How easy is it to find (competent) sharers?

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sfward

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Just testing the water really, I like to plan in advance!! I was thinking of trying to find a sharer for my mare come autumn (or even sooner, if the right person came up). My baby's due in September and it'd be great to have someone to help with working her, and if they were willing to pay part of the livery fees it also allow me to put her at a decent yard, instead of keeping her at my dad's farm, which is somewhat lacking in facilities!
However by autumn she will have been out of work for about 8 months (she's having a holiday in the field at the mo), she is a 6 year old TB and is in no way the finished article schooling wise! She can be strong, though she is honest and genuine. Also she has bone spavin, so needs a sensitive rider who can recognise when she's having a bad day. For all those reasons I would need to find someone who is a competent and confident rider...
How easy would such a person be to find? Am I being unrealistic to expect them to make a contribution to livery fees? Is there anywhere in particular I could advertise? Also I appreciate word of mouth is probably best so I may as well put the word out now if anyone knows of a potentially suitable candidate?! (I'm in York...)
thanks
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I would say word of mouth is probably the best route to go down. Personally I'd look at getting a sharer as soon as poss so that they, and you are both confident with the horse and each other before Sept time when you'll be otherwise occupied.

I'm in a similar position to you (due in Nov) and have got a couple of maybe riders lined up for the summer (haven't chased them up recently as I'm enjoying my horse too much!). I am hoping to continue riding until Sept, so at worst my horse gets a couple of months off.

If you're in York near the university, then maybe have a look at the Uni riding club website, or get in contact with them. There might be a competent rider in the club who wants some extra riding. I did this in my final year at uni at a nearby livery yard, rather than having lessons with the riding club.

Otherwise speak to other riding clubs and livery yards in the area, and mention you're looking for someone at the feed merchants, tack shops etc. You could put a notice up in the shops too.

Personally, I turned down rides when their owners wanted me to pay to help them school and look after their horse. As a sharer I was happy to help with jobs in return for a ride, but wouldn't have paid to get their horse fit for them.

However if you find someone to part loan then asking for a contribution would be more acceptable, but you'll have to be willing to give up a fair amount of control and time with the horse for that!
 
thanks very much for the advice - the uni riding club is a good idea
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Interesting what you say about contributing to costs, I would have to see whether it would be worth me doing it if there was no financial contribution, as I doubt I'll be able to afford livery if I'm paying it all myself, so the sharer would have to ride her at my dad's farm, which isn't ideal in the winter as hacking isn't great and no school! So might not be too appealing for them
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I'm a little dubious about going through my local riding club, as from my experience they do seem very novicey, so I'm not sure they'd be suitable for Missie really. God that sounds awful doesn't it, I hope none of them come on here!!!
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Interesting what you say about contributing to costs, I would have to see whether it would be worth me doing it if there was no financial contribution, as I doubt I'll be able to afford livery if I'm paying it all myself, so the sharer would have to ride her at my dad's farm, which isn't ideal in the winter as hacking isn't great and no school! So might not be too appealing for them
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Judging from quite a lot of the posts on here most people don't have any trouble getting sharers to contribute, especially if will mean better riding for them
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I think I'm probably in the minority being a bit stingy about it
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thanks very much for the advice - the uni riding club is a good idea
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Interesting what you say about contributing to costs, I would have to see whether it would be worth me doing it if there was no financial contribution, as I doubt I'll be able to afford livery if I'm paying it all myself, so the sharer would have to ride her at my dad's farm, which isn't ideal in the winter as hacking isn't great and no school! So might not be too appealing for them
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I think my local RC is of an unusually high standard so you're probably right!
I dont have a sharer at the moment (as we're not allowed them on our yard any more would you believe) but I had two before. One was from word of mouth / an advert in local tack shop and she was a BHSAI and taught her daughter on my pony, so she was very good. The other was from newrider.com and is a uni student who had moved to the area and wanted to continue riding... had had her own horses before and was willing to have lessons etc so wasnt so novicey.
So local tack shops / word of mouth and uni students all good!!
 
Lol, that's good to hear...
When would you start looking? I know you said it'd be good to have someone before the baby's born for confidence before I get really busy with baby stuff, but she hasn't been ridden for 2 months as it is, and I'd be looking at summer really... So she'll be all fat and unfit and not ridden for about 6 months! Is any sharer going to want to take her on in that condition?! as if not I'd have to wait until late winter when I'd been able to get her into work at least a bit, so I at least know she's not going to buck anybody off!!!
 
Don't do it! I'd rather pay someone to ride mine if that's an option for you. There are some great sharers around but many are very unreliable and will not treat your horse the way you expect even with a contract in place.
I have a young tennager ridng my two as her loan horse was sold and things went great for a while unfortunately my horse sensing her lack of confidence has started messing her around, so even if you think things are perfect they can still go worng.
 
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Don't do it! I'd rather pay someone to ride mine if that's an option for you.

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No not really an option, at least not long term anyway
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If I was going to pay someone to ride her I may as well pay for livery and ride her myself!
 
TBH it depends why you want a sharer when you start looking, and how desperately you want one!

You've always got the risk that if you find someone early on then they may leave you in the lurch before you've had baby. Or you leave it too late and never find the time to look for someone or the right person doesn't come along.

If horsey is happy in the field for now, and you don't want someone else to bring her into work for you, then I'd leave actively looking for a bit and just spread the word.
However summer is probably a better time to find someone, then hopefully they'll have more interest in carrying on with the share in the depths of winter.

If you get a uni student to share, then most of them will be disappearing for summer about now, so you'd get more interest from them in Sept/Oct time.

It's a tricky one and there's no real answer!
 
Well it's not that I don't WANT someone to bring her back into work for me, it's more that I wasn't sure whether it would appeal to a potential sharer, plus I really don't know how she'll be, having never given her 6 months off before! I wouldn't want to end up with more problems, eg. if she had a stupid moment and the sharer fell off or something, or if the person wasn't as good as I thought and Missie ended up behaving badly....
Difficult isn't it, as you say no real right answer!!
 
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Don't do it! I'd rather pay someone to ride mine if that's an option for you. There are some great sharers around but many are very unreliable and will not treat your horse the way you expect even with a contract in place.
I have a young tennager ridng my two as her loan horse was sold and things went great for a while unfortunately my horse sensing her lack of confidence has started messing her around, so even if you think things are perfect they can still go worng.

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I disagree. There are many people looking for a share who are competent, reliable, willing to help out financially and who will look after your horse well.

I have shared my lad for over six years and apart from a couple of bad experiences, my sharing arrangements have all gone really well - usually ending when my sharers' move out of the area or their circumstances change.

However - I do NOT take on children or teenagers, it is recipe for disaster!

I would advise that if you advertise your horse for a competent, experienced adult rider then you should be fine.

I usually find all my shares on the web - I have a list of websites that I advertise on which are free.

One final thing - if you intend to start looking for someone, I would advise taking someone on before September. A lot of people want to share at least during some of the summer, you will find that there are nowhere near as many people looking during the wintertime.

Hope all goes well for you,

Rachel
 
Hi how is the spavin is it improving.
Ad trader have a lot of people looking for a share and you can post your own requirements.I have found two of our loans on this site as you can put in a post code with a area/radius of miles for travel.
I thought your sister was taking Missie on.
Good luck J
 
Hi Cellie, the spavin is ok I think, she improved dramatically when we had heel wedges put on to correct her foot conformation, and she was perfectly sound out hacking, although I didn't get chance to try much more than that as I've decided to give her the summer off while I'm pregnant.
My sister is setting up her own business this summer and is very much a fair weather/when I've got nothing else on/when I can be bothered type of rider, so it would have been once a week at best, if I'm being realistic! And I think Missie either needs regular work, or a complete holiday. I've actually taken her shoes off now as well while she's living out with no work, the farrier thinks we should be able to cure much of her foot conformation problems with natural balance trimming...
 
Wish I lived nearer I could have helped. Ollie has just stood on a 4 inch nail and punctured right through to the laminae Imm further and he would have been finished for months.Just showing improvement after surgery as well.
There are alot of people advertising on ad trader might be worth a look good luck.
 
Oh no! God poor you... Horses eh? Fingers crossed for a speedy recovery.
I did have a quick look on ad trader, it seems the York area is a bit of a black hole when it comes to anything horse and livery related!
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