Price of part loans

[merlo89]

I've been looking each summer for the past 3 years for a part loan, as that's when most appear.

Usually, they've been like £10 a week and no or some yard duties.

This year they all seem to be in the £30-40 price bracket A WEEK! Some with yard duties, some without.

I could pay for decent livery for that price!

Am I going mad thinking that's ridiculous or is it now normal? 😣 Had a heart attack when I enquiried into the first one 😩

 

[AmyMay]

Sounds more than reasonable to me. Do you know how much it actually costs to keep a horse?

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Sounds fair to me. Around 20yrs ago when I looked for someone for one of mine, the going rate for a part loan was £15-25 per week then, depending on whether the horse was shod and if it was 2 or 3 days you loaned for, and that was still cheap compared to the cost of keeping a horse. And of course you were expected to do stable duties on your days, if the horse was stabled and on DIY livery.

ETA: you might be able to get decent DIY livery for £30-40/wk, but you'd still have to do all the chores yourself and you'd need to treble that cost to account for shoeing, feed and bedding (assuming hay is included in livery fee).

 

[AdorableAlice]

Sounds more than reasonable to me. Do you know how much it actually costs to keep a horse?

Quite.

45 minutes with a good instructor on a school horse would be at least £35.

 

[ihatework]

You couldn't cover the costs of your own horse on decent livery for 30-40 a week!!
Those are the words spoken from someone who does not understand costs!!

 

[FfionWinnie]

Assuming that's for 3 / 4 days I think that's a bargain personally!

 

[Vodkagirly]

Livery is just small percentage of the costs of keeping a car. £30 pw for riding a reasonable horse with no additional expenses is a bargain I think.
Though some of the FB adverts I have seen are for nutters and unbroken horses... In which case it is very expensive.

 

[BSL]

Buy the horse, insure the horse, provide grazing/stable hay feed, immunisations, dentist, nearly forgot farrier. Silly me. ,physio, saddle check, rug + replacement of, tack + replacement of, and any unexpected expense, then work out what you think is fair. Oh, and don't forget some illnesses aren't covered on insurance or there may be a hefty excess fees.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Quite.

45 minutes with a good instructor on a school horse would be at least £35.

Exactly. At my local riding school £35 gets you a 1/2hr group lesson, I dread to think of the cost of a private lesson. I looked into it when I thought about giving up being a horse owner.

 

[merlo89]

I Know that owning a horse costs a lot more then that, just I could pay for livery on that price (stable, feed, hay and bedding).

I'd happily do stable duties even if I wasn't riding, just seems extortionate considering the fact that the reason most people part loan is because they can't afford it!

 

[ester]

I fully understand costs
I still struggle to get my head round paying to help someone out to ride their horse for them and do their stable chores so they don't have to. I never charged my sharer as she was helping me out too. I have never paid to ride perfectly nice horses for the many years I didn't have my own, and when I did when I was only seeing him weekends and I am a much better rider than I was then.

 

[BSL]

I Know that owning a horse costs a lot more then that, just I could pay for livery on that price (stable, feed, hay and bedding).

I'd happily do stable duties even if I wasn't riding, just seems extortionate considering the fact that the reason most people part loan is because they can't afford it!

Wow..to own a horse and only have to pay for livery...

 

[Shooting Star]

As per the others I'd say that was quite reasonable.

My horse on stabled DIY costs around £100 per week for the basic costs and the one on grass livery about £55, neither of these are shod if they were it would add another £10 a week to each of their costs.

 

[AmyMay]

I Know that owning a horse costs a lot more then that, just I could pay for livery on that price (stable, feed, hay and bedding).

Highly unlikely, if not impossible.

 

[merlo89]

i think everyone has misunderstood the livery part, I know it cost well over that to pay for the horse a week and everything else, it just seems an awful lot, at the riding schools you pay that much to have the horse on loan for a week and ride whenever!

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I Know that owning a horse costs a lot more then that, just I could pay for livery on that price (stable, feed, hay and bedding).

I'd happily do stable duties even if I wasn't riding, just seems extortionate considering the fact that the reason most people part loan is because they can't afford it!

But it's not the job of a horse owner to provide you with a cheap horse to ride because you can't afford your own.

When I looked for a sharer before it was because I wasn't riding much, not because they would be helping me out with the chores or because I needed the money. Plus, a lot of sharers end up causing the horse owner a degree of hassle one way or another, so I can see why people don't want to bother getting a sharer unless there's going to be a reasonable contribution towards the costs.

 

[SO1]

I paid £30 a week for a share for three days a week and that was 10 years ago and I did the yard duties on those days.

It is not just the livery that is costly, it is the purchase, the tack and rugs, shoeing, feed, insurance, worming, vaccinations, teeth rasping, that all add up.

 

[Batgirl]

I fully understand costs
I still struggle to get my head round paying to help someone out to ride their horse for them and do their stable chores so they don't have to. I never charged my sharer as she was helping me out too. I have never paid to ride perfectly nice horses for the many years I didn't have my own, and when I did when I was only seeing him weekends and I am a much better rider than I was then.

I struggle to get my head around someone who doesn't want to pay towards the costs of an expensive hobby in order to share in that hobby without any of the responsibility, unexpected costs, upfront costs etc.

 

[AmyMay]

at the riding schools you pay that much to have the horse on loan for a week and ride whenever!

Sorry, but that is not true. Loaning a riding school horse does not mean you can ride it whenever you want. Their hours of work are tightly regulated and of course, they're used in lessons. So you can't just turn up and expect to ride it.

 

[AdorableAlice]

i think everyone has misunderstood the livery part, I know it cost well over that to pay for the horse a week and everything else, it just seems an awful lot, at the riding schools you pay that much to have the horse on loan for a week and ride whenever!

So in the ideal set up for you, what would you actually like to do with a part loan horse and what would you consider the right price ?

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

i think everyone has misunderstood the livery part, I know it cost well over that to pay for the horse a week and everything else, it just seems an awful lot, at the riding schools you pay that much to have the horse on loan for a week and ride whenever!

But they'll also be using that same horse for lessons, or loaning it out to multiple people. It's not just one person paying £30-40/wk for the riding school to provide them with a horse for sole use, they wouldn't make any money if they did that, and would be better off selling all their horses and doing full livery at double the price instead.

 

[SO1]

It is a two way deal. If the sharer were to say ride three times a week at a riding school then it would probably cost at least £75 a week. If they share yes they may do some of the jobs but they also get to ride without being supervised and probably for longer, for a fraction of the cost. Sharers are often not professional riders or grooms so you may not get someone who rides or does to the chores to the same standards or as quickly as if you were paying a professional to do the same thing.

I fully understand costs
I still struggle to get my head round paying to help someone out to ride their horse for them and do their stable chores so they don't have to. I never charged my sharer as she was helping me out too. I have never paid to ride perfectly nice horses for the many years I didn't have my own, and when I did when I was only seeing him weekends and I am a much better rider than I was then.

 

[teapot]

I struggle to get my head around someone who doesn't want to pay towards the costs of an expensive hobby in order to share in that hobby without any of the responsibility, unexpected costs, upfront costs etc.

Ah that old chestnut, and I completely understand where Ester's coming from. Why should someone pay to help someone else out with their own horse and make their life easier, especially when it's not a 50/50 split? Some share adverts really do take the biscuit sometimes: 'don't have time to get my horse fit or do stable chores, looking for someone to pay £50 a week, ride twice a week and do it for me'.


Fwiw, I'm paying £45 for a private at the moment, it's even more if I wanted to ride in the evenings/at weekends, and no I don't just ditch the horse after my lesson either.

 

[AmyMay]

Sorry, having to post so it takes me to the next page 😣

 

[merlo89]

I struggle to get my head around someone who doesn't want to pay towards the costs of an expensive hobby in order to share in that hobby without any of the responsibility, unexpected costs, upfront costs etc.

I do want to pay, as a college student I cannot pay the full costs of a horse as livery is more then what I earn, let alone every other costs.

 

[Clodagh]

I do want to pay, as a college student I cannot pay the full costs of a horse as livery is more then what I earn, let alone every other costs.

So as AA asks, what would you deem acceptable in charges?

 

[milliepops]

I struggle to get my head around someone who doesn't want to pay towards the costs of an expensive hobby in order to share in that hobby without any of the responsibility, unexpected costs, upfront costs etc.

Depends on who needs who more, imo, and what each party brings to the arrangement.

I also didn't take any money off my sharer when I was at uni, I needed her to help with the chores as I couldn't be there all week to do it myself.
If I needed help in the future I'd choose an experienced rider who didn't pay over someone less competent who did horses for courses.

 

[ester]

I struggle to get my head around someone who doesn't want to pay towards the costs of an expensive hobby in order to share in that hobby without any of the responsibility, unexpected costs, upfront costs etc.

It is curious isn't, I guess because I have spent many years with no money being exchanged, people being grateful enough that they get a night off chores and their horse kept fitter so they can compete it etc without having to commit to riding 6 days a week themselves. As I said I have been on both sides of this at various times and never had any money change hands, just mutual benefit.
I have already been offered one since moving (no costs) but that isn't going to be doable.
I think if it is not my own that I am keeping fit/improving I am of the opinion I would rather pay more and have instruction on a decent well schooled horse. - Which brings me to I think it depends on the calibre of the horse, if it is better than me and going to help me than I would probably happily pay, as it is it seems most are bring ons in one way or another.

On another thread with someone struggling to find a sharer most of the posts were saying she should be expecting to pay for someone to do the exercise required so it does seem to vary very much on how the post is phrased/where it is coming from.

And a bit on the person sharing, if need no hand holding/deal with any emergency situations while in charge etc. My sharer did need a bit of hand holding but would have had help on the yard if I wasn't around. I didn't charge because 1) I really appreciated the help two weekdays, 2) it meant I kept control if I had to change days or say he needed a quiet one etc.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

It is a two way deal. If the sharer were to say ride three times a week at a riding school then it would probably cost at least £75 a week. If they share yes they may do some of the jobs but they also get to ride without being supervised and probably for longer, for a fraction of the cost. Sharers are often not professional riders or grooms so you may not get someone who rides or does to the chores to the same standards or as quickly as if you were paying a professional to do the same thing.

I agree. For me, it would also be irrelevant if the person was a really good rider. If I'm looking for a sharer, I'm not expecting to get a really good rider, I'm hoping to get an average rider at best but accepting that I may have to settle for a kindly novice that's willing to learn. If the sharer turned out to be a really good rider and competent horse handler, I'd consider that a bonus. If I hadn't gone looking for a good rider, I wouldn't be expecting to pay one to ride, or to allow them to ride for free/without doing the stable chores.

 

[merlo89]

I feel like everyone has replied rather rudely and been presumptuous.
I do not and cannot afford to own a horse at the minute otherwise I would.
I know the price of livery at multiple yards in my area, through friends and Facebook, as well as the price of loaning a horse.
It is most likely different for other areas and people have different opinions, for example someone who is middle aged will most likely have a more stable and higher salary, than a college student who is on a zero hour contract.

Thank you for everyone replies.