How Much Would You Charge For This?

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Mithras

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My friend has asked me to ride and school her horse for her, with a view to selling on for a profit. She can't ride it herself due to injury. Its a dressage horse which used to work at quite a high level but hasn't been ridden for over a year and is quite spooky and a bit naughty. I'm not a professional rider by any means, I just compete on my own horse BSJA although in the past I guess I've made a living from it when I was a student and on my year out when I was a paid rider, but it was a while ago.

I've no idea what to respond when she said what do I want to charge her? Anyone been in a similar position?
 
I'm no expert by any means but how about a % of the sale price, looks good to her as its in your best interests to do well, but equally not keep charging her even if the horse is ready to sell (I'm not saying you would though!)
 
Quite like that idea! She is hoping to advertise in about 3 months time for about £8000 or £9000, do you think 10% might be too much to ask? I'm riding him 3 times a week and thats currently all he's getting, usually 2 intensive schooling sessions and one hack, or schooling followed by a hack, and already hes going much better.
 
About 4 years ago I paid a friend £9 per hour to hack out one of my boys for about 6 weeks, as I was developing a confidence issue with him.

Friend had no BHS qualifications and wasn't doing this job on a professional basis - she was, however, a competent and confident rider - good enough to hack my boy out for me to help him overcome some hacking issues he had (and which I didn't have the confidence at the time to deal with myself).

I guess that for proper schooling (as opposed to schooling out hacking) it would probably cost a little bit more. It would also depend on you,the rider - not necessarily your qualifications, but your skill, attitude and ability.

On the other hand, another of my horses, who I am bringing on for dressage, I pay my instructor (who is near the top of her chosen field) to ride and school him. She charges me £25 for half an hour, so I can only afford to have her ride him on a once in a blue moon basis when I can afford it - but it's well worth it!

So HH - not very helpful I know, but somewhere in between £10 - £15 per hour for basic schooling perhaps?
 
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Quite like that idea! She is hoping to advertise in about 3 months time for about £8000 or £9000, do you think 10% might be too much to ask? I'm riding him 3 times a week and thats currently all he's getting, usually 2 intensive schooling sessions and one hack, or schooling followed by a hack, and already hes going much better.

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personally, i'd agree his current value with her (or value before you started) and then ask for 50% of any value increase...

x
 
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Quite like that idea! She is hoping to advertise in about 3 months time for about £8000 or £9000, do you think 10% might be too much to ask? I'm riding him 3 times a week and thats currently all he's getting, usually 2 intensive schooling sessions and one hack, or schooling followed by a hack, and already hes going much better.

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personally, i'd agree his current value with her (or value before you started) and then ask for 50% of any value increase...

x

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She bought him for £2,500 because he had been dumped on a dealer by someone who had lost their nerve, looked up his BD record and found it is pretty good and his BD name is also well known, and although I was surprised when she said thats what she would advertise him for, apparantly its par for the course for dressage horses. And from what I've experienced of him, he's a nice horse thats just not been ridden much,no real problems.

I don't particularly want a job riding horses, I have my own to ride, but she literally can't ride now and needs him sold.
 
If she's asking you to help sell it on for a profit i would be asking for a % of the sale. The % you ask for would depend on how much extra value your going to add onto the horse by riding it. The more value your adding the bigger % you should get.
 
% of the sale price is all well and good but what if you put al of the work in and he fails the vet and sells for £3k?
or he doesn't shift for months and months?
or, God forbid, he drops goes lame/drops dead the week before he was due to be advertised?

your 10% will look pretty cr*p then for 3 x sessions a week, for 3 months.

best off asking for £10/session and 5% of selling price i think to cover your back
 
We used to do this with naughty ponies, and usually took them on, got an agreed price for the pony and the agreement that anything over that we kept. On one pony, this was very little (about £100?) because it was so cheeky, but another we got a fair chunk because once a pony's one some PC stuff it doubles in price it seems!

I'd say £50 per week and 5% of profit?
 
I would say 10-15 as well, but per session, not per hour, as if he hasn't been ridden for a year he is not going to be up to an hour's schooling to begin with. Percentage is a nice idea in theory, but you do have the problem if the horse doesn't sell / sells for peanuts because someone makes a lowball offer but is a good home / gets injured etc. I think it is clearer to both parties if there is an agreed figure (say 15 pounds) 3 times a week for 3 months.
 
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Sales livery my way is around £130 pw then 10% of sale price on pro yards

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Blimey I have sold my last two horses on a pro yard and got charged EITHER £130 per week schooling livery OR 10% of the sale price - definitely not both
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At that was for the horse being ridden/exercised 6 times a week

If I were in your position OP I personally would not be charging at all if it was a friend I was riding for - if I wanted to do it, and had time, then I would do it for free. If I didnt want to do it etc then I would just politely say no and keep a good friendship
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Ditto Splotchy in that a good friend normally helps out another good friend who is in dire straits
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(and I don't mean Mark Knopfler). Making a profit out of a friend in need is despicable.
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If you do charge your friend, I trust you will be declaring the income to the tax man?
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Never do anything of a work nature (and it is work what you are proprosing) for free, as resentment will always creep in somewhere and ruin a friendship anyway, the odd favour is fine, but for what you are proposing you should definately charge something, how much needs to be mutually agreeable.
 
Err, no, friend has offered to pay me because she wouldn't expect someone to ride her horse 3 times a week for nothing when she knows they are busy. Anyway, no-one made her buy him, she bought him because she saw a profit in him, not to have a nice horse to ride and I think it better to charge in those circumstances. The only person round here who rides reliably for others as a service does it on a monthly basis and charges nearly £400 a month or similar. She's certainly not in dire straits as she gets free full livery for him and her other horse, she is just undisposed for a while. On the plus side he is a very sweet horse and only spooky in a way you would expect a decent horse to be, its amazing he got dumped on the dealer. He's already fitter and offers the most amazing extended trot!

I think about £10 per hour plus a smaller percentage of sale price is about right.

Lord_Horatio_Nelson - really? Would you, really? Hmmn.
 
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