Horse share - what should I expect

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Mrs C

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Hi all. I am going to meet someone this weekend with a view to part loaning her boy. What should I expect from the meeting - will she ride him and will I, what questions should I ask that I may not have thought of?! Any help appreciated!
 
When i was looking for sharer for my boy we went and got him from the field (to show how good he is hehe) and had a chat on the way about him and the yard ect. Then we tacked him up showing them how i liked him to be tacked up.

I then rode him, then the potential sharer rode him.

Then we just had a general chat after about him, time/money commitments ect and decided if we wanted annother visit or not.

Just go and be really friendly, ask any question you can think of even if you think it is silly...it will be appriciated trust me. It was the people that didnt ask me questions i was wary of when i was looking for a sharer
 
You watch her ride him and ride yourself.

Watch her handling the horse and handle yourself

Ask how much, how many days, which days, what care she expects you to do, any yard rules, make sure you're having a contract, ask for a months trial, ask about insurance, what you will and will not be able to do with the horse, would there be people you can hack out with

and anything else that pops into you head!
 
Be really clear as to what expectations you have/what you can do. i.e are you sharing as you just want to hack? or do you want to jump/have lessons/do some competing.

Oh and check if you need to tack clean - its a minor thing but I never squared that with my otherwise lovely sharer and it would always bug me she would never clean my tack despite numerous requests. In the end I upped her share money slightly to cover the costs of getting the yard to do it for her!
 
You will know pretty much straight away if you can get on with them both so just enjoy it!

I would watch her catch/ tack / ride first etc and then ride him if you wish.

Costs/ days and duties are best confirmed in writing via a contract. I would also recommend getting rider insurance if you haven't already got it.
 
Every share agreement is individual so you need to ask her everything really and see if you both want the same thing from the share. For example, you may want to ask how often you can ride, whether you will need to muck out, whether you will be responsible for specific days while she does others, whether there are some things you can or cannot do with the horse (e.g. hack, jump, compete, hunt), whether she expects a financial contribution towards his keep, whether the horse is insured, whether it has had time off work and what she thinks would happen if it needed time off work, etc.

Also ask everything relating to the horse itself as if you were looking to buy it, e.g. is it good to handle, tack up, school, hack, traffic, etc. Definitely see her ride first just to make sure, then if you feel happy you should ride as well and maybe go for a hack if that's the kind of thing you want to do with the horse.

If all looks good arrange a trial period of 2 weeks which gives you both a chance to honestly say to the other person whether it is working out or not and walk away if necessary (of course you can walk away anytime, but it might make for a nicer relationship this way).
 
Thanks everyone. I'll just go and be honest - once I get going I'll have a millions questions I'm sure!! Ooh I can't wait! Got everything crossed things work out x
 
Deff agree with everyone! Ask every question you can think of!

You'll ride yourself - and make sure you do everything you want to do on your test ride! For example with my first loan I jumped him the first time I rode him AND hacked him on the roads in company.

I hope you are as lucky as I am with mine :) x good luck and enjoy!!
 
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