How Much Input with Sharers?

UnaB

UnaB

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How much input do you have with your sharers/loaners? Or if you are (or would like to be!!) a sharer or loaner how much input would you like from the horses owner?

I have a sharer for my lovely pony, he is still living in my fields with my other horse so I see him daily but im pretty much leaving the sharer to look after him as her own pony. Obviously if anything needed doing im there, and she has text me to tell me if she cant make it down to see him. I go everyday anyway but its nice that she is keeping me informed just incase i didnt go to see the ponies.

At the moment i exchange texts with her maybe once or twice a week, usually her texting to let me know how her riding has gone over the past few days, or as a couple of weeks ago, to inform me that she was a bit concerned about Charlie. She had done a couple of (TINY) jumps in the field and he had sweated up like he'd just gone round the Grand National. Apparently she and her mum had stayed with him for about 3 hours after washing him down etc etc cos they were worried he would colic lol!! It wasnt a problem, its just something he has always done as soon as he does any jumping, he gets SO excited!! But I was pleased that she let me know and asked my advice as i feel thats the best way to deal with these things. I dont generally text her too much unless im away for a couple of days as i was last weekend, just to check the horses are ok, but like I said im pretty much leaving her to it to treat him as her own horse as i feel this is what i would like in that position so it felt kinda like it was "my" horse.

I spoke to a friend who has two sharers for her horses and apparently she insists they both phone/text after each ride to inform her of how long they rode for and what they did and what was done with the horse after the ride. They also have to text/ring her to "book" a ride on the horse and she doesnt hand the tack over without them having done this about a day in advance!! I have given Charlie's sharer his tack lol!! My friend charges each sharer £30 a WEEK (!!!) to ride the horse no more than 3 times a week so she's making a healthy profit. I am charging my sharer £10 a week and she can ride as often as she likes (within reason).

Does my arrangement sound ok??? Im happy with it and Charlie new slave is (presumably) happy with it, and Charlie is looking fantastic for the extra work, not to mention BOTH of my ponies are getting fully preened and pampered daily by sharers mum who apparently loves grooming my youngster Una lol!! But when i told my friend about the arrangement I have she seemed disgusted and said her sharers wouldnt like being "dumped" with the horse (i dont feel I have done this, as i said, i see him daily and am always around for any problems) and that I should have more of an active input in whats going on with the horse.... I've never shared/loaned a horse I have owned before, only ever been the loanee where the horse was treated as if i was itss owner and i had full responsibility of it.. But am I expecting too much of the sharer?? Should i mention it to her and check she is ok with it?? Every text she sends she talks about how great Charlie is so she seems happy but my friend has got me worrying that im being a useless loan owner lol!!
 
You are NOT a useless loan owner!

I did share a pony for 8 months, and cried for weeks after she left to go to her new home.

I would text the girls mum to ask confirm if I could come, as the little rider was only there every other weekend, so we helped eachother! It was also quite a way out, so my dad had to drive me. The girls mum was really helpful, and would arrange lessons on days I could do them.

God, I miss that pony!! She was wonderful, and all the people on the yard were lovely too. I went to ride on my birthday last year, but pony kept on looking at her belly, and I thought she had colic! She seemed ok, so me and my friend just groomed her, put her back in the stable, and as there was literally no-one on the yard at the time, I texted her to tell her why i hadnt ridden.

You sound like the perfect loan pony mum (if that makes sense!) and everyone involved seems to be benefitting. What is there to change?

xx
 
thelwell_girl said:
You are NOT a useless loan owner!

I did share a pony for 8 months, and cried for weeks after she left to go to her new home.

I would text the girls mum to ask confirm if I could come, as the little rider was only there every other weekend, so we helped eachother! It was also quite a way out, so my dad had to drive me. The girls mum was really helpful, and would arrange lessons on days I could do them.

God, I miss that pony!! She was wonderful, and all the people on the yard were lovely too. I went to ride on my birthday last year, but pony kept on looking at her belly, and I thought she had colic! She seemed ok, so me and my friend just groomed her, put her back in the stable, and as there was literally no-one on the yard at the time, I texted her to tell her why i hadnt ridden.

You sound like the perfect loan pony mum (if that makes sense!) and everyone involved seems to be benefitting. What is there to change?

xx
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Well, thats what I thought until my friend basically told me I had dumped my horse on someone lol! I felt really guilty as i would never dream of just dumping him on someone and not having anything to do with him and i was really worried that was how it had come across!

I know that Charlie's sharer has got incredibly attached to him already as well, I suppose that wouldnt happen so much if she wasnt thinking of him as her "own" pony, but then i dont think i'd like the idea of someone thinking they could book him like a riding school pony lol He needs to have a proper bond with his rider otherwise he can be a little bugger sometimes lol

The pony you shared sounds wonderful, I do hope my sharer has such fond memories of Charlie if/when she decides to move on :)
 
I'm suprised your friend has anyone to share her horse with that treatment. What a control freak!
You on the other hand, sound lovely and so does your sharer.
 
One of the horses I shared (weekend share) I paid cost of shoes £45, mucked out, poo picked, groomed and rode etc. Tack was always available and if I wanted to come down in the week I arranged it so that it suited the horses owner aswell (usually days when she'd be late home or was doing something with her family). Have to say £10 for all the riding your loaner/sharer wants is very generous of you (do you need another sharer :):p)
 
My friend has TWO sharers, they must be nuts. She is making £60 a week from her horse, couldnt believe when she told me that, she's using him purely to make money :(

Jake10 - she does poo pick the field as and when, she doesnt have any "chores" as such but i have asked her just to check fences/water when she goes to the fields, poo pick once or twice a week (i also do it), and just check both horses over when she is there also for any injuries or anything so she is helping me out with that. I have said if she is doing so much work that the horse requires shoes (im checking his feet and they look fine as he's not been shod for years!) then she will have to pay for that which i think is fair??

And I think maybe Gloucestershire is a bit far away for you to come to ride Charlie??lol She has got a fab little horse for her £10 a week though, former top eventing and SJ pony and with very little mileage so would be quite happy and sound to go out competing tomorrow. No wonder i was inundated with responses to his advert lol!!
 
I do think Gloucestershire is a bit far :o *wanders off to find equally fab sounding pony needing sharer in a slightly more local area* :D
 
You sound very like the sharer of my first pony (ok not mine but we got so close over the two years I think of her like that, and still find out about her when I can). I paid £20 a week, and did all the work on my set days in return for riding. I was even allowed to compete her, and her owner was always delighted to hear of our successes and occasionally came to watch too. It was up to me to clean and maintain her tack, and worked out well.

Personally, I'd never share in a month of Sunday's with your friend. Far far too controlling. I consider the details to be in the term 'horse share'. It's not a you can come ride my horse, it's sharing the care and responsibility as well as the fun.
 
I have a 'sharer' in the sence the YO owns the horse and we both have it on part loan. My sharer comes up 3 times a week (weekends and 1 weekday) and always lets me know her plan at least the night before as we usually ride out together. When i went on holiday i gave her my sis's number so she could let her know when she was going up, Simpley because my arrangement with the YO is that i have him on DIY and sort him everyday (even when it's not my day to ride, but as we don't have set days it's just easier) and are incharge of feeding - so like to know the plan as it's easier to feed both the boys at the same time (they can see each other and would kick up a huge fuss if one got fed and the other didn't) and it's works really well, we split everything equally or take turns paying for stuff.

Likewise when i rode another liveries horse for her to help with exercise, I'd txt her to let her know what i was planning then telling her how she did because she liked to know and again she wanted to know where to leave feeds if she was down before me.

When i was at uni a friend rode my other horse and would txt my mum just to say she'd ridden and he was good, or write in the diary in the tackbox, just so we knew how much work he'd done.


Your arrangement sounds perfect, esp for the girl sharing as she pretty much has her own horse, Which is the point of sharing. I'd hate having to 'book' my time to ride a horse, if i was doing that i may as well be paying for lessons or such.
 
If it works for you and your sharer then thats all that matters....you obviously chose her, out of all the other people that enquired, for a reason :)

Your friends livery may be much more expensive, hence the need to charge more...and if she has a cob type (or anything quiet for that matter) she can equally charge more.

You sound like you've got a responsible, dedicated little rider there. Keep hold, they don't come by very often!

PS I totally agree with the above....where were you when I was growing up?!

x
 
UnaB said:
Well, thats what I thought until my friend basically told me I had dumped my horse on someone lol! I felt really guilty as i would never dream of just dumping him on someone and not having anything to do with him and i was really worried that was how it had come across!

I know that Charlie's sharer has got incredibly attached to him already as well, I suppose that wouldnt happen so much if she wasnt thinking of him as her "own" pony, but then i dont think i'd like the idea of someone thinking they could book him like a riding school pony lol He needs to have a proper bond with his rider otherwise he can be a little bugger sometimes lol

The pony you shared sounds wonderful, I do hope my sharer has such fond memories of Charlie if/when she decides to move on :)
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You so have not dumped him! I think your 'friend' just feels jealous that you have such an easy relationship with your sharer, and that everyone involved seems to benefit so well!

When I was just left to groom, tack up and ride etc I felt like Mandy was mine, and I wish she had been so so much! I wasn't asked for money, just that I mucked out, swept up etc. I miss her awfully, and my parents were genuinely trying to think of how we could buy her :( However, I know she is now in a lovely home teaching two little girls to ride :o

You sound like you have the perfect set-up, and you seem like a lovely share-pony-mum!
 
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Im a sharer and would never share with your friend!!!!!! I ride on 2 set days a week (used to be more but seriously lacking in time atm!), he is my responsibility on those days- if I cant make it I will phone as soon as I know. I dont have to tell the owner what i did/how long for- never have- she trusts me to take care of the big pink monster (and her other horse if she cant make it), I pay £50pcm- which I know is peanuts, but I dont have anymore spare cash!!!!
 
I doubt that anyone normal would think that you dumped your pony on this girl! Maybe just ask her Mother if she is happy with the amount that she does? Only to put your mind at rest I hasten to add! My sharer (I think I can call her that) comes and rides at the weekends, she's an excellent rider and I consider her to be helping me so she doesn't pay anything for it (although has bought a couple of drinks at the pub...) and I don't ask for any work in exchange apart from the obvious brushing and feeding of the beasts. If she ever wanted to come and ride when I wasn't there I would give her the tack and my blessing. I suppose she does "book" in a way as there is nowhere secure to leave my tack and sometimes the horses need an extra hand as they can be mental.....But in a good way..
 
That other person sounds awful - there's no way I'd put up with that! How desparate her poor sharer must be!

I think you sound like a great owner to share with Una :) At the end of the day if you're going to share you need to have a degree of trust in your sharer, or what is the point?
 
I think you are a great sharer too. I have three horses. One of them is shared by a lady who rides 2 / 3 times a week - her payment is she helps poo pick - sees to the others if I am out somewhere for the day and is just a lovely lady. The horses are on my property so I get to see what she does but I never interfere unless she asks for advice (would only do so if horses welfare was at stake). One of the other horses belongs to someone from an old yard I stabled at - she loaned him out - he got into a poor state and now I have him on loan. In the beginning we were in contact nearly every other day (she is on a job contract in another country) and now its now and again - I make sure there are regular pics on FB for her and she just lets me get on with it saying I must do whatever I think is right for the horse.

You read so much about loaners / loanees - I guess some just work and some dont. Perhaps if someone is desperate to loan a horse they might just put up with the owners quirks - I dunno - I am glad I am just one of the happy ones :)
 
I agree; you sound like a great loaner! Before I took B on loan I was a sharer for him, and his owner was similar to you - she let me get on with it and didn't interfere. I'd much prefer that to someone being so overbearing! I only texted if something was wrong, or if I couldn't make it - and she did the same. Admittedly, sometimes I wasn't sure how much input she wanted from me; I think we're both a bit shy, and neither of us wanted to step on eachothers' toes! :o I was very happy with the arrangement, though, so it wasn't a problem. Doesn't sound like either of you are unhappy with your arrangement, so I'd carry on and ignore that other person. :)
 
I have a "sharer" who rides my horse twice a week as a schoolmaster, she does him on those days too. I don't charge her anything, she "pays" for her riding by giving me two whole days a week off which is brilliant, although I do insist that she has a few lessons a month with me so I can keep an eye. the only thing I do say is if the horse has worked hard with me (lesson or competition) I ask her to take him on an easy hack. She gets a trained dressage horse to play on and learn half passes, changes, etc, I get time off to have a life. :)
 
It sounds like you have the perfect arrangement for the both of you and I wouldn't change anything about it if I were you! She's paying something towards his keep and helping with the work too AND looking after Una on top of that. Perfectly fair in exchange for 'riding as much as she likes'.

Your friend sounds like a bit of a control freak IMO. If I were sharing my own horse I would like contact with the sharer for them to let me know how they got on and just to 'touch base' with them on how my horse is in himself etc but I wouldn't expect a detailed report!!!

I used to have a horse 3 days a week for £20 (owner wanted to charge me £30 but she valued my help and riding more than the money). I did everything for the horse on my 3 days even when he was lame / unable to be ridden. and I just text her to let her know how my ride was and if there were any problems, oh and a 'Thank you!' every now and then. Common courtesy.
 
I think you sound like a spot on sharer, and your sharer is very lucky. Your friend sounds a right pain and I wouldn't share with her!

I don't think you can be too prescriptive about shares and what is expected, basically they can be whatever works for the parties and as long as both are happy that is the main thing.

I've done two shares, the first was very informal, the owner would drop me a line by phone or text or when I saw her at work and ask me if I could do the horse on xxxx day morning or evening or both. I'd have to collect the tack if I wanted to ride as it wasn't safe to leave it on the yard. I didn't pay, but I got to ride at a time when I couldn't afford lessons and she got help with her horse when she needed it, as she was DIY and didn't get on with many of the other liveries that was pretty important. I'd still do the horse if I couldn't ride as it was a favour thing.

The second one was a bit more formal and generally I did two days a week and on my days I would muck out and so on. The owner contacted me by text or phone if there was anything I needed to know or any change and I contacted her if I had any problems or needed to change anything. Again no payment, she got the benefit of a couple of days off and her horse was kept fit, and I got to ride. I would have a lesson once a week and would hack the other day so she normally knew what I was doing with him. He was at livery at a riding school so there was plenty of supervision. I did extra if needed, so I did a full week when she went on holiday. Problems came when she started to mess me about, so I turned up for a lesson that was pre-booked and she was riding him and so on, she also started to take the mick a bit by not mucking out properly before my day so that the bed would be minging when I came to do it, and she'd not ride him so he'd be REALLY fresh on my day and I'd only know because one of the staff would mention it. It was a shame because I offered again and again to do an extra day if she wanted, and also to take him on full loan.

So you sound great to share with, if your sharer is keeping you informed and you trust her ignore your friend. Your sharer wonn't feel like you have dumped the horse, she'll be thanking her lucky stars she has such a fab pony to treat as her own.
 
Sounds like your doing it all right to be honest

When i was sharing it was nice to learn how to do it all on my own but know i would be able to text the owner when anything was wrong or i needed advice ect.

I have a sharer and she has my horse at the weekends and will text me after she has ridden or been up to check on him. Its nice to know he is ok.
 
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