Sharers - how picky are you?

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cheekywelshie

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This was intended for owners but could be asked of sharers too - how choosy are you when it comes to sharing?

I am considering sharing my horse again - I have had to brilliant sharers in the past (who i am still good friends with but they had to give up for work/baby commitments!) and for the past year and a half have had him to myself. We both had injuries (fractures - splint (him) and broken hip (me)!) in the second half of last year and now I am bringing him back to work so am very wary of looking for anyone until he is fully fit. I envisaged 2 days a week, like my old sharer did, but I do have caveats - ie happy for him to be ridden out (off the farm on the road) but only in company, mainly because i don't want ot worry about someone on their own off the stables (he does spin around at tractors/recycling lorries etc) although is fine with everything else pretty much. I would rather not share him than change my mind on this! That said we have a fair amount of on site hacking on the farm and v good facilites so there is plenty of places to ride.

I am a bit wary of going through the experience of trying to find someone reliable who i can trust and will respect my decisions and has experience of horse care - although i had two really good ones i was really lucky with the first and the second was word of mouth via the yard manager. The other option is to do what I do now which is just put him on livery when I can't make it up, as we do have this option.
 
I've got two girls riding my boy. I have a second horse to ride and just don't have time for both without help.

They're both fabby. Ones a younger girl (15yrs) who only rides one day a week. She's sensible and mature for her age and unlikely to do anything stupid. The other girls my age and brillant: a little novice when it comes to schooling but sensible and reliable.

I had quite a few completely unsuitable people coming to see him. One was a younger girl who was very shy and immature for her age and came with a difficult dad intow (no thanks!), the other couple were just too novice to be able to hack out completely by themselves. When I put an advert up I got LOADS of replies but spend quite a bit of time weeding out the unsuitable.

I didn't let potential sharers being a fairly novice (or nervous, since my boys bombproof and confidence giving) rider put me off, as riding ablility doesn't always come hand in hand with common sense and reliability! I'm not interested in them schooling the horse on for me, as long as they don't make a real mess of him. I think too many people want seriously able riders to school their horse on for them, when that's not really the type of rider most sharers are: they're sharing to gain more experience usually!
 
I am a sharer rather than an owner, but I like to treat the horse exactly as the owner wishes me to do, because I know if were the other way round, I would be very picky about how my horse is handled. I would always respect the wishes of the owner, and I get attached to a horse very easily, so in that respects I treat the horse like I would my own. I have heard that a good reliable sharer is hard to find, so sometimes I worry that it's hard to prove myself as the competent and reliable person that I am!
 
Bluepegasus2802 said:
I am a sharer rather than an owner, but I like to treat the horse exactly as the owner wishes me to do, because I know if were the other way round, I would be very picky about how my horse is handled. I would always respect the wishes of the owner, and I get attached to a horse very easily, so in that respects I treat the horse like I would my own. I have heard that a good reliable sharer is hard to find, so sometimes I worry that it's hard to prove myself as the competent and reliable person that I am!
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I agree with this totally :)
I spent quite a while looking for a horse and even went to try one (which was a complete nutter!)
I found that most people looking for sharers had quite green, or problem horses and wanted someone else to school them, bomb proof them etc.
I gave up in the end and found a racing and polo yard to work at over the summer where I'll be able to gain lots more experience and ride out a couple of horses a day :)
 
I just want a reliable adult sharer who will help out two days a week and enjoy him as much as me...reliability and being responsible is more important than being an experienced rider - though I wouldn't want a complete novice who has only been riding a few weeks!
 
I am a sharer as I cant afford my own. I wouldn't say i'm too picky however what really gets to me is when I follow everything the owner says but I am still unable to do anything other than school said horse . I also don't expect to be a general 'slave', yard chores etc are what I expect but just because they can't be bothered it does get on my nerves.

I have also rung up a few people in the past and on the phone something along the lines of 'you must school X in an outline constantly or you cant do this,this,this .....' etc so i guess i am picky in that respect, I want a horse I could have fun on/ treat like my own.

As said above, I also feel like its hard to show the reliable, trustworthy person I am as so many people have had bad sharer/some people give us a bad name.
 
I've had 3 sharers for my pony (now out on loan) and they have all been fab, but found them via word of mouth. One just used to hack out, mainly with me, another a child, did everything with him, was there every day, and if going hacking further afield cameout with us, as she was a bit young to hack out on her own over the plains. The next was an adult that rode on her own, and did some rc too. I would try finding via word of mouth first, but if that doesn't work be very specific on the phone to weed out ones who don't suit. As your not looking for a sharer from a financial point of view, your not relly working to a deadline, so can be fussy, I always was!
 
Thanks everyone :)

I wonder if it would be worth posting on here - there is an equine group set up for our area on Facebook but there are a lot of under 16s on it and I definetly want an adult sharer...in the first instance I would like someone to just come up with me and help for a few weeks and then see how they get on with him before discussing sharing (commitment /reliability more important than finance but I would expect a contribution of about 25 a week (my monthly costs are about 400 excl shoeing!)
 
I got most replies off Gumtree.

I wasn't too fussy about an adult and have a 15yr old girl who's brilliant. Mature, sensible and reliable. She came with her dad for the first month but quickly proved herself to be responsible enough.

Put an detailed advert out and be prepared to do a lot of weeding out. It'll be worth it in the end.
 
have had some great experiences with my horses. The first one I looked for a share for is Doll who is my old mare. I first found a share for her on another horse forum. She was great, the same age as me, had a steady job, and paid £20 per week for being able to come up as often as she liked. She was an experienced rider, but VERY nervous, to the point that at first she used to use rescue rememdies before getting on! (my mare is a 100% steady neddy!)...but she had her for about a year (before going off to travel the world) and by the time she had to give her up, was happily cantering her through the fields with me out hacking...and i took her to the local farm ride where she popped a few of the smaller fences and took her to a local show!

The same horse is now with a full-time loaner who i met through a fellow livery on my yard.

I am not having so much success finding a share for my other horse! I knew she'd be more difficult...Dolly is a real, 'anybody' ride, but Luna is a 7yr old welshie...very beautiful, but very opinionated!! I mange her fine and will happily hack her out alone or in company, where we have a fab time...but really,Ii am too big for her, However so far, the people who have tried her have not been able to manage her. I thought it was me, and had a few more experienced riders take her out and they too managed her fine...so basically, she is just NOT a novice ride. Also, because she has hock spavins, to begin with I want someone who will take the time to hack her get to know her before starting anything jumping etc. after they know her, and have realised her limitations...I am happy for them to do what they want with her, including competitions, lessons, etc. Maybe some would think that i am asking a lot from a sharer...expecting them to ride her and get to know her before letting them take her out and about. But I love this little horse and am quite precious about her (I bred her). Plus, i apprecaite it can be hard to find an experienced rider who intially would just hack out....mot experienced riders want to be out and about competing I suppose.

From my experience...it is easier to find a sharer for a safe steady neddy, than some thing more 'terpermental' and with 'issues' :) lol
 
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