Sharer contributions - how much £££'s ?

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Hi all,
I was hoping to get some feedback on what is realistic in the current climate for sharers to contribute.

I have 2 horses with lovely sharers. Both horses are fit & clipped & I encourage the girls (older teens) to do Pony Club & local SJ/XC & take them out at least once a month (in my trailer generally, with me towing.) The yard has not perfect, but good facilities & is DIY so I do 90% of the jobs - going up twice a day inc. v. early mornings, before work etc. Have been keeping a spreadsheet for past 3 months of ALL my horsey costs. Have been horrified to find out the real cost!

The sharers contribute approx £100 pcm for two days per week riding (to include 1 weekend day.) This was originally costed on 'rather optimistic' summer costs based on approx £10 per week day & £15 for weekend.

I'm finding that now the hay prices have increased by 100% & everything else is so pricey, I'm being over-stretched financially. I never wanted to profit in any way from having sharers but now feel that I'm heavily subsidising their riding & I can't sustain it indefinitely.

What do others think & how have you worked out what's fair?
 
I had a sharer who rode 2/3 days a week including both weekend days. She paid £150 a month. Like you though this was for a well schooled allrounder on a yard with great hacking decent facilities and chance to get out and compete etc. She also didnt have to do any chores as I did it all. I got a bit of stick on here from people saying i was taking the mickey and asking too much but at the end of the day she paid through choice and was happy with the arrangement. I worked it out and she paid well under half the overall costs, and was getting the chance to ride at weekends so I got the boring stuff in the dark after work ;) It was my only choice though to afford the winter, and all parties very happy with the situation. Yes some people only ask for contribution to shoeing or whatever, but some people need the help with the money rather than anything else :)
 
A woman on my yard charges £20 for 2 days a week however she has 2 girls who come to her one horse so she's getting £40 a week.
The girls come one day in the week and one day at the weekend. Seems to work for her.
However we have a flood lit outdoor and an indoor school, 250 acres of off road hacking and quiet lanes to mooch down so they manage to get riding in.

I don't think it would be fair to charge someone if they couldn't ride due to the weather/facilities.

I share one of my horses but i don't charge the girl. She manages 3 days a week. She voluntary contributes towards his feed, farrier, wormer etc but i don't charge because it's my choice to keep my horses. If i can't afford my horses then i would have to sell etc not have someone else to pay for them...Just my opinion and everyone is different.
 
why are you doing all the jobs yourself? Also do you get both horses to ride for the rest of the time?

Also what costs have you factored in and how much are they costing you monthly?

In all honesty, I think that £100 per month is a lot for only getting to ride twice a week and I don't think you would get much more out of anyone. Perhaps if they are on a special feed due to the requirements of the sharer or say stud holes for when they compete they could pay additionally for that.

I have 2 horses on DIY livery I do them twice a day and I pay someone to get them in when it is dark when I am at work. I assume from what you are saying that your livery is high but working out my costs I would be quids in with getting £200 per month. Or have I got something wrong?
 
Thanks for your views so far.

Lochpearl, I think one of the main differences may be as I'm in the South East & flat rate of livery is £120pcm + am currently paying £7 per bale of hay (small bales, yes really!) I've had horses for over 20 years and think I've become extremely good at economising. Keep all outgoings to a minimum, no special feeds / supplements / stud holes etc.) Vaccinations, shoeing & horse dentist due next month so will be another pricey one!

I wish I was in a position to not have to have sharers at all & perhaps I'm just gonna have to face up to selling something but am extremely torn partly as I love the horses to bits (naturally) & also cos we have two in the family so myself & my kids can ride together & I'll really miss that!

Please don't think I'm on the take - just feeling the pinch myself & wondering how others are managing.
Ta again
 
It depends if your current sharers can afford to pay more...They are probably on a budget and feeling the pinch as well. Asking for more money might mean the current sharers no longer want to share and you may find yourself with no sharer and having to find all the money until you get someone new to help you out.

I have a really good relationship with the girl who looks after one of my lads and to me the trust and reliability is more important than getting contributions. I needed help with exercising so maybe it's different than needing someone to pay towards my hobby.

We all love our horses but we all also know that horses are a luxury. If my circumstances changed then lifestyles would have to be reviewed.

Perhaps you could put the price of the share up but let them have an extra day to ride? That way you are getting more money to cover the everyday expenses and they get to spend extra time with your horses?
 
I had a sharer for my ex Intermediate eventer a while back. Brillaint facilities no yard duties as was on part livery and she had total run of his Monday to Friday. I charged her £120 per calender month and she contributued towards physio. I think £150 is about right for you to be charging
 
I used to pay £15 a week for two days riding per week. This was for a pony. Just used to hack out and school a bit though. On my days, jobs were my responsibility, this included grooming, feeding etc, usual stuff. Also had to poo-pick (one barrow for each day I had the pony).
 
Whilst the price of keeping horses has gone up I personally wouldn't want to pay more than £100 for 2 days a week. Maybe follow another poster's suggestion above and see if they'd be willing to pay more in exchange for an additional week day. So you would charge them £140 a month for 3 days a week.
I do also think your costings are high. I keep my horses in the South East and know it can be expensive but they only have the horse 2 out of 7 days and therefore should only be paying 2/7ths of the cost maximum. This would mean at the moment your horses are costing you over £350 a month each which does seem excessive for DIY.
 
lochpearl said:
In all honesty, I think that £100 per month is a lot for only getting to ride twice a week and I don't think you would get much more out of anyone. Perhaps if they are on a special feed due to the requirements of the sharer or say stud holes for when they compete they could pay additionally for that.
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Ditto that.

The only thing I would suggest, if you don't do it already, is to get the sharers to put the diesel in each time you take them out in the trailer.
 
I've shared in the past and paid what it costs to keep the horse per day averaged out through the year, so it worked out as £25 per week for 3 days and if I couldn't ride for whatever reason that was my tough luck.

I now own the horses and will be sharing one with a friend and am going to charge the same way. I will take care of all vet bills as and when they appear.

Oh and duties wise, share days I did the duties as though the horse was my own, anything that needed done got done.
 
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I do feel for you, and it all adds up. I fortunately don't have the added cost of children.

Why don't you speak to the girls and explain that you have a problem with paying for everything seeing as the hay is now crazy prices and that you are thinking about selling one of them to cut down on costs, would they perhaps be willing say to contribute to the shoes (if they do a lot of hacking) or say the dentist. It might be that they say would another £20 help per month? maybe you could then give them an extra day over a fortnight?

I have been lucky to get bargains with the hay I have 190 bales at £2.50 a bale but they wont eat it!! The more expensive hay at £5 per bale they love - typically but I'm fast running out - damn beasts! I have managed to in the past buy bedding in bulk to save the overall cost. Injections, teeth and farrier unfortunately are just expensive costs, I do try and fit in with others to get free travel costs but it rarely happens. Luckily my horses are good doers so don't get much hard feed and a balancer they were on before I have now changed to a different brand - same one for £15 less!

My youngster has had 1 year on box rest, which financially was very tough, doubling everything and my other one wouldn't summer out in the field as he missed his friend. I also have had extensive vets fees to top up too. Spring next year they will both go out together and come back in, September time, so I can get a break and also I can then relax on the money front and stock up for Winter. Next year depending on my situation I might get a sharer for my event horse and heaven knows how I would work out a cost, unless they had half the time, did half the work and then I would charge half of his costs.

Winter is always difficult and honestly? not the best time to even consider selling, plus next year we might get a bumper hay crop and prices might go down. Don't stress too much, speak to the sharers, see if they could stretch a little more, just be ready for them perhaps to ask for another day or an extra show at some point.

I really hope it works out as it would be awful for you to have to give one of them up. Good luck.
 
its a nightmare isn't it! i posted a while back asking what i should charge people for sharing my horse and feelings were that more than £100 a month was too much and i was offering 4 days a week! (i am in the north though so that could be a factor). i think £150 a month for 3 days is an excellent deal as you let them compete and stuff too...see if they want to do an extra day :)
 
I have a few girls who ride some of my horses. They pay £20 per day . they can do as many days a week as they wish and Also compete if they wish. For that they don't have to do any stable duties and they also often have 2 too ride each.
 
I have two sharers and dont charge them a bean!
I see it more has us doing eachother a massive favour!

One of my sharers does both my horses everday weekday morning and in return gets to ride my school mistress, has lessons with me and does the odd low key dressage comp.

My other sharer does one end of one day at the weekends in return for riding.

As much as Id love to ask them for money, they are both helping me out I could never expect them to pay for pleasure of mucking my horses out!!
 
I share a lively ISH mare at the moment.

I pay £80 per month to ride 3-? times a week depending on how the owner is fixed that week. I do do chores depending on what needs to be done. Sometimes it is just putting her three to bed, sometimes I need to do her stable... Depends!
I have use of a lovely school and jumps, instructor on site etc.

Would I pay more?? No, I help out with all three of them and I think that is payment in return.

I used to pay £180 to ride a cob 3x a week. She was on full livery so no chores or anything. Would I pay that again in hindsight? No but considering her livery was £600 month I coulcn't complain!

When it comes to charging sharers I think the owner should be very open and explain the full costs of the horse. You can then work out exactly how much to charge according to how may days they want to do. As a sharer this is the way I like to work and think is a fairer way of doing things.
 
Thanks for your comments & ideas everyone. There's definitely a few different angles to look at this.

I will re-evaluate my costings & make some decisions. My 2 biggest monthly expenses are hay & insurance closely followed by the livery charge. I agree lochpearl & totally hope & pray we do get a bumper hay crop in 2011, as this year is a complete nightmare & winter's only just beginning.

Thanks again
 
My sharer pays £40pcm for 2 days/wk. My basic DIY (stable & field) is £140pcm and I am struggling financially. However she is a great sharer, completely reliable and I don't go to the yard on her days so she does all the work. She keeps my store immaculate, completely cleans and sweeps back my stable and spends ages grooming my mare. I have very little time with 2 young children and I wouldn't even consider asking for more money as I am really grateful for her input.
I guess it depends what each party wants from a sharing arrangement & how likely you are to find a good replacement. I've generally found good sharers to be pretty rare.
 
My sharer pay £15 a week. She rides 3 times a week and looks after my horse on her riding days. Our yard has 2x menage (outdoor) with jumps and excellent hacking. We're both Uni students though, so couldn't really ask her for more money.
 
I am a sharer in the South East. I have 3 days a week, and pay £80 pcm, I do all chores needed whilst I am there, repair all tack and rugs, and buy years riding pass on the forest. So although I don't pay that much, I more than make up for it in repair bills I think!
 
I apologise as this is my first post, I'll put up an introduction in a min :-)

Anyway, I have a sharer for one of my boys and have had sharers for him almost constantly for the past 4 years due to various reasons, financial and practical.

My first real sharer looked after him 3 days a week one week and 4 days the next week (so we rotated it and all was fair), we split every cost 50/50 as this is how we'd both decided would be fairest and both parties were very happy with the arrangement for around 3 years until my sharer finally bought her own. We were friends beforehand and we still keep in regular contact.

All sharers after that (I've had 4 including the current girl, sadly some shares don't work out to be long term) have paid my boys livery (£105 pcm) and I cover all other costs, they are able to come and ride/spend time with him as little or as often as they like, they're more than welcome to compete him locally (he sadly doesn't load so further afield isn't really practical) and I'm very flexible, if they don't want to come up on a day previously arranged, all they do is text me and I'll sort everything. Our yard has good facilities including an indoor and outdoor school, a full set of showjumps, regular competitions and regular visits from freelance instructors.

I don't view it as my sharer paying towards my hobby as surely, if they want to share a horse it's their hobby too. Some people do not have the time money or experience to have their own horse so a share is an ideal way of having the responsibility with a lot of the worries taken away.

I agree with the others, maybe let the girls know your overall costs and see whether they'd be interested in an extra day.
 
Blimey, looking at some of these prices I'm happy I'm "oop North". Typically round here it's £25 for 3 days sharing and on those days you treat the horse as your own so everything is up to you.

Some people do split straight down the middle as well but not as popular.
 
At the end of the day, you need the sharers, owners often imo believe they are doing the sharer a 'favour' when it is mutually beneficial, and riding 2x a week, £25 a week is more than enough!
 
I have a teenage girl share one of my boys and she pays £70pm for 3 days a week (which includes one weekend day). I do the early mornings every day which works for me as I'm doing my other horse anyway, but on the days she rides she brings him in, and does all his other chores like mucking etc.

It basically covers half the cost of livery and hay only. I foot the bill for everything else (hard feed, shoeing, bedding etc), so she's getting a pretty good deal and it works for us both. She's a low key rider, pretty much just going on light hacks and doing a bit of school work, although she'd be more than welcome to take him to shows/fun rides if she wanted. I think we're doing each other a favour!
 
Hi, before I got my horse, I shared for about 6 months. Paid £100 pcm for 2/3 days riding per week. On the days I rode, I mucked out & did chores. Owner got day off, and I got horse to myself. It was great and I would have carried on, but owner moved to a cheaper yard, by which time I had decided that I would not follow as it suited me where I was.

So after that, I took the plunge and got my first horse. At the age of 35, having ridden other peoples horses ever since I was 7. Until the share above, I never paid for riding - always worked to earn my rides.

I've had my horse for over 3 years now - was not prepared to share for the first two as really enjoyed having my own horse to do exactly as I want. But I do have children and a full time job, so really needed a share arrangement and found someone just under a year ago. She does Mondays (am/pm), Weds (am/pm), Fri pm, Sun am. She is a huge help and, being in her late 40's, is mature, reliable and enjoys every aspect of it.

Having never paid for riding, I personally don't want to charge her a penny. She is a huge help to me, buys treats and nice stuff for my horse, spends hours grooming and pimping him up;) and helps me to keep him fit. She is quite novice but it's lovely to see how she has learnt and built her relationship with my horse. She looked after him for 2weeks in the summer when I went on hols with my family, and does odd weekends and extra eves/mornings too. Hell, if she wanted to stop our arrangement, I think I'd pay her to continue:D

I would far rather have the sharer I have and not take a penny, than a sharer who wanted to pay £150 a month - it would make me feel that there might be a risk they would want to `get their money's worth' at whatever cost. Just my opinion :)
 
A lady on our yard has a horse where the sharer has 2 days per week and can compete if wanted but she is a novice so compares everything to the cost of a riding school. She pays £25 a week plus shoes (full set) for two days a week and does all stable juties twice a day on her days and is very happy with this!!
I ask £100pcm :)
 
I'm very lucky.
My sharer purely wanted help with the exercising of her two ridden horses and care of her unbroken two y/o along with cover when she travels to see her boyfriend.
I get riding time often three or more times a week along with regular competitions, which works out well as there are two horses.
I'm very grateful as she asks for no payment whatsoever, and she's grateful for the help. I'm reliable and get on great with her awkward horses so, it suits us both.

I think you need to consider what you really want from a sharer, tot up the upcoming months fee's and put a price to them. They'll either yeigh or neigh. ;)
 
Ella19 said:
Surrey - shares tend to be £180-£200pcm for 2-3 days/week no or very little chores
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- Crikey!!! I'm guessing for that kinda £££, the sharer would expect to be at an Olympic shortlisted training base, riding a full brother to Totilas!!!??? lol. Joking aside though, I don't really think that sounds too unrealistic now that I've really looked at the figures. It's been interesting to get feedback from everyone. I know it's all very much down to circumstances and personal arrangements & I do agree that it's vital to have someone you can trust.

What all your replies have also done though is that it's been making me reflect on why I'm feeling hard done by & I think i've got a bit of a handle on it now.

The truth is: My big horse is one that I home-bred, for myself to compete. She is the only horse I have ever bred (& will ever breed! tbh) When my kids got into riding, I became aware that I don't really do this hobby just for me anymore so my time, energy & money became divided. For the past 2 years, I've fairly much handed over the ride to this young girl. She's made progress with her riding & whilst I've still been involved with schooling, it is her who's had the enjoyment of training and competing. I have felt that I've done less and less competing myself partly due to the fact that she now 'has Sunday's' plus expects to do extra riding in the school hols (which as I'm a teacher is ironically, my best time to ride too!!!). I've been happy to support her with her riding and she is a lovely young girl but I guess what's at the heart of this is that I miss MY horse!

OK - So that confession may make me sound spoilt and ungrateful but maybe some of you would agree that it's just disappointing to have unfulfilled dreams. at least I'm honest...and I now have some thinking to do.

So thanks for alll your posts & best wishes to you & all your horsey friends.
 
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