Sharing/part-loaning debate: paying AND doing jobs

siennamum said:
I think as a sharer you have to compare the cost with that of hiring or using a RS, it will always work out cheaper, if you love horses you enjoy all the chores that go along with it. It's like rebuilding and cleaning cars, people enjoy all that mucky, tiresome work, just as much as driving them.
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This to me is the most important part of sharing, usually it's a precurser to owning your own so you've got to be passionate about everything to do with horses. FWIW I don't need a sharer, I don't have a sharer but should I decide to give someone the opportunity of using my well schooled polite horse I would want a contribution for sure.
 
My sister and I keep the horses together...but have somehow ended up with 5 between 2 of us. This works well for us, we have our own 'private' block in the livery yard, our own private field for us to do what we like and don't fancy giving that up by cutting down numbers. But then she was silly enough to decide she wanted a baby!

We already had one on basically full loan anyway in all but name anyway, for a fixed monthly charge, so more secutiry for his loaner. The only reason he's not officially is that we need to have him managed the same way as the other 4 horses to not cause issues in winter, and we need to monitor him a bit more closely than we would like due to a list of niggley issues as long as your arm that he has!

This left my sister and I 2 each, but obviously with arrival of sproge, something needed to change. We tried free for help, which was a nightmare, unreliable, NEVER showed in bad weather, lying about riding ability, lying about what thy were doing etc. Now bare in mind this was for unlimited riding on anyone of 3 horses (inc my sisters BE horse), you only needed to go up once a day and they live out 24/7 and we don't need to poo pick!!!! Now it's £100/m for 3 days a week and we have 2 reliable lovely sharers to help out and keep the horses exercised and happy. :)
 
ester said:
Is this not completely normal?? I don't understand how that has scraped the front of your saddle.
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Keeping your foot in the stirrup means the stirrup leather will scrape across the front of the saddle - this scuffedy brand new saddle :( If she had just bothered to take her foot out of the stirrup first my saddle wouldn't have been scraped and damaged.
 
Fides said:
Keeping your foot in the stirrup means the stirrup leather will scrape across the front of the saddle - this scuffedy brand new saddle :( If she had just bothered to take her foot out of the stirrup first my saddle wouldn't have been scraped and damaged.
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You should keep your foot in the stirrup when doing up the girth, I have never taken my foot out first, I have not noticed it damaging my saddles even the new ones, I suspect it was whatever she had on her legs that did the harm, someone tried a horse I was selling they wore some long country boots that must have been rough on the inside that damaged my saddle although after a few cleans it looks ok, leather is remarkably good at recovering from abuse.
 
when I used to get the girth tightened up for me, I just lifted my leg forward so it rested in front of the panels? I always did this in riding schools and they had no problems.
 
Fides said:
Keeping your foot in the stirrup means the stirrup leather will scrape across the front of the saddle - this scuffedy brand new saddle :( If she had just bothered to take her foot out of the stirrup first my saddle wouldn't have been scraped and damaged.
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I've always done exactly this, and have never scratched a saddle. How do you tighten your girth when mounted, then?
 
be positive said:
You should keep your foot in the stirrup when doing up the girth, I have never taken my foot out first, I have not noticed it damaging my saddles even the new ones, I suspect it was whatever she had on her legs that did the harm, someone tried a horse I was selling they wore some long country boots that must have been rough on the inside that damaged my saddle although after a few cleans it looks ok, leather is remarkably good at recovering from abuse.
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I'm kinda glad i'm not the only one who keeps my foot in the stirrup. When I read your post Fides, I thought ooops.... I always do that.

I've never seen anyone else do it another way when mounted.
 
Tiddlypom said:
I've always done exactly this, and have never scratched a saddle. How do you tighten your girth when mounted, then?
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When I used to do it, I lifted my leg in the stirrup and placed it on the front of the panels just so I can lift the saddle flap and then just tighten the girth? If you take your foot out, the stirrup will just be dangling down and will be moved forward as the flap is lifted. I still don't see how keeping the foot out can prevent scratches?
 
It's normal to keep your foot in as far as I know. I always have. A stirrup leather shouldn't be rough enough to damage a saddle. The only thing that I've ever done that damaged a saddle was getting off in a Barbour waxed jacket with the zip partially undone at the bottom and it scratched the saddle, nowadays I always unzip a coat before dismounting!
 
I like how this has gone entirely off piste while I was away :D

Anyway sadly my original topic is no longer an issue for me as share horse is being sold :( I'm devastated.
 
I pay £25 a week (£90ish a month it works out at), and do the jobs on my days. I agree it sounds mental to others/non-horsey people, but it's better than sharing for free further away or from an unfriendly/untrusting owner. I basically pay for the lack of hassle!

Sorry to hear yours has been sold. My share is up for sale currently - was very sad at first but it has sunk in now and I'll share the owner's next horse when he goes - the owner yard, and yard location are perfect for me and I don't want to lose them.

Sharing is hard to get right so when it works you have to cling onto the ideal situation!
 
MsChops said:
Although I usually argue that it's like having my own horse on my days, so worth paying for, my husband argues that it is like renting a car from a dodgy garage - you pay to put petrol in it so that you can drive it, but you also have to fit parts for it, change the tyres, and clean out the garage before you drive off! :D I can see his point, but like I said I'm very blinkered by being horsey from a young age. I know that it may seem mad to someone outside of the horsey world.

What are your views?
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What non-horsey people fail to realise is that its not like renting a car at all. Sharing or part loaning (same thing, different name) a horse is sharing the horse almost as if it was yours, that is the experience you are paying for.

You could rent a horse purely for riding - its called going to a riding school! It's much more expensive than sharing because there is no work involved. Its also nothing even remotely resembling part owning a horse.

Sharing is as close to part ownership of a horse as you can get without actually, well, part owning one! Its ideal for people like yourself who would otherwise be paying full ownership costs including part livery with exercising or half ownership costs if you'd bought a horse 50/50 with a friend. With sharing you lose some of the freedom of owning eg choice of vet treatment, tack or horse care regime. But you gain by not having the responsibility for choosing or paying for such things as vet treatment, prolonged rehab, retirement or end-of-life situations.

If you rent a horse to ride, there is no freedom as to what riding you can do. You'd either have an instructor telling you what to do in the arena the whole time or a ride leader setting the pace and route on a hack. You'd be riding a horse with a general level of training who was used to lots of different riders, there would be a limit to training such a horse in a precise way to your aids or using a particular favoured training method. And thats assuming you got to ride the same horse each time, which you may not.

The increased costs and lack of riding on your share horse come from your choices, you dont have to have that weekly lesson and if the arena is booked up you could hack. Many non-horsey people see little point in having lessons on a share horse because they don't realise the greater freedom you have with how you choose to progress the horses training or which instructor to use. To non-horsey people riding a horse is riding a horse.

Perhaps it would be easier to ask your husband if he'd prefer renting by the hour for a steep fee, eg a clapped out Fiesta to drive at speeds determined by someone else along a route not chosen by him. Or borrowing eg a friends Jaguar twice a week to drive wherever he wants for a small weekly fee plus putting petrol in it, but he had to wash it and hoover it and pay for the odd new tyre too. Or he could just go and buy himself a car of whatever quality he could afford and pay for absolutely everything to do with it. Renting a decent car from a good garage as per your husbands example would be the equivalent of full loaning and paying for full livery plus vet fees insurance.
 
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oh MsChops so sorry your share horse is being sold - that is horrible for you. Obviously from what you have said, you can't buy him yourself so what a shame. Will you be able to keep sharing him until he goes? I guess it might be very quick or it might take a few months. Thinking of you.
 
tobiano said:
oh MsChops so sorry your share horse is being sold - that is horrible for you. Obviously from what you have said, you can't buy him yourself so what a shame. Will you be able to keep sharing him until he goes? I guess it might be very quick or it might take a few months. Thinking of you.
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He went up for sale on Wednesday night and sold by Friday night. Went yesterday morning and I was away with work. I got back just after he'd gone. It was a big shock to be honest and I was only told last minute. After three years of sharing him and having a great friendship with the owner, I'm suddenly lost. I've been offered the same deal with the next horse but not sure yet.
 
The cost of buying a horse and seeing it only 2 days a week would be considerable. Along with the purchase price, vetting, insurance, tack and equipment, dentistry, farriery, feed, bedding and transport if needed would be many times more than £25 a week.
The main advantage for sharing is the freedom to walk away when the horse is unrideable or you want a holiday or travel with work. It also means you aren't responsible when the horse becomes old or has behavioural issues.
Sharing enables someone to enjoy a lifestyle without the commitment or cost of ownership. Those who just want to ride without being involved in horsecare would be better to hire a horse once or twice a week and pay considerably more than the cost of a share.

The only cheap way to keep a horse is to have unshod, unclipped ponies on your own land and be married to a vet. For other owners, the costs of upkeep are considerable. £25 for a horse to fit in with your free time seems a pretty good deal.
 
dogatemysalad said:
The cost of buying a horse and seeing it only 2 days a week would be considerable. Along with the purchase price, vetting, insurance, tack and equipment, dentistry, farriery, feed, bedding and transport if needed would be many times more than £25 a week.
The main advantage for sharing is the freedom to walk away when the horse is unrideable or you want a holiday or travel with work. It also means you aren't responsible when the horse becomes old or has behavioural issues.
Sharing enables someone to enjoy a lifestyle without the commitment or cost of ownership. Those who just want to ride without being involved in horsecare would be better to hire a horse once or twice a week and pay considerably more than the cost of a share.

The only cheap way to keep a horse is to have unshod, unclipped ponies on your own land and be married to a vet. For other owners, the costs of upkeep are considerable. £25 for a horse to fit in with your free time seems a pretty good deal.
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Please see further up this page. No longer an issue. As it happens I now agree I was perhaps being ripped off rather, as many friends have offered me a free share of much less problematic horses with fewer jobs to do. All down to who is doing who a favour - where does inconvenience become pleasure, etc etc, as mentioned all over this thread.

Thanks all for your thoughts.
 
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