your friend will struggle until the daughter has the necessary experience and qualifications. Sharing, loaning or otherwise paying to gain that experience and training is probably a better way to go.

 

[Red-1]

Hi, if she is competent and reliable I think she would be able to find something to ride without charge, especially if she is only 5'3 and competent to sort out a small pony where the rider has struggled.

If she wants to charge then times have changed. In the 80s I could charge and no ne even thought about insurance. These days, if she charges then most policies that people have don't cover the horse if someone is being paid, the implication being that a professional would have their own policy.

If she could pay something, or do chores, then there could be the possibility of a share. She would pay a regular amount a week and have days to cover, sometimes this does include a weekend. She would be able to get a rider policy as there seems to be some allowance for a share as opposed to being paid for an hour, but you would have to contact the insurance companies to check.

I would not advise anyone to ride out without third party insurance.

As to being supervised, it may not be an issue especially if she is capable to ride ponies that have been challenging for young jockeys. If she is less capable then yes, I expect people would want her supervised, and have her pay a sharer fee.

ETA - just seen Shay has given a much more comprehensive and accurate answer!

 

[wkiwi]

Very good points already made. I would just like to add that it is important that she is very honest about her capabilities as a rider, and is committed about how often she can ride.
Friend of mine had a young horse that needed a lightweight rider and had someone come saturdays and help in exchange for lessons (friend is BHSI).
First teenager was capable of riding the horse (who is green but straightforward) and going well but often didn't turn up. Second teenager said she had more experience than she really had and was not balanced enough to ride such a young horse so was told (very nicely) that she couldn't come any more; frustrating for all involved but there wasn't anything on the yard safe enough for her to ride.
However, my friend has had other teenagers in the past that were not very experienced when they started but ended up with BHS stage qualifications through her help. She likes to help people in this way, but she if they are not very experienced then there must be a suitable horse at the time that matches their capabilities and it helps a lot for her (and her horses) nerves if the teenager has an accurate idea of how well they ride. Maybe a video of themselves riding more than one horse?