Help! Do you pay as a sharer when the horse is lame more than a month?

[Goldenstar]

Just be bold tell her you are happy to help out with chores but you are not paying for a horse that you can’t ride and is going to be in rehab for a while .
It’s unfair for an owner to expect you to pay for horse you can’t ride it’s a ridiculous idea .

 

[Annagain]

When my boy was out of work for a few months, I told my sharer not to pay and refused to take it when she tried to give it to me but she kept hiding money in my riding boots or inside my hat. I kept it and bought her a really nice pair of riding boots when he came back into work. She stayed with us 5 years until she had a baby. My most recent sharer for him is still with us despite him being retired for 2 years but she never paid anything. I feel so bad that she's still happy to help out even though she can't ride (new one is a bit much for her) I've found her a little cob at the yard next door to ride. Good relationships are worth far more than money.

 

[MissTyc]

When my boy was out of work for a few months, I told my sharer not to pay and refused to take it when she tried to give it to me but she kept hiding money in my riding boots or inside my hat. I kept it and bought her a really nice pair of riding boots when he came back into work. She stayed with us 5 years until she had a baby. My most recent sharer for him is still with us despite him being retired for 2 years but she never paid anything. I feel so bad that she's still happy to help out even though she can ride (new one is a bit much for her) I've found her a little cob at the yard next door to ride. Good relationships are worth far more than money.

That's really sweet and shows how much your sharer valued not just the riding, but the whole set-up and obviously your friendship too!

I too have been on both sides of this sort of thing. Once I shared a horse to ride because my own mare had a serious ligament injury and would be out of work for up to 18 months. The owner seemed really shocked when I gave my notice when the share horse was injured in the field. I even offered to keep looking after her on my days but she seemed to think I might want to pay for her horse while it was on box rest while my own was also in rehab ... Nope. I really did just want to ride!

 

[Polos Mum]

I think the owner is being unreasonable but how you respond probably depends on what other shares there are available in your area, how much you like the horse and whether he'll come back to doing what you want to do in 2-3 months time.

If you have alternatives I would look at those. If you don't I think you have to suck it up - sadly.

 

[Gloi]

Are you

The horses costs haven't gone down because he's unrideable at the moment of course you should pay and in full. If you don't wish too cancel the share agreement and go elsewhere don't expect to be taken back when the horse is sound. In fact if you really care for the horse you ought to not only pay but offer extra to help with the vet bill.

Are you the owner? ?

 

[bouncing_ball]

But the whole point of sharing is that you share because you don't want the commitment of the good, bad and the ugly. Otherwise people would just have their own. When I was in the position of looking for a share horse, I wanted a horse to ride. Not look after. And in exchange I was happy to help with chores and or/commit financially. That way both parties benefit. How does the sharer benefit by continuing to pay for a horse or do chores for a horse they can't even ride?

no that’s why some people share. Others do want the long term relationship with the horse but don’t have time or finances for their own.

I had one sharer who didn’t work Mondays and Fridays, but this had less income. She did chores for 2 horses and rode one on those days. No charge, the charge was chores one end of day for two. She also often helped out with mid week appointments. She wanted a long term commitment but couldn’t afford her own horse. She was wonderful. Often rode both horses Etc.

My other sharer could afford multiple horses (had lots of racehorses) but enjoyed riding my schoolmaster and was also looking long term.

TBH I wasn’t looking for a short term sharer only focused on riding. People interested in the relationship, caring about horse snd long term interest worked for me.

someone maybe interested for 6 months is a huge settling in effort for the relative time.

 

[bouncing_ball]

Am I the only one who thinks £150 per month AND doing stable chores (so horse clearly isn’t on full livery) is excessive? Especially for a 2 day share.

op, Generally I’d say if you like the horse and there’s likely to be a time when he can return to his previous level of work then keep paying. But unless he’s being fed pure gold leaf I doubt the costs justify charging quite that much!

it was a few years back, but I charged £120 a month for 2 days of riding a schoolmaster with no chores.

other sharer did 2 days riding, for 2 days chores for 2 horses (one end of day) and no costs.

I’m now at a part livery yard where someone charges £250pcm for 2 days share as their estimate of 1/3 of horses costs. No chores, good facilities.

But I’d agree £150 a month and chores and horse off a few months seems quite steep.

 

[bouncing_ball]

ShareMare got lami for the first time ever last summer. I've shared her for nearly 8 years now, doing a set 3 days a week and stepping in when owner is poorly/away. Perhaps foolishly it never even occurred to me to not pay for the three months or so of box rest she had, when I still went up on my days and did my chores!

you see I think you did the right think for a long term partnership. IMO.

 

[Sprogladite01]

When I was loaning, my lovely loan horse was intermittently lame and was eventually diagnosed with kissing spines and much later a torn DDFT. I did the KS rehab with his owner until we discovered the issue with his DDFT - and honestly it didn't even occur to me to not pay her. She turned into a really good friend during this time, and after a few weeks of the rehab she insisted on reducing the money I was paying as she was so appreciative of having someone to rely on to make sure his rehab was being done correctly when she couldn't be there. Eventually she refused to take any money at all and we eventually compromised that I'd keep paying half towards his shoes.
Having now got a horse who's been through major surgery and done the whole rehab thing on my own, I can understand why she was so grateful to have that help on hand - I could certainly have done with some help at several points! But I can definitely understand both sides - I loved my loan horse like he was my own and just wanted the best for him, the money was incidental. Maybe OP could ask to pay a reduced rate towards general upkeep?

 

[maya2008]

If you have shared the horse for years, a month is a small blip in that. I personally would pay as usual.

If the share is more recent, perhaps ask the owner about payment? I doubt they would expect it.

More to the point, is this an injury the horse will come back from well enough to still do what you want to? Will you be asked to ride a horse in walk that is otherwise on box rest/restricted turnout and may be high as a kite as a result?

 

[[153312]]

£150 a month is an awful lot!!
Would expect reduced/no contribution if no riding; as you're doing jobs still (bearing in mind grooms don't work for nothing!) no contribution.
I'd walk away tbh, owner sounds like they're being greedy.

 

[Goldenstar]

I am with snail it’s greedy .

 

[atropa]

I think it depends a bit on what you want to get from the share.

If you are viewing your share as a practice run for the real thing I.e. owning your own horse, and enjoy/are grateful for the experience in stable management, riding, and horse care, then I would keep paying.
If you solely want a share to ride and the stable jobs and relationship with the horse are a bit incidental, I would expect you not to want to pay.

Lastly, I agree that the amount you're paying for 2 days a week plus doing jobs seems a lot! My sharer pays £80/month for the same setup and has a choice of horses to ride.

As a sharer, I fell into the former category, but having said that I am now an owner with sharers and I wouldn't take money off my sharer for days when she can't/doesn't ride.

 

[ester]

If the share is more recent, perhaps ask the owner about payment? I doubt they would expect it.

OP said they did expect it, that's the issue.
I said for years I wouldn't pay for riding but I am, because it is a situation that suits me (and the reason I said depends where it is, I know how much just the DIY livery is here and we also have reasonable facilities 2 outdoors, lights, access to good instructor if want it, but it's pretty much what I was paying for a months DIY only elsewhere) and it's a nice horse who is as good for me as I am for him. I was taken on as temporary but hoping I've been useful enough to stay . I enjoy doing the chores and seeing the people on the yard and would likely be happy to continue those in the event of a medium term lay off but I'd struggle to justify that sort of outlay for no riding. In part because I'd probably have to join a gym or something again!

 

[pistolpete]

Talk to the owner. If they are a reasonable human being they should give you some leeway. Either you decide on a reduced rate while you can’t ride or you decide on a cut off point where it’s time to call it a day as the whole point of sharing is to ride. Unless you are happy to not ride I’d be having a chat. Good luck.

 

[PurBee]

Will you pay me 150 a month and come and scoop poop for my horses?! ??

Wow - the audacity of some owners!

When we look for a share for our horse, we want to reduce costs a bit, give the horse experience of another person, and give ourselves riding-days break - so owner has a a bit more pocket money per month and a few more hours in their life, while retaining OWNERSHIP and FULL RESPONSIBILITY of the horse.

We know a sharer is sharing and paying to PRIMARILY ride the horse.
If horse is unrideable, the payment should cease. If the sharer wants to help anyway, thats up to them, but the reins of responsibility fall entirely on the owner.

If we expect someone else to pay come rain or shine…we call that full loan.

You’ve entered the shady twilight zone of share/half-loan territory. You get to set the bar what you’re willing to pay for and not pay for. You’re evidently not happy to ask on here.
Many have stated they wouldn't expect you to pay - so state your case to owner, if she dumps you, you’ll likely find another owner who wouldnt be so cheeky to charge you to muck out her horse when its unrideable!

 

[Bernster]

Always good to have those sort of thing agreed on, but I realise that’s unhelpful hindsight! I ask for the full fee for anything up to 1 month but after that nothing until horse is sound again. I’ve never had the issue come up, fortunately.

My current sharer recently couldn’t ride for her own reasons and I offer extra riding days in lieu and said not to pay the full amount but she said she would as it was on her side.

I try to be balanced and reasonable but the horse’s costs are the same so its tough on the owner if you don’t help or end the share, but that is your choice and one of the downsides of sharing from the owner’s perspective.

 

[QueenT]

… just for perspective, my share rider doesn’t pay anything because she’s riding at a much higher level than me, and therefore contributes by training the horse.