Sharing guidelines!

SavingGrace

SavingGrace

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My new sharer has asked me to write down a list of do’s and dont’s for her and I don’t even know where to start with them :( I do everything as second nature these days :o

All I can think of is –

Essential grooming
Tack to use
Workload
What to do in an emergency
Daily regime – ie skip out and top of haynet before leaving
Treats allowed


Can anyone think of anything else? These guidelines will obviously be signed by both parties to show that we agree with each point but I don’t want it to be a contract as such if that makes sense?
 
What activities she can / can't do (ie jumping, hacking, etc) and maybe how often ie can jump max twice a week or whatever is sensible.
My agreement said I had to hack and jump initially in a 2 ring gag in case my pony got strong. If everything went well only then could I switch down to her snaffle.
I found rugging most difficult - which rugs to use when. Probably not something to write down but well worth running through with her.
Does your horse kick / bite / or particularly dislike certain other horses? Are there any she should keep away from?
Replacement of broken items - if she loses your hoofpick who replaces it?
Does she have YM's number in case there's an emergency and she can't get hold of you?
Are there yard rules she needs to know about? - I found that being a sharer I wasn't 'inducted' onto the yard and therefore didn't know the yard rules I should be following.

Just a few musings.....
 
You could use the BHS agreement to give you an idea of the topics to cover.

Do you want her to always mount using a mounting block? what about any weird stuff your horse does (like mine needs girthing realllly slowly otherwise will run straight backwards into a wall & freak out) that they should know about.

What about anything that you don't want her to allow your horse to do, like use you as a rubbing post or groom you when you are scratching? Some people consider these things bad habits so you want to be consistent.
 
What about what she should do if she can't do a day, is ill or wants to go on holiday?

What about the involvement of other people, you will probably want to say no one else to ride but her.

What about things like what to do if he looses or has a loose shoe, or has a minor injury or seems a bit stiff/lame.

What things should she let you know about urgently.

Who to contact if she has a problem.

Anything she needs to provide?

Yard rules.

Locking up, storing tack etc.

You say essential grooming, do specify what you are happy with, different people have different standards. So if you will be cross if you see them hacking out covered it mud say so now rather than waiting for a row because she thinks it is acceptable to bruch the saddle girth and bridle area and go.

What about things getting lost or damaged and requiring replacement.

What baout changes to tack, feed or routine?
 
Wether she is allowed to hack alone and go to competitions.

The owner of the Horse I share, stayed with me for the first 3-4 weeks just to show me how she liked things done. So I made sure I had the same routine.
 
Had an adapted BHS contract in place for my first share - said who was responsible for shoeing/ dentist etc. And although we never wrote it down there was an unspoken agreement that the 'first' time I did anything - fast work in the field, jumping etc., that she would be around to give me some pointers and give herself reassurance that I was looking after him properly. And may not be worth writing down as such, but each of 'my' days I would text her in the evening with a mini summary of what we'd been up to and how he'd been. Used to reassure her he was being looked after properly, and also what we'd worked on, so if we'd had a few niggles she would suggest things I could try next time. Worked well for us - now got my own mare she helped me shop for, and she's one of my closest friends :D
 
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