Sharing - Paying to much?

[Jillyy]

I have been sharing for a while now. I'm in the process of looking for my own horse, but while i look for the perfect companion, i'll be continuing to share, so i can still ride.

But wanted your opinions on how much i'm paying to share. Because i'm beginning to think its a little too much!

I get 2-3 days use of the horse each week.
The horse is on DIY livery, so i have to muck out etc on the days i'm up.

I'm paying a little over £35 quid a week. So just over £140 a month effectively.

Is this about right for 2-3 days a week share..? or is this a bit costly would you say?

I won't be sharing for too much longer, But I'm just curious more than anything!

 

[burtie]

It really depends on the cost of DIY livery and the other costs for this horse. However it does seem a bit steep unless you are on a yard with amazing facilities.

 

[trundle]

i think thats VERY expensive, actually. For £35, you could have your own horse on DIY livery around here ! The poshest yard in this area charges £40/week for DIY, so yes, i think you are being slightly ripped off.

What is the cost of weekly DIY livery at your yard? It sounds to me as if you are paying virtually the full cost of the livery AND doing the chores 3 days a week. it sounds as if your horse's owner is taking the mick a little bit. If the horse were on full or part livery, £35 wouldnt be too bad, but as it is, i think you are getting a poor deal.

 

[carthorse]

If that includes insurance ,shoeing ,worming, feed , hay , use of a school and the horse is in a good hacking place then I would think that would be fine .
I have had no luck finding someone good to help even exercise for free so there are people out there that offer someone good the opportunity to ride for free[ my old livery comes up most weeks for a ride but only when she is free, I still appreciate it]

 

[Jillyy]

Trust me the yard does not have amazing facilities lol
It has a small/medium sized paddock... thats actually about it if i'm honest...
Hacking nearby isn't great either.
Don't get me wrong the stables are nice and clearly very well kept, but as for facilities, its nothing special atall.

 

[carthorse]

Bit difficult and late to ask if you have been paying it, oh dear, still I bet you have enjoyed it and if it has worked out well then I expect it has been worth it.
Good luck finding your new horse ,I bet the owner of share horse will miss you.

 

[chickeninabun]

I pay £50 a month + shoes approx. every 8 weeks but her owner rarely rides her so I have her 7 days a week if I want and I muck out 3 days a week, but my yard has zero facilities. We have a huge field and nice enough stables but nothing else and hacking is cr*p too!

But it is 100 yards from my house and the YO turns out/brings in whenever I can't with no extra cost, even mucked out for me on saturday!

 

[the watcher]

I think those who say it is too much are sometimes a bit blind to the real costs of keeping horses. In addition to the £35 a week I pay for a stable DIY, I could add on £5 per week for feed (at least) another £5 per week towards the farrier, £20 per week for bedding and haylage, and that doesn't even take into account replacing tack, cleaning rugs, veterinary and dental charges, insurance and the cost of keeping a vehicle to move them around in. (actually I have frightened myself now, I try not to think about the costs too much)

So splitting that in half would easily add up to £35 - although with sharers I have always been more flexible about how much riding they can do, or on which days.

 

[Kate23]

I share one of my horses out. 3-4 days a week to include one lesson, he is kept at my own yard so to the sharer may as well be on full livery. Amazing facilities, and superb all off road hacking. She pays 120 a month.

And last month arranged to have his legs clipped out for me as my clippers had died, and she was fed up of combing through his feathers the clipping cost 12 pounds and she took that out of this months money!

 

[Angua2]

[ QUOTE ]
I think those who say it is too much are sometimes a bit blind to the real costs of keeping horses. In addition to the £35 a week I pay for a stable DIY, I could add on £5 per week for feed (at least) another £5 per week towards the farrier, £20 per week for bedding and haylage, and that doesn't even take into account replacing tack, cleaning rugs, veterinary and dental charges, insurance and the cost of keeping a vehicle to move them around in. (actually I have frightened myself now, I try not to think about the costs too much)

So splitting that in half would easily add up to £35 - although with sharers I have always been more flexible about how much riding they can do, or on which days.

[/ QUOTE ]

snap.

My sharer was paying £30 for 3 days and that took into account all the above.

 

[HelsB]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I think those who say it is too much are sometimes a bit blind to the real costs of keeping horses. In addition to the £35 a week I pay for a stable DIY, I could add on £5 per week for feed (at least) another £5 per week towards the farrier, £20 per week for bedding and haylage, and that doesn't even take into account replacing tack, cleaning rugs, veterinary and dental charges, insurance and the cost of keeping a vehicle to move them around in. (actually I have frightened myself now, I try not to think about the costs too much)

So splitting that in half would easily add up to £35 - although with sharers I have always been more flexible about how much riding they can do, or on which days.

[/ QUOTE ]

snap.

My sharer was paying £30 for 3 days and that took into account all the above.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I agree with all of the above....however it depends on the owner / sharer's reasoning for the share. I would see having a horse to ride at under £12 per day reasonable even taking into consideration a little bit of mucking out etc. It's certainly a very good short term way of riding while you look for your own horse.

 

[Firewell]

Depends on how nice the horse and how much the owner pays, I would consider £35 high if the horse was kept in owners field and was just a hack, for a competition horse on livery I would think £35 is reasonable. I think anywhere between £15-£35 per week is reasonable considering everything it costs to keep a horse.

To put it in perspective a bit, my OH had a 3/4 of an hr hack at a riding school which cost £65! I thought this was horrendous but when I spoke to my YO she used to teach at a RS that charged £70 for half an hour private lesson!!

 

[lexiedhb]

QR- I think that is a bit steep. Mainly becaue you do not have use of the horse half of the time, and also I have a problem with sharers paying half the costs of everything, but then not getting a say in how the horse is kept, fed, shod etc

Obviously I think sharers should pay (in most cases), but unless the owner is willing to allow the sharer responsibility of making 50% of the decisions regarding said horse then I dont see why they should pay 50% of the costs.

PS: I pay £50 a month for 3 days a week...... but I know I am very very lucky!

 

[Chestnuttymare]

again, it depends on how much the livery cost are and like everyone said, feed, shoes, supplements etc have to be considered. i wouldn't agree in the sharer having a say in the care of the horse tho, even if they are paying half, they don't own half of the horse. if it was my horse i wouldn't want to have to consult with the sharer on any decisions. not to say i would never ask for advice or an opinion, but the end decision would rest with me.

 

[golddustsara]

Depends where you are in the country too - in the 'home counties' livery is a bomb. I pay £25 per week for a bombproof horse but don't have to do any chores. Yard is tiny so I'm pretty much there on my own so have the school to myself. £35 sounds quite expensive but depends where the yard is.

 

[SO1]

I think it depends on how much the livery is really.

When I was sharing before I got my own I was paying £25 a week but the livery was only £17.50 a week so I was paying more than the DIY livery for 3 days a week and doing chores with it.

Horse lived out during summer so extra money must have gone towards insurance, supplements, farrier, vets bills etc.

If the livery is expensive then I don't think £35 is expensive taking into consideration feeds etc if it was a competition horse or poor doer it could eating a lot of expensive feeds

 

[Kallibear]

That sounds like an awful lot of money.

You only ride 2-3 days a week, so would effectivly be paying for a 1/3 of the horse. I seriously doubt the horse costs £105 a week to keep! I'd think it would cost more like £50 a week, for the facilities you describe and insurance, shoeing and feed etc. My horses have similar facilities and cost under £50 a week each, everything included.

For £35 a week, and only riding 2 days, I'd expect a 'serious' horse with decent facilities (i.e a good school)

 

[sarah23]

[ QUOTE ]
i think thats VERY expensive, actually. For £35, you could have your own horse on DIY livery around here ! The poshest yard in this area charges £40/week for DIY, so yes, i think you are being slightly ripped off.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry but it really annoys me when people say this. Yes you could go and get DIY stabling for that money, but then what about the horses bedding, hay, feed, shoes, insurance, vacs and all the rest that comes with owning a horse.

Just think how much it would cost you for a riding school horse for an hour, £25 around here.

 

[sarah23]

Totally agree with you mother_hen.

Sorry for repeating almost what you have said i only read the first few post and got a bit defencive. Should of read down a bit more.

 

[Ellies_mum2]

[ QUOTE ]
again, it depends on how much the livery cost are and like everyone said, feed, shoes, supplements etc have to be considered. i wouldn't agree in the sharer having a say in the care of the horse tho, even if they are paying half, they don't own half of the horse. if it was my horse i wouldn't want to have to consult with the sharer on any decisions. not to say i would never ask for advice or an opinion, but the end decision would rest with me. [/quote/]



I'm with chestnut_mare1 on this one.

I pay £110 a month for unlimited riding Mon - Fri and also the chance to compete on Ellie too. We have 2 outdoor schools, both floodlight if need be and about 100 acres of off road hacking and a field with half a dozen jumps.

It suits me down to the ground

 

[Shilasdair]

[ QUOTE ]
I have been sharing for a while now. I'm in the process of looking for my own horse, but while i look for the perfect companion, i'll be continuing to share, so i can still ride.

But wanted your opinions on how much i'm paying to share. Because i'm beginning to think its a little too much!

I get 2-3 days use of the horse each week.
The horse is on DIY livery, so i have to muck out etc on the days i'm up.

I'm paying a little over £35 quid a week. So just over £140 a month effectively.

Is this about right for 2-3 days a week share..? or is this a bit costly would you say?

I won't be sharing for too much longer, But I'm just curious more than anything!

[/ QUOTE ]

Why don't you try doing an Excel (or handwritten

) spreadsheet, working out the costs of keeping a horse for a year?
On it you need to include livery, bedding, hay, feed, tack and saddlery (capital and maintenance), equipment (and maintenance), vet bills, farrier bills, dentistry, insurance, wormers, clipping and trimming, and stuff like fly spray, saddle soap, rug cleaning etc.
Once you've done that, you may realise what a cheap share you are getting, and never want to buy your own

S

 

[brighthair]

I paid nothing at first but have agreed to pay £100 a month for the next 6 months as the owner is in financial difficulty. I do all yard chores 3-4 days a week for both horses, and have access to both horses to ride, I pay for my own lessons but have access to hacking, indoor and outdoor school. If we run out of feed or something, I'll pay for that

 

[jacks_mum]

I don't charge my sharer anything and I pay half of her fortnightly lesson for her as she is at college and can't afford it all on her own. I only hack, well mostly I only hack, I have the odd spin round the local xc course and the occasional foray into showing and I love to see Jack working so beautifully with Char_Lottie and enjoying himself. She comes mostly twice a week and mucks out if I haven't done it but in the first two weeks after I did my ankle she came almost daily to take the load off my OH. I think she's a star and would hate to be without her, I wouldn't dream of charging her to ride Jack.

 

[jen1]

I took my daughter for 2, 1 hour hacks in the New Forest a couple of years ago, just walking along and a little trotting, OK so she had a lovely time, but it cost me £120!! that's my horse's livery for a WHOLE MONTH!! I think £30 PW is fine, especially if you have a nice horse to ride. Good facilities make it better as does good hacking if that's what you like.

I was paying £35 at a local riding school for a 30 min private lesson and that's over 3 years ago now. I started sharing for that very reason, also I got to muck out and groom and tack up and all the other stuff that goes with looking after a horse and I had a good rapport going with the horse I shared as I actually looked after him, at the RS you got there, horse was tacked up, got on had lesson, got off and horse taken away again, it felt very very wierd!! I think it's odd that sharers don't want to muck out etc, I think that's all part of looking after a horse, also you get to know the people on the yard better instead of just turning up riding and going away again.

Once you get a horse the costs will mount up, shoes, worming, yearly vacs, dentist, saddler, feed, bedding, tack, rug cleaning/repairs/purchases, first aid equipment, fly spray, then all the stuff you have to get when you start up, buckets, wheelbarrow, fork, broom, haynets, feed bins blimey the list goes on and on!