How much to charge?

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Mongoose11

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Potential sharer dilemma:

How much to charge for a 3/4 day share? Mare is super safe, bombproof and lovely to ride but isn't going to go any higher than Novice/80-90cms. Sharer is able to do anything they like, full livery in winter, jobs on their days in the summer. Potential sharer is very happy to pay and is currently having lessons at £50 a pop once a week.

I have looked on Horsemart and shares are anything from 100-220 a month.

What do you think? On average, she costs me about £400 a month all in.
 
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Work out your monthly (28 days) bills for everything, so livery, farrier, physio/whatever and then divide it by the 28. That will give you an amount per day. Times that number by however many days the sharer will have.

Eg: costs £280 every 28 days, which is £10 a day. Sharer has 3 days a week = £30 a week.

Obviously that is seriously simplified, but that's the main gist of it.

In your case probably works out at around £40-60 a week. Seems about right as you are letting her do whatever and horse is not 100% DIY.

Or agree on what they will pay for - ie shoes, feed, care on their days.
 
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I dont charge anything. I'm probably a mug! Especially as I have young kids sharing him. But I see it as hes my horse and I pay the bills regardless. I do spend time with them and educate them etc, but I dont mind as its lovely to see them enjoying him so much. They have previously had ponies of their own and had to sell them sadly, so it gives me the warm fuzzies that they now have a chance to have a part time pony again and they are very obviously over the moon about it. No money could buy me those warm fuzzies!

However to answer the question you asked, its usually between £10 and £30 a week in Northampton :)
 
Before I bought my own, I used to loan a lovely mare - paid £20 a week all included except comp fees, and they would take me too :D think I had a great deal but the owners also owned the yard and had far too many horses so I think they just appreciated that the horses would get some exercise!
 
i paid nothing but i brought in/mucked out/fed/worked the persons other horse. Eventually money got tight when her third horse came back off loan, so i paid £20 a week and still did the other horse, and new horse. Now i have him, and my own part loaner and i split the bills half.
 
It sounds like you have an ideal share horse so you could probably charge at the upper end of the market in your area. Most sharers would not want to compete above the level you have mentioned in my experience, most would be glad to have the opportunity to compete at all.

For me it depends how important the financial contribution is to you. For me having a sharer is more about taking the pressure off me time wise so I ask only for a nominal contribution as I found asking nothing brings out the joyriders. Also my horse is quirky so I wouldn't expect someone to pay as much, but also finding the right person is hard enough so I don't want to limit my options.

For me, it's all about what else a potential sharer could get locally, and not at all about what my horse costs me to keep. As others above have said I have to pay that anyway.
 
I do exactly what Kylara suggested when sharing my daughter's (Slightly outgrown) PC Pony. I take exactly what he costs me annually and work out a cost per day. That is what I charge. At £25 per day it is on the high side. But I can happily demonstrate to the sharers that the cost is accurate and I make no profit from him. He is an excellent PC Competition pony only available for share because he has a home for life with us but is also far too good to just sit there. I usually have a waiting list for him each summer. (He still hunts under my daughter each winter.) He's taken his sharers all the way to PC Nationals regularly.
 
Another factor to consider is your yard facilities... E.g. If your sharer works daytimes will they be able to ride under lights on winter evenings? Is there an arena / hacking / tea room and so forth... A sharer has to get on with the horse, the owner and the yard.

Also: what days do you/sharer want to ride? In my area most people work and so weekends are more in demand but somewhere with more stay home mums might have weekdays more popular whilst kids are at school.

If you charge as little as possible you get the widest choice of sharers. Have in mind also that your sharer might want to have lessons on your horse... So, they might end up paying for (your choice of) trainer as well.

Edited to ad: obviously if you want a sharer for the financial contribution then it is a question of getting as much as you can with an acceptable level of rider.
 
Yard has an excellent school with floodlights, decent hacking and other facilities. Sharer would have the pick of Monday/Weds/Thur/Fri/Sun.

My shares have always been about having the right person and the horse exercised and I've charged very little in the past. Due to other external factors, this winter will be very tough from a financial perspective and the contribution is more important than it has been before.

I know some people don't charge and that has been me in the past but this will help me to keep her rather than turn her away for a year.
 
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I would divide the total cost to a day rate as well. Let's face it, she's exactly what many many people want to ride, and sharing is about getting your "own" horse without the risks of actually owning it. With a very nice horse on offer, I would have been pleased to have access for the at cost "price".
 
Mongoose11 said:
I know some people don't charge and that has been me in the past but this will help me to keep her rather than turn her away for a year.
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In that case I'd ask for £40 a week, maybe less in summer if your livery is cheaper. I think anymore than that and your pricing yourself out of the market
 
FfionWinnie said:
I would divide the total cost to a day rate as well. Let's face it, she's exactly what many many people want to ride, and sharing is about getting your "own" horse without the risks of actually owning it. With a very nice horse on offer, I would have been pleased to have access for the at cost "price".
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Let's face it, she's pretty ******' super 😂 X
 
Lady has come back to me to say that she would like to pay £60 a month for a three day a week share. Great yard and facilities, bombproof all rounder and free range to spend hours with her - for £5 a day? I wouldn't mind if ten times that wasn't being paid for an hour lesson!

Currently in talks with the next lady...
 
Mongoose11 said:
Lady has come back to me to say that she would like to pay £60 a month for a three day a week share. Great yard and facilities, bombproof all rounder and free range to spend hours with her - for £5 a day? I wouldn't mind if ten times that wasn't being paid for an hour lesson!
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Thats a bit cheeky given its full livery!
 
If you don't ask for anything else I would say £40 a week is reasonable, but asking for money for shoes ect on top of that would be a be a bit much
 
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