Hmm two horses, two yards, which one would you chose to share?

N

Nicki85

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 March 2009
Messages
424
Visit site
Okaaayy-

1st horse.
16.1hh, 13yo Gelderlander mare. Very sweet temp, keen to please ex-hunter.
Unfit and unworked at the mo, would require lots of work and schooling.

Yard- smallish DIY it's OK nothing special. Lots of people to hack out with +amazing hacking. School is 20x40 poorly floodlit and surface is a bit pants. Some jumps around.

Owner- has three horses, doesn't have the time to keep them all ridden (she only rides her old mare hacking once a week) so happy for me to do what i want and come and go as i please. Also happy for me to bring a friend along and ride out on the other horse.

Scope- possibility to go hunting in the winter, local comps dressage/ sj/ ht etc. Has a trailer but doesn't go out all that much.

Problem- horsey currently lame no idea why. No history of lameness. Soundish on hard ground, hopping in sand school.

2nd Horse-
17.2hh WBxTB 7yo. nice temp, can not have mane touched or be clipped without sedation. Bit of a scardy cat hacking nothing major and can put in some good bucks.

Yard- amazing small private yard. All very well kept and lovely. Hacking is OK. Nice school with proper flood lights and nice surface lots of jumps.

Owner- ex-eventer has two horses. Not enough time, would sell this horse if possible. Not sure what she wants to do at the mo. Very experienced, used to do 3day events. She wants to make sure i'm dedicated over winter, fine but what if lose job etc etc/

Scope- would be riding 3 times a week and fitting in with current sharer who only hacks. Owner wants me to school and take to comps.

Problem- horse has history of back problems. Only recently started coming back into work no definitive answer as to how much he can do... Owner thinks he would be fine to do intro eventing. (no probs there i'm no eventer!). Horse quite green all round and not confident at shows. Last week horse seemed cold backed and they had to rest it.

So what would you do? Both owners are asking £10 a week. At the moment i am going to try hte second one and see what happens with the first ones lameness.... Any thought's and ideas welcome!
 
hmmm neither I think. Sounds like you are paying £40 for not being able to ride. My horse cant be ridden but a lady helps out 1 day a week with him and his companions stable chores in return for letting her children have a sit on my smaller pony and I wouldnt dream of charging her anything.

Difficult - the first one could be fine but definitely wait until sound, the second one sounds like it could be a problem - cold backed and nervous - you may still end up not riding and at worse could lose your confidence.

I am sure there are lots of horses offering a share - its usually the other way around - people desperate to find a sharer! Then again, you are only sharing and not buying and will be doing someone a big favour and some people just enjoy being around horses even if they cant ride often (like my sharer) so it may suit you, which horse depending on your experience / confidence.
 
Ditto everybody else ... kepp looking!

Taking on a horse and it going lame and all the frustration that comes with it, is part of horse ownership.

Taking on a horse that is already lame is just bonkers IMO.
 
Be careful I would say!! I shared my precious horse with someone I thought was a friend and in the end only ended up riding him once a fortnight, and then found out they were giving private lessons on him. So be careful.

IF you are still keen to share, loan etc, make sure you do up a proper loan arrangement which will cover things like vets fees, who exactly will ride and when, what access you as owner have, what to do in the event of accident, what notice require to terminate etc.
 
i would be careful as they both seem as though they may be a lot of vet bills involved the trouble with loaning is that you have to take what you are given but you can usually get an unschooled TB as there seems to be loads of these available including ine which didn't have any other problems apart from being unschooled
 
To be honest I'd be pretty sceptical about sharing with an owner who was happy to have me come and trial a horse that was hopping lame in the school. Fair enough if they'd already advertised before the problem came up, but still, I'd prefer an owner who would wait until they'd got a healthy horse before having randoms sit on it. You could be in for a lot of heart ache and not very much riding if owner doesn't get on top of this.

The second one, hmmm.... might be OK but again you want to make sure that owner will be getting back person/vet/saddler as necessary and be prepared yourself for taking things slowly, getting it fitter and then having it sold from under you so to speak once it is in work, has had some outings and can make the owner a bit more cash! Could be OK if you enjoy projects though.

Took me ages to find the right share, but really glad I waited. Owner loves the horse and has enough professional advise/own knowledge to get back person, saddler etc when horsey needs it. Would hate to be in the position of feeling like paying for those things out of own pocket and not riding if owner wasn't committed to horse's welfare.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Not sure I would go for either. Both seem to have problems ie lameness in the first one and back and issues with the 2nd. I would keep looking.

[/ QUOTE ]

^^^^ ditto the above, sorry^^^^^^^^^
 
This is what i was thinking...

The first one i tried a couple of times in school and on a hack and she was 100%sound. Came back the next week and she is lame. Owner's son thinks she was kicked in the field. So not sure, will give owner a ring today and see what she wants to do.

Second one... i just wondered what all you lot would do as usually i would not touch something that has a history of back problems. The owner is very good, horse has a lovely fitted keifer saddle and regular visits from physio person and is regularly massaged with massager thingy.

I enjoy a project and have no worries about them selling it on in a 6 months or so. I am used to sharing but have to look for another as owner wants to wind her horse down.
 
I wouldn't rule the first one out completely but I'd wait until it was sound. If it's happened out of the blue, the chances are it could go away as quickly as it came on. Regardless of back problems, the other one sounds like they want you to do the work so they can sell it - and they want you to pay them for the privilege. I wouldn't be happy with that.
 
Not read all the replies, but I wouldn't go for either. Sorry

In the current climate loads of people are looking for sharers. I'm sure something better will come up.

Incidentally, Has the owner had the suspensory lig scanned on the first horse? Sounds exactly like Josie was 4 months ago x x
 
The first horse sounds nicer, and the hacking sounds good, but although the facilities are nice I don't think the second sounds as though you'll be able to ride consistently whereas the first sounds as though it's maybe more of a one-off unsound. Either way I'd wait and see about no 1, and maybe decline no 2.

Have you looked in Eileen Douglas in Wokingham? Am sure there was a share advertised in Hook direction, but think it was a week or two since we were last in there though.
 
Totally agree with most of the comments on this thread. Wouldnt touch either with a barge pole. One of my friends is out looking for a loan horse - she has tried loads, none suitable, but there are literally dozens of loan horses to choose from. So keep on looking, the right one will be along soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top