Somebody else competing your horse on a part time basis?

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opinionuk

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Due to my 6 year old horse and myself having a bit of a confidence meltdown XC I am thinking about getting somebody local to compete him over the winter and do a bit of JAS with him with a view to doing a bit of BE with him at the beginning of the year, I think he's super talented and could be a fantastic event horse which is what I bought him for.

I intend to keep him with me and do all the fitness work and still take him out to dressage competitions, but get somebody to school him a couple of times a week and compete him a couple of weekends a month.
I have had him on competition livery before but it just didn't work as I want him based with me to still hack out on and fuss about with so I don't want to go down that route again.

Has anybody tried this sort of set up before and does it work? It also seems to be difficult to get local event riders to sign up to this sort of agreement and to find them in the first place!

Any other ideas? Is it going to confuse him having 2 different type of riders on him?
 
I don't think it will confuse him :)

I would say that you may struggle with the set up you describe with a professional rider tbh.

If it were me I would be looking for a really good junior rider, for payment of course, someone that already events one or two others.
 
I would advertise on some Facebook groups and see what response you have.

Personally I would do this for free! (If I was competent enough of course!) But I think it will be difficult to get a pro to do it?

Horses should cope well with 2 different riders, particularly if you will only be hacking and schooling him?
 
opinionuk said:
That's what I am looking for, how much would you expect to pay to school them?
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I would agree on the junior to be honest. I am 22 and now work full time and own my own horse but would have jumped at the opportunity to event before i worked full time. At the time, finding someone who wanted a rider was difficult!!

The price would really depend on experience of the rider, any duties they will be doing, can they tow or drive wagon? can they clip, groom to high standard etc...

Here is to me wishing i didn't work full time!! x
 
I think it depends what level of experience you want.

If it is a confident and capable jockey to give your horse some mileage then you could probably find someone reasonable for free (maybe consider paying for some decent instruction)

If you want your horse professionally producing then you might struggle to get someone to come to you. I'd expect to pay £30-40 a time to be honest.
 
opinionuk said:
I'm not asking them to do anything I will do everything, including the turnout of the horse and taking them to the shows
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I think you could find a young jockey who would do it for free - I know i certainly would have! I would put ads up in your local horse/farm stores and on preloved and other websites like that - Facebook is a good way of finding people also! Just make sure you get the right person for you and your horse, they need to be reliable experienced and competent!

How big is your horse and where are you based?
 
K4STR said:
I would agree on the junior to be honest. I am 22 and now work full time and own my own horse but would have jumped at the opportunity to event before i worked full time. At the time, finding someone who wanted a rider was difficult!!

The price would really depend on experience of the rider, any duties they will be doing, can they tow or drive wagon? can they clip, groom to high standard etc...

Here is to me wishing i didn't work full time!! x
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I would not expect the rider to clip, groom or drive the horse to competitions, a decent young rider will want to turn up and have the horse prepared for them to a high standard, they may pop it on their lorry if it is not going out of the way but they may well have several others to ride and the owner will be the groom for the day.

I used to pay a good amateur SJer £25 for the first class to jump one of mine, I think the 2nd was less and that was about 18 years ago, I think an event rider will want significantly more unless there is something in it at the end or they are short of rides but at the lower levels most will have enough unless they are just setting out on their own.

You may be best looking for a good PC rider that can fit in a second ride, I would go to a few competitions and see if anyone rides in a way you like and approach them directly, on FB you may get plenty of offers from dreamers with limited skill and it will take you time to sift through them.
 
be positive said:
I would not expect the rider to clip, groom or drive the horse to competitions, a decent young rider will want to turn up and have the horse prepared for them to a high standard, they may pop it on their lorry if it is not going out of the way but they may well have several others to ride and the owner will be the groom for the day.

I used to pay a good amateur SJer £25 for the first class to jump one of mine, I think the 2nd was less and that was about 18 years ago, I think an event rider will want significantly more unless there is something in it at the end or they are short of rides but at the lower levels most will have enough unless they are just setting out on their own.

You may be best looking for a good PC rider that can fit in a second ride, I would go to a few competitions and see if anyone rides in a way you like and approach them directly, on FB you may get plenty of offers from dreamers with limited skill and it will take you time to sift through them.
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Sometimes those dreamers do have skill, and may just not be able to afford to compete, or afford their own horse or the right horse!

It really does depend on how much involvement the OP wants to have in the matter. I agree, any that are doing it for a favour or for money would more than likely just want to rock up to their horse ready for them, but for others, they'd want to be involved in the training and the grooming that goes into it prior to the competition.

In some cases you are also doing the rider a favor in allowing them the opportunity to get out their and ride to their best ability...Just as long as they are RIGHT for you and your horse.
 
Teen 2 would bite your hand off and I'm sure she's not alone! Pony Club B test holder, evented, now doing A levels and doesn't have time to keep her own horse going but is desperately looking for something to school/compete. Why not try talking to your local PC and see if they can recommend anyone?

(And if you are anywhere near Guildford in Surrey, then feel free to PM me ;) )
 
K4STR said:
Sometimes those dreamers do have skill, and may just not be able to afford to compete, or afford their own horse or the right horse!

It really does depend on how much involvement the OP wants to have in the matter. I agree, any that are doing it for a favour or for money would more than likely just want to rock up to their horse ready for them, but for others, they'd want to be involved in the training and the grooming that goes into it prior to the competition.

In some cases you are also doing the rider a favor in allowing them the opportunity to get out their and ride to their best ability...Just as long as they are RIGHT for you and your horse.
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I agree they may have skill but the OP seems to want a pro or at least very experienced competition rider to bring on her horse that they are struggling with, to hand the education over to someone with limited experience means they risk the issues becoming worse rather than better, I don't think they want to be doing a favour to someone looking for a horse to enjoy but more of a business arrangement where the horse is improved and established so the OP can then take back the ride, it would be unfair to do this to someone who wants to be fully involved almost as a sharer would be. I think this will be a fairly short term arrangement if it goes to plan and the rider does a good job.
 
be positive said:
I agree they may have skill but the OP seems to want a pro or at least very experienced competition rider to bring on her horse that they are struggling with, to hand the education over to someone with limited experience means they risk the issues becoming worse rather than better, I don't think they want to be doing a favour to someone looking for a horse to enjoy but more of a business arrangement where the horse is improved and established so the OP can then take back the ride, it would be unfair to do this to someone who wants to be fully involved almost as a sharer would be. I think this will be a fairly short term arrangement if it goes to plan and the rider does a good job.
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Yes it probably would be an over winter thing to get mileage and confidence hes got a temperament to die for! if however he proved to be as talented as I think he is I may think again.
 
I would advertise locally. I did consider riding one for someone for free a year or so ago, as I was looking for something to compete. However, as it is likely to be short term as you will want the ride back at some point, then paying someone is the way forward. Would you be in a position to take the horse to someone for them to ride it if their time is short (and precious) as opposed to leaving the horse with them full time?
 
zaminda said:
I would advertise locally. I did consider riding one for someone for free a year or so ago, as I was looking for something to compete. However, as it is likely to be short term as you will want the ride back at some point, then paying someone is the way forward. Would you be in a position to take the horse to someone for them to ride it if their time is short (and precious) as opposed to leaving the horse with them full time?
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Yes that's a possibility
 
opinionuk said:
what level is she eventing at?
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She isn't at the moment, ive only had her for a month. She's 11 but only every done dressage at elementary level. I did my first horse camp with her last weekend and hoping to hunt, show, jump and get round xc locally!

She hasn't jumped properly up until now, so lots if GRID work!

What breed is he?
 
I think my horse had this before I bought him. His owner would either take him to the events and meet his rider there, or drop him off with her the day before to go on her lorry. Sounds do-able, maybe start contacting some of your local pros and ask? Where are you?
 
I have this arrangement. It works really well. Local pro schools him and I take him to show and the pro competes him. The pro competes quite a few at shows too, I'm one of few that he goes out to school locally, as most of what he does is competition livery, plus competing at shows. I Managed to get him to Come to me to school as well, purely because I'm just down the road from him.

Have a word with local trainers, producers etc , they will either be interested themselves or know someone who will. Good luck, with your search, it really works for me
 
I do this for a friend of mine. I keep my horses at her yard which is very convenient so I can ride her horse at home, flat work and jumping 2/3 a week, while she does the hacking and fast work on him. She enters him for shows/events etc, and takes the horse - we went xc schooling last month - I rode this horse, she brought another of hers.

I also teach her on a couple of her other horses, and will be backing a homebred of her next spring (if she's not sold 1st!) Works very well. We have a contra arrangement with training vs livery.
 
I've done this & think it's great! If you enjoy being an owner & can find the right person to do the scarier stuff for you why not?! It won't confuse him or make any negative Impact, it can help build his experience & both of your confidence. Equally it won't make him a push button ride but I'm sure you know that already! I loved watching from the sidelines ( I had an ex 4* rider, so you can defs find a pro. Just ask around, some professionals will take a ride at an event if they're going anyway). although I'm doing more myself these days I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if I didn't have the time & I could afford it! Go for it. 😊
 
I have this setup for my dressage horse. £25 per week for 30 min of schooling and they tack up etc. £150 per day entry fees paid by me (using their transport) they compete him once a month. So it costs me £250 a month.
 
When I did this I used to pay £20 a show for them to ride him. They kept the prize money. They had him for 2 weeks at the start and I paid for livery for that , and then I kept him at home, rode him and took him to shows. That was a show jumper. I would have thought due to the time of year you would be best looking for a show jumper to ride him.
 
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