To pay or to be paid

Fii

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I have my own horses but i have also been paid to ride other peoples horses. Now i would like some help from sombody with mine..Ok so (bare with me ) some people pay somebody to ride for them and others charge people to ride for them and others are just gratefull for the help (i would fall into the last group, although money for shoes and worming would help). How does this work do you say "im desperate i'll pay" " i'm minted i'll pay" "i'm skint i wont pay and just wait till the right person comes along". This does'nt include busnesses of coarse. I have often wondered how other people have made their decisions.
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I have just started riding a horse for a colleague of mine and have agreed to poo pick, groom, feed etc on the days I ride but we wont be exchanging money in either direction.

ETA In this particular agreement I won't be 'developing' the horse at all and so not providing a service per se (and as such have nothing to charge for) but more generally although I'm a competant rider I am certainly not a 'professional' so wouldn't expect to be paid for my riding- and would probably expect to have to pay if I hadn't found this arrangement.
 
I have been riding for a YO and I pay to ride the horses. If you need help, I would look into a sharer to come and help, they could pay a contribution and/or do stable chores. It's entirely down to what you want tbh.
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I just wondered it seems strange that some people expect to be paid to ride your horse, while others would expect to pay to ride, i suppose its wether they think your doing the favour or they are.
 
For me, it would depend on the level of the horse and of the rider.
It totally depends. If you have quality horses and the rider maybe isn't fantastic then I don't think it would be unreasonable to ask for some help in return (either money or stable duties). Conversely, if the rider is really good and his/her work actually improves your horses, then it should be the other way round.
When I was at Uni I used to be paid to ride two horses for a lady who didn't really have the time/couldn't ride very much anymore (I wasn't paid much at all --£10 a day! So £5 per horse, really!-- but it was still nice). I am not sure I actually 'improved' them but they needed schooling and nobody in her family wanted to do any flatwork so I guess they were happy with me.
On the other hand, the year before I was at a hunting/polo yard. All I had to do was, mostly, hacks or fun polo sessions (which I knew nothing about before finding that place), so I was happy to do it for free (in fact, I was actually helping out, cleaning tack etc).
 
you need to make sure your insurance still covers you the horse and rider because as soon as you accept money, you are using the horse for hire and reward, which often invalidates your insurance and means you need an establishments licence for hire and reward from the council. even though you artnt in profit but covering costs.
 
IMO if you need someone to help and someone suitable is willing to do it for free you're all good. I do think it's cheeky to ask for money when you are the one who needs the help. (obviously i understand paying shoes if they're wearing them down) I will never understand. A few years ago that's the way it was, but now everyone wants money when they would otherwise have to pay for full livery/ schooling livery/ someone to exercise horse.

But in these times people can ask and do, so that's why i pay for my shares. Don't understand in most cases, but suppose that's what i've got to do even though i am capable of bringing on a lot of horses so could actually be of benefit, more than keeping the horse fit.

It's up to you, either way you will find someone more than happy, just don't charge more than you need to.
 
I need the help!! i'm not looking for profit was just wondering why some pay for help and others charge for the riding .I would love sombody to benifit from my horses as much as i would benifit from them. When i was a child there was loads of people that wanted to ride but did'nt have their own ponies now not so many.
 
I do think there are many people wanting shares, it's a question of finding a good one! They are out there, it just takes some time to find the ones who are right for your horse, as well as yourself.
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sombody who is down to earth not fluffy, not stupid has a degree of horse sense a good sense of humour rides well quite lightweight not snooty, can adapt to the way i do things and does'nt mind riding a NF to a shire and isnt easily upset and can help at least three times a week and does'nt need me there all the time. Is that me being to picky?
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I have been payed by lady to have her horses live with me, train and compete. I have sold horses for various people and backed quite a few. I think you pay someone that is going to school and work on improving your horse. Maybe as a rule I would want to pay someone that was better than me or a pro.

I think that if someone is coming down to hack out or just generally have fun on your horse then maybe a contribution is ok, but maybe not if their helping with chores etc. I think it also comes down to the person too. My friend had a sharer who was more than happy to pay £40 per week and have a horse for 3 days as that was the same ammount she was paying to the riding school for a 1 hour lesson...

I guess it just depends who you get. I would def rather have a lovely rider that I trusted that didnt give me a penny than a worse rider who did
 
if the rider is going to improve the horse's way of going and you have approached them to ride, you pay.

if the rider is getting the benefit of the horse and has approached you to ride, they pay.
 
I ride Horlicks for free. I am doing the yard a favour by keeping her working (not used for novice type lessons) and I eojoy having her all to my self, even if it is for 1 day, so its a case of you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours!
I have offered my services of riding/bringing on to them, as I enjoy it, and I know they will think of what I have done, when I ask for a favour in return.
I don;t expect to be paid for it, as I don't look upon it as a "job" and also, although I am a competant rider, I would never say I was professional!!
 
I agree that is is a bit odd that people ask for money when they need the help.

I think if they are doing jobs and giving you time off from doing your horse that is a pretty fair trade. Especially if their riding is of a level where they can benefit the horse.

Having said that I would not be against making a fair and proportionate contribution, say to shoes or feed if I was using the horse enough to make a difference to the costs, or if the horse was at livery and I wasn't having to do jobs.
 
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Is that me being to picky?
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Nope, just might take a bit longer to find the person.
I have at times been paid to school horses but thats all I did with them.
The ones I've shared I have never paid for or been paid. That said I (hopefully) improve the horse but then get the benefit from being able to compete them. I also tend to teach (foc) the owners of horses I share so they gain aswell.
For all the owners so far the benefit of having someone they trust in all areas of dealing with their horses (including cover for holidays) outweighs any cash payment they could otherwise receive.
 
I used to be paid to ride horses, when I was good enough to make a difference (or was the only one who would ride various ones!).

Now I'd pay others to let me ride their very good horses
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Though I am very lucky in my friends and they let me ride their good horses
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Need someone to ride Dizz at the moment. Have an instructor who I will pay to ride her, and a friend who will ride her for fun(!): her son rides LL so is a trade off
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I have been paid to ride someone's horse before. The person in question was advertising offering to pay someone as they had limited time and 2 horses to ride over winter who were coming in from injury so lots of walking. I replied to the advert and was paid to ride about twice a week. With other arrangements I have usually done chores in return for rides on the day I have the horse. I've never paid anyone (apart from a riding school) to ride their horse. However I would say that I've always done exactly what the owners have wanted with the horses I've ridden, if I had been paying to ride some of them I may have wanted a little more imput or opinion on tack, feeding etc. Actually, most of my owners have been superstars, it's only one I would have liked to have had more ownership over - gentle hinting that that pony was an arse and then outright telling didn't seem to register!

Now I ride for my landlord who has pointers and racehorses - I don't get paid to ride but I do help out with the horses most days and he knows he can leave me with them if he goes away. He does pay a lad who also rides - but he breaks in the babies whereas I ride the more sane ones, so he has danger money! The lad also has his own horse and so is riding the horses as a favour to the owner whereas I get overexcited every day at the prospect of going riding!

I've ridden for some brilliant and generous people who have let me school, hack jump and compete their horses (one owner actually paid for me to take her horse to do dressage, drove us there, helped us warm up and took photos - when she normally competed her, just so I could have a go). It makes me very sad to read on here about owners being taken advantage of when other people ride their horses - the horse crazy 12 year old child inside me cannot understand for a minute how anyone would not be unbelieveably grateful to be allowed to ride someone elses horse.

If you can afford it I would always go for someone who will give you 100% commitment and dedication over someone who can pay for shoes!
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