How do your sharers pay.....

kylie88

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Just want to get and idea how sharers pay weekly, monthly..... I have a girl who shares/rides my pony and she pays weekly but when shes doesnt come down she doesnt pay! (doesnt come in bad weather as she only comes to ride really) which is fine but as owners we know that part of having horses cost whether you get to ride or not, they don't cost any less if they are standing in the field as the weather is bad or its a nice day so you get to ride!

so should sharers get the privileges or should they have more of an insight to what its really like looking after a horse???

Like to hear your thoughts on this....
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you really ought to have some sort of contract re insurance vets bills livery costs and other expenditure (worming, teeth vaccs etc) and have an agreed fixed payment in place and split the extras!!! otherwise you are just basically hiring your horse for rides!
 
Since you say she only comes to ride really I think she shouldnt have to pay if the weather is too bad to ride.... or if she has agreed with you in advance that she is not riding or a certain day.... but if she decides at short notice that she isnt coming (and not due to bad weather) then she should... just imo..
 
I would never ask my sharer to pay!! She contributes her time and has schooled my lad way beyond any level I am capable of, She does however insist on paying half towards his shoes....
 
my sharer (before things went wrong) didn't pay anything, but then I didn't want her her to - all I wanted was for her to turn and ride whenever she wanted (didn't have to do any stable jobs either)
 
I disagree with the others - i think your sharer is taking the P*** a wee bit. My sharer doesnt have to come up in bad weather but is more than welcome too, however if she doesnt come i have to do him - so shes not getting away with not paying as well!

I have a sharer for the financial and time aspects, she has to pay every week, 2 weeks in advance (as that is how long the notice is that she has to give if she wants to stop sharing him) at all times. I know i wouldnt have a sharer who just wanted to pick and choose the weeks she pays/turns up. She has to also pay when she goes on holiday etc, and all sharers that i have ever had have to do the same. I expect warning if they cant come up (at least a day or 2 preferably), because i would have to change my plans if she isnt.
I have a contract drawn up with her stating this and also saying she needs her own insurance in order to ride and 3rd party liability.

Im not all mean though, i do let her choose the days she wants and let her do a class if i take him out/she can take him if its a day she chooses and i dont mind
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Edited to say: My sharers have and always will pay and are happy to do so - they know how much lessons cost on a RS and understand horses are not cheap! My horse is very well schooled and she gets the chance to ride a horse that is, not meaning this to sound really mean, much better schooled and nicer to ride than the majority of riding schools (i know there are some that are really good but they ususally are like £35 to £40 for a lesson in a group - she pays £15 a week for 2/3 rides - can have lessons at her own expense!!). I dont have a sharer to school my horse, she comes to enjoy riding as is a student and cant afford her own horse (im a student and more broke than most with my own horse
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Thank u for your comments,

I have to say I think I might call it a day with her as I dont feel things have clicked!! but if I was to get another person wanted to know how other people went about it, to be honest I don't see why I should pay all costs for them so all I ask is a little contribtuion towards his keep. Im very flexiable with ridding to as I have a youngster that im bringing on hence I thought I would get someone to share him so he had a bit more attention, but I was kinda hoping it would be someone that wanted to be more involed than just ridding as im not a RS and as you said snowysadude with out it sounding mean hes much better ride than a RS pony.
Im also willing to take them out to sponsored rides shows etc...
This is the first time ive had a sharer and didnt want to think I was asking for to much or being unrealistic
 
Dont be put off by a bad experience though kylie, i have only ever had good sharers *touches wood*, i just make sure that when they ring up after finding out what they (supposedly) ride like and told them about the horse etc, i then say exactly what i expect from someone sharing - dedication with coming up whenever you can, constant payments in advance, having to be insured and of course the contract. If they are still interested after they survive that then they are probably dedicated enough
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I also let them have a 2 week trial so there is no pressure once they start to stay if they dont like the horse - they dont have to sign the contract for this just show me they have insurance and pay for the two weeks in advance! Once that is all sorted you would hopefully weed out anyone that is not really that interested or wanting to be involved. My sharer is great, she cleans my tack and everything
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my sharer pays me weekly on the weekend this is done on a trust basis they have only missed one payment, but due to the confusion with the snow i not overly bothered they haven't been able to ride. they don't pay any other costs and are very careful with my lad (i would go so far as to say they are overly cautious which imo is a good thing) they can choose whatever days of the week t ride and i give them as much notice as i can if i want him on a certain day.

they have been fab offering to do him if i couldn't get up. coming up just to give him a fuss. couldn't ask for more really
 
Snowysadude- If I find another person will deff take on bored your advice, looks like you have a good thing going there with your sharer! Thank u

LadyRascasse - Thats all I want, sounds like you have a great sharer too.

So it's not to much to ask...just have to find the right person!!
 
Tbh ( this may sound harsh Im a bit bitter
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If she only comes to exersize it and she hasnt been able to due to weather - why should she pay ?

If it was me I wouldnt want to be paying £20 to not ride someone elses horse
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If you want someone thats more hands on you should make that clear to her ... and that she has to pay the money weekly plus help out . Or if she cant ride maybe ask for a bit less money (half) maybe ?
 
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Tbh ( this may sound harsh Im a bit bitter
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If she only comes to exersize it and she hasnt been able to due to weather - why should she pay ?

If it was me I wouldnt want to be paying £20 to not ride someone elses horse
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If you want someone thats more hands on you should make that clear to her ... and that she has to pay the money weekly plus help out . Or if she cant ride maybe ask for a bit less money (half) maybe ?

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i dont think thats true really. my sharer pays £150 a month to me by cheque whether she rides her allotted 2-3 days a week or not. sometimes she goes away for a couple of weeks and theres never any suggestion that she doesnt pay then. I mean, I've ridden my horse once this month thanks to this weather does that mean i shouldnt have to pay livery??!!! silly example but you get my point. sharing isnt hiring a horse for a day, or going for a lesson at a riding school. its SHARING a horse, which means to me, sharing the financial committment and the workload.
 
Haha lucy_poppy i do see where you are coming from but i still have to pay for my horse whether i can ride it or not, and there are plenty of people (from my experience) that want to share. If they just want to ride on a pay-per-ride basis they should go to a riding school and pay for a lesson each week.
The odd week they cant ride and pay for will still, over the whole year work out a lot cheaper (on a ride to ride basis) than it would to pay for 2/3 lessons a week at a riding school.
I like to think that sharers, in general (obviously different if they are schooling the horse for the owner or have other arrangements which benifit the owner), want to share a horse to realise what its like to own a horse a bit more (which includes the cost), kind of like a step between learning to ride and getting a horse on full loan/buying one! Or to just "own" a horse for a few days a week if they cant afford to own one themselves, rather than riding school riding where the horse is ridden by loads of people and you literally just ride and dont get a chance to bond with the horse!

So thats just my veiws, could probably come up with a lot more if i wasnt so tired and in the middle of exams so stressed!! haha
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I've always paid my contribution for my share horses monthly by direct debit. I've found it easier to be up front about the amount I could afford - stick to it and be more flexible/haggle about the riding. So yes I might pay more per ride in winter but generally you do catch up again in summer or when the owner is busy/on holiday. For example Hobbit Ponys owner was in the film industry so I caught up on riding when he went away on location and gave up some rides when he came back. Overall I still rode more than he did. I think if you show a bit of commitment owners are then more willing to let you compete etc so there are other benefits in the long term.

I've always tried to be fair about the money side but I think it is more complex than just dividing the costs 50/50. I tend to take into account, the cost of keeping the horse and type of horse, the owners personal circumstances (their income and motivation for getting a sharer) and my own situation/ contribution (income/riding ability/stable chores etc). I generally try and choose owners who are time poor not financially in the first place. I fully appreciate the privilage of riding someone elses horse and I've been very attached to the horses I've been involved with. I think I probably more precious about and fuss over them more than I ever did over horses I've owned in the past. Unfortunatley I had to give them both up Hobbit Pony - due to my relocation and Bruce -due to discovering he had a heart defect. Miss them both heaps and suffering equine withdrawl symptoms!!!
 
I didn't pay for either of my shares.

Both of them my payment to the owner was services rendered - mucking out, catching, filling nets, feeding so that it saved them a visit. It was an arrangement of mutual benefit.

To be honest I would have paid a bit for the second one as he was on part livery so i only had to do the evening, got to ride twice a week with very few exceptions and it saved me money on my lessons. I also helped her by doing extra when she was on holiday or doing exams.

The first one was more trouble to do, had less facilities and less opportunity to ride so I probably wouldn't have paid, or at least not much. The owner saved a lot by having me do the horse when she was working as she didn't have to get the yard staff to do it. I was grateful though, and so was she!
 
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LadyRascasse - Thats all I want, sounds like you have a great sharer too.

So it's not to much to ask...just have to find the right person!!

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defiantly not to much to ask. the thing i have found is that when i advertise i tend to get the novices who don't know what they are doing etc, i found my current sharer through a wanted ad and they have been more committed to him that the one's who replied to my ad.
 
My sharer pays monthly, and she pays whether she decides to ride or not. We have an indoor school so have been able to ride all through this weather, so if she doesn't ride that's her choice.
 
If your sharer pays, it shouldn't matter what weather is,as the cost of running a horse doesn't stop in bad weather!

It all depends on you and your relationship with sharer - if they are reliable and do much more that their contract normally that would defo swing in their favour, but if they just do want's in contract and no more i would prob say - sorry need your dosh........

But it depends on why you got sharer in first place- was it cos you need the extra money help? or asking for money you felt you would get a sharer who was more committed?
 
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