Horsebox share - anyone done it?

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Remi'sMum

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As title really. Has anyone had any experiences of sharing a horsebox, positive or negative? How much did you pay/charge? What was the nature of the arrangement? What are the insurance implications?

I'm talking about an arrangement between friends, not a hire arrangement.

Thanks in advance for any comments.
 
There's a reason people say don't mix business with pleasure. It can ruin friendships.
 
I did this, but it didn't really work to my advantage... Only did it for one season... Till sharer damaged lorry twice... Paid for damage but was a great inconvenient period while it was in workshop being fixed for weeks at a time.
 
I'm another in the *no* camp.

A trailer brought between 3 people. Only 2 had the funds to buy it at the time of purchase. A and B paid 1/2 each, on the understanding that C would pay them both back within a few weeks, so each would have then paid 1/3. The friendship fell apart a few years later, with C never having paid either A or B, but using the trailer when they liked...A then paid B the half share they had initially paid, and kept the trailer. Not worth the hassle - and even though it wasn't the trailer specifically that ended the friendship, it was a stupid idea and none of us should ever have entered into such a daft agreement, as there is always one who walks away thinking *haha, you suckers ! * and then the ones left feeling used, abused and conned.
 
Once bitten twice shy.....the junior partner in the share decided that they had priority they would take it even on days that I had booked so to speak
 
I posted a similar thread a little while back, generally owners were very much against it for good reason. I did used to share the running costs, split evenly, with a friend and it worked well. But since then, and having moved yards, I've realised there are more cons than pros so I wouldn't nowadays.
 
I had a 3.5t that I let my YO use whenever she wanted to (as long as I wasn't using it) We've since sold my little lorry and gone halves each on a 7.5t. This arrangement has been going on for about 5 years and works brilliantly for both of us.

Exception to the rule obviously :biggrin3:
 
The RDA store their trailer at our place in return for us using it whenever we want and it works very well. They use it less than ten times a year and so far we haven't overlapped, obviously if they needed it on the same day as us they would get it.
 
Even more stupid , I had a 3.5 ton built . agreed that a friend could use it whenever we werent . I changed the insurance to any driver and she was supposed to py towards it . So she used it many times , has now damaged it ( luckily superficial ) and still hasnt had it repaired . she isnt using it anymore !!
 
Sharing transport seems to be opening a can of worms when it comes to friendship!

Similar stories here to us - we were generous enough to lend our trailer out to different friends on several occasions as it was sitting on the yard not doing much. When we went to use it we found it damaged but noone will own up to who did it!! Very disappointed as they are expensive bits of kit and we now have to either pay for the cost of the repair or take a hit if it gets sold on. People just seem to take advantage of generosity friends or not :( Needless to say it is now at home and noone is using it but us.
 
I wouldn't no. I am too scared to even borrow a friends trailer even though she suggested it just on the off chance my horse has a bad day and breaks it somehow. Obviously we would pay for the damages but its the guilt of breaking someone else's property I couldn't stand. So we hire until we can afford one of our own.

Definitely don't do it. If you do, get an agreement or something for you all to sign and don't buy anything until everyone involved has the money available.
 
At my old yard I was very good friends with another livery; when she bought a trailer I paid the cost of keeping it at the yard, and we went to all shows and rides together. Also paid a little towards fuel. This worked very well. Not sure I would buy a box with someone though.
 
I think another important consideration is time - I imagine it'll work much better if e.g. one person works full time and wants transport only on weekends, while the other is more flexible time-wise and wants it for e.g. lessons or hacks during the week. I think if all parties are wanting weekend use, you'll invariably end up with conflict. And that's apart from financial/insurance/damage issues.
 
I wouldn't do it!
I recently got my own 3.5t and would not want to be in the position to share it with someone else.
That way if I break something or my horse does, I know it's my fault and no one elses.
It all just seems to complicated to me and I would just save up a bit more to buy transport outright rather than share :)
 
Have done it - never again. The inevitable happened when I wanted to move yards 10 miles away- it just didn;t work.
 
I think it can work. A friend and bough t a trailer between us when we were younger as couldn't afford one on our own and we went most places together anyway. I think it's a bit easier with a trailer as you use your own car's fuel so there are no arguments over fuel. You need good ground rules and good communication:
1. Everything is split 50/50 - purchase, maintenance, insurance etc. Agree how often you'll service it.
2. If you're going somewhere, tell the other person in plenty of time.
3. If you both want it on the same day, have a system for deciding who gets priority. (We tossed a coin the first time and then took it in turns. I think it happened about 3 times in total)
4. Agree that emergencies take precedence - and what exactly constitutes an emergency. We decided and emergency was the vet and emergency trips to farrier if for example you needed a shoe put back on a Saturday to go somewhere on the Sunday.
5. If one person damages it, that person fixes it.

My friend ended up moving away for work and taking her mare so she bought my half of the trailer off me and I bought one of my own.
 
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