Sharing experiences - good or bad?

[Aoibhinn]

I was considering trying to share one of my horses for the year as I am currently starting my exam year (*sigh*). However, I am not entirely sure what would be involved in sharing. It seems to be more commonplace in England, you would rarely see it over here in Ireland for some reason!

Horses are kept at home, we have a sand arena with a few jumps and a field with a handful of cross country jumps too. Horses are used to hacking on roads also as we don't have any bridle paths.

How do people go about finding a sharer and sorting out all the little details, I.e what happens if sharer has an accident? Horse gets hurt? Tack gets damaged?

If anyone has any suggestions/first hand experience I would be very grateful TIA

 

[EB83]

Hi
I'm coming at this from the sharers side rather than the owner, as I part loaned my boy before taking over his ownership.
1. Request that the sharer has their own insurance
2. Be clear about their duties- do they muck out, poo pick, clean tack?
3. Watch them ride your horse a few times
4. Be honest about your horse
5. Have a contract

I found my boy on preloved, he'd had a few sharers before me and also whilst I loaned him but I stuck with him because I loved him like he was my own, and now he is! It may take time to find a good sharer but they are out there

 

[Aoibhinn]

Hi
I'm coming at this from the sharers side rather than the owner, as I part loaned my boy before taking over his ownership.
1. Request that the sharer has their own insurance
2. Be clear about their duties- do they muck out, poo pick, clean tack?
3. Watch them ride your horse a few times
4. Be honest about your horse
5. Have a contract

I found my boy on preloved, he'd had a few sharers before me and also whilst I loaned him but I stuck with him because I loved him like he was my own, and now he is! It may take time to find a good sharer but they are out there

All I want is somebody to come and ride, I'll do all mucking out etc as I'm one of those weird people that enjoys doing it what does a contract usually entail if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Max123]

I'm in Ireland and had a girl "share" my horse for a year who I keep at home. She got in touch with me by chance based on a response I put to a thread on boards.ie equestrian. She rode him 1 day a week and it was great. There was no financial contribution which is important from a liability point of view. I amended the BHS loan agreement to suit my situation e.g horse couldn't be taken out of yard, she had to have rider insurance and other stuff. I'm happy to PM you my version if you like. It is difficult when you aren't on a yard. Preferably if you could find somebody by word of mouth so you have an idea of their riding level or if you advertise try to get a 3rd party confirmation of their level before they test ride as you are more vulnerable when not on a professional yard with full insurance.

 

[EB83]

I didn't have one, but if I did decide to have a sharer for my boy I'd definitely have a contract.
British Horse Society and Redwings have examples (they'll come up if you Google horse loan contracts). They're more for full loans but you can adapt them.
If I was to have one it would state:
I as the owner reserve the right to cancel the share if I deem my horse or property is not being cared for in the manner that I see fit.
That I can observe the sharer with the horse at unannounced times.
If there is concern for the horses welfare the sharer must raise these concerns and contact the vet if an emergency.
That all equipment will be kept in working order and stored properly when not in use.

 

[Aoibhinn]

I'm in Ireland and had a girl "share" my horse for a year who I keep at home. She got in touch with me by chance based on a response I put to a thread on boards.ie equestrian. She rode him 1 day a week and it was great. There was no financial contribution which is important from a liability point of view. I amended the BHS loan agreement to suit my situation e.g horse couldn't be taken out of yard, she had to have rider insurance and other stuff. I'm happy to PM you my version if you like. It is difficult when you aren't on a yard. Preferably if you could find somebody by word of mouth so you have an idea of their riding level or if you advertise try to get a 3rd party confirmation of their level before they test ride as you are more vulnerable when not on a professional yard with full insurance.

That sounds exactly what I would be looking to do. Basically I just need someone happy to keep the horse ticking over by riding twice, maybe 3 times if they wanted to, during the week. If you could PM me the agreement you had that would be really great thank you I would be very conscious of it from an insurance point of view though, God forbid something happened to either a person or one of the horses...!

 

[Aoibhinn]

I didn't have one, but if I did decide to have a sharer for my boy I'd definitely have a contract.
British Horse Society and Redwings have examples (they'll come up if you Google horse loan contracts). They're more for full loans but you can adapt them.
If I was to have one it would state:
I as the owner reserve the right to cancel the share if I deem my horse or property is not being cared for in the manner that I see fit.
That I can observe the sharer with the horse at unannounced times.
If there is concern for the horses welfare the sharer must raise these concerns and contact the vet if an emergency.
That all equipment will be kept in working order and stored properly when not in use.

Thank you those would definitely be good things to state in a contract!

 

[Micropony]

From the sharer's perspective it would also be good to be clear up front about what you are happy for them to do with the horse, e.g. can they jump it, hack alone, have lessons with their/your trainer, are you happy for them to compete the horse, take it away for clinics etc. People sometimes make all sorts of odd assumptions so just good to be clear and avoid misunderstandings.
Also tack - if you're not happy with sharer adding/removing/changing things like martingales, bits, draw reins and whatnot then make that clear. I wouldn't have dreamed of it as a sharer, but you do sometimes hear hair raising tales.
I found my share horse years ago through my riding instructor. She taught me at RS and horse's owner privately, and put us in touch. Do most people do it via FB etc these days?

 

[Elbie]

From the sharer's perspective it would also be good to be clear up front about what you are happy for them to do with the horse, e.g. can they jump it, hack alone, have lessons with their/your trainer, are you happy for them to compete the horse, take it away for clinics etc. People sometimes make all sorts of odd assumptions so just good to be clear and avoid misunderstandings.
Also tack - if you're not happy with sharer adding/removing/changing things like martingales, bits, draw reins and whatnot then make that clear. I wouldn't have dreamed of it as a sharer, but you do sometimes hear hair raising tales.
I found my share horse years ago through my riding instructor. She taught me at RS and horse's owner privately, and put us in touch. Do most people do it via FB etc these days?

This.

I've been sharing with the same lady now for about 14 years! When I first started her horse had just recovered from a tendon injury so there were strict instructions as to what I could and couldn't do at first. We had a contract which I think renewed after 6 months then again after a year.

Make sure you are 100% happy with who you choose. Trust your gut!

 

[Steorra]

I’m a sharer rather than an owner, and have had three longish shares (1 year or more) and several short-term arrangements. The best thing you can do is be clear about what you want for your horse and create a relationship with your sharer where you both feel like you can bring up any worries.

The only time things have gone a bit wrong was due to poor communication between the horse’s owner, me and the yard owner. The horse’s owner told me the horse was on full livery, and that the yard owner liked to stick to her own routine in doing the chores, so I was just to groom and ride. However, the YO was complaining to the horse’s owner about things I was/wasn’t doing: didn’t put a haynet up, didn’t skip-out, left the school lights on (someone else was riding in there at the time!). Neither spoke to me about it, all smiles while I was around, so it wasn’t until another livery told me the YO was cross that I found out there was a problem.

All my other shares have been really positive experiences, but all very different. One owner, who worked away during the week, showed me where the tack was kept then completely left me to it. I see my current share's owner all the time, and often hack with her on one or other of her horses.