For those of you with sharers....

[Horseback Rider]

I have had a girl sharing my horse for a year now and it's all been going really well. He is an ex racer so she has helped me with his re schooling and we started getting him out to shows last summer.

Due to problems with my back and confidence issues with jumping I have kind of taken a bit of a back seat with competing and this year I am just intending to go out and do a few clear rounds /RC classes as I don't want to put myself under loads of pressure again and stop enjoying it.

I still hack / school my horse every week but my sharer is taking him to a ODE this weekend. The way I have looked at it is that it's good for him to be going out doing all these things and I trust her completely with him and it also helps my confidence if I see him out doing these events behaving really well (as he always does). He is an uncomplicated ride so I don't know why I have lost my jumping mojo??

Anyway someone on my yard has made a few remarks about the fact that my sharer is out doing all these events on my horse so does anyone else who has a sharer find that they their sharer is maybe doing more events than they are and do you mind ? I don't but just sort of looking for reassurance ???

 

[Spendtoomuch]

I don't have a sharer, but think if you, your sharer and your horse are happy then its a good situation.

 

[showjumpingfilly]

Theres a livery on my yard who has a girl look after her 2 horses in return for riding one of them. So it helps the livery and the girl gets something out of it as she doesnt have her own horse. She ends up competing more than the livery as she is more confident and the horse is progressing and showing his talents far more. So livery and rider are both happy!

As long as you, your horse and sharer are happy don't let anyone else bother you.

 

[showjumpingfilly]

(didnt see spendtoomuch's post before i wrote)

 

[MerrySherryRider]

The problem with good sharers ( yes, the great ones produce a different type of problem), is that the owner sometimes takes a back seat because the sharer is doing so well and they just want their horse to be enjoying the stuff that they may not feel so confident about doing themselves.
It can be a negative because, you want to do your best for your horse but the less you have to do, the less you may feel able to do. If you were his only rider, you'd push yourself a bit more, or even by spending more hours in the saddle, become more of a team.

Either way, its not a problem. Horse is happy, sharer is happy. Just as long as you are too.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

This is my worry: I want someone to ride then go away again!

If you're happy, all good, if you're not, do you need to improve your confidence so you can do more competitions with him too?

 

[vixiem]

i have a mother and daughter who share my mare , they do her 3 days a week and they do more with her than me i dont mind at all, the daughter is going to start taking her to pony club in the summer and im lookign forward to it, my mare will enjoy it and i like seeing her out doing stuff. I think like the others have said if your happy, sharers happpy and horsie is happy then its all good x

 

[debsg]

I would love to find a sharer that would do more with mine. As time goes on and I get ever more wrinkly the mind will be willing but the old body just won't cut the mustard!
Last time I did x country with Blaze it took me a week to recover!

 

[Puzzles]

I am a sharer so it's interesting seeing the situation from this perspective ...
I look after 4 horses & ride 2-3 of them when home from uni (one of whom I technically share). From their owner's perspective, because she works full time, I get to ride up to 3 horses as I wish and basically enjoy them. However because it's always dark when she goes to work and comes home from work, and because she's always tired & has no time, she only gets to ride twice a week or so. So she thinks it's unfair in that way.
However from my perspective, she gets to have 3 horses all of her own with whom she can do with whatever she wishes. When it comes to competitions & events etc, I will suggest them but she always gets 1st dibs on what we do and who we each ride. I am always holding back because I know my place.
Basically, we depend on each other: my sanity is in her hands as she lets me ride her horses, but I also give a significant financial contribution and the horses get looked after, saving her time & effort. So while the owner is appreciative of what I do, she also that she can't do more with the horses herself - which isn't actually my fault or in my power to change. And to be fair, most days of the week & months of the year, I can't be there at all, which drives me mad. And also, she has commented that she would like someone to do more with her horses (re. competing) as they have a lot of talent.

 

[Kiristamm]

when i was a kid i shared a pony, i rode it most of the time and competed it much more than the owner did (most weekends in the summer) because she had other horses. I think if it suits all involved you are fine... tell this person to buzz off..

 

[emma.is]

I have my horse 6 days a week and the owner has him on Sundays. She can't ride him for three months so he's all mine :')

I plan to compete him this summer, but she has two young children so I'm not sure how many she will be able to do with him

 

[muddipony]

I have a 'sharer' for one of my ponies. He's a bit small for me to do much with anymore but I cannot consider selling him. The 'sharer' does pretty much all of his riding, as much or as little as she has time for, does pony club and takes him hunting too, where as i take him for a little hack once every few months. She mucks him out when she has time on the weekends and will occasionally feed/hay/water my others if i'm late because of work. She pays me £10/wk towards his keep.

For me it's the perfect arrangement, she loves him almost as much I do, I can justify not selling him and not wasting him, I still have the main say/responsibility/input in his day to day care, a small contribution to his keep and he's very happy going out to all his activities with her! It's an all round win win situation

 

[xxcharlottexx]

I had a sharer for mine when I was at university.

She didnt do as much riding as me and was happy with the caring/grooming/playing with my horse side of things. but if I was in the same situation, I would be happy for my sharer to compete and progress with my horse. I would be glad of the experience and enjoyment he would be gaining.

However, I can see where people are coming from that you may feel you are taking more of a back seat but as long you still do what you want to do with your horse, and that horse, owner and sharer are all happy thats all that matters =)

 

[muddygreymare]

If yoiu're happy, your sharer is happy and your horse is happy and healthy doing what is being asked of it, its nobody else's business what you do with him and whether you do/dont compete. Tell this person to keep their nose out!

 

[Natz88]

As everyone else has said, as long as you, your sharer & horse are happy with you arrangement then don't worry what others say. I have a sharer that comes & rides with me & my mum on weekends, she has been with us a couple of years & all she does is ride but contributes every month. We have had people say I can't believe you don't get her to help with the yard jobs such as mucking out etc, but we are happy with our set up, she has direct debit set up so never had problems with payment & she has been very reliable