What to charge sharer?

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FairyLights

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I have 2 horses kept at home. a friend would like to share one with me but due to work commitments isnt around much. sometimes the friend is home for 2 or 3 weeks at a time and then away for 6 months and sometimes they are home for a couple of weekends per month for months on end.
Is £100 per month ok? this would include shoeing ,hard feed, hay [we make our own] and bedding. They could ride as much as they like when they are home.
Thoughts please.
 
Slightly odd one with variable riding - you could ask her what she'd be happy with or possibly an amount per ride (£5 ish) then if she's home and riding a lot it'll feel fair to her to be paying a lot compared to months when she can't come.

I'm assuming you don't 'need' the money and that you don't need steady income.
 
£5 per ride seems awfully low when the sharer will be able to have the horse for as long a ride as they want . They are currently paying £24 for a lesson at weekends.
the horse isnt currently shod but would be brought into work for the sharer to have and I would keep it fit during her periods of absence. £100 covers shoeing costs, all feeed bedding and routine veterinary injections.
basically the horse would be theirs and I'd look after it and keep it fit and schooled when they are away.
Difficult to say how often they are here TBH it can be for a 2 or 3 weeks at a time 2 or 3 times a year then every other weekend but 2 years ago they were away for 6 months.
If they bought the horse off me and then kept it here [or elsewhere for that matter] at livery it would cost an lot more as there would be full livery fees to pay.
 
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£100 a month if they're not actually there for six months seems a little steep - what are they getting from the deal if they're not there, after all? Don't think I'd be interested in that sort of deal, anyway.
 
From the sharers point of view it sounds like their lifestyle is pretty prohibitive for a horse full time of their own - they would need full livery really.
To be able to come and ride ad hoc when it suits them, without chores on a horse that is kept ticking over - for £100 pcm I think that would be a pretty damn good deal if they want to be involved with a particular horse.
 
ihatework said:
From the sharers point of view it sounds like their lifestyle is pretty prohibitive for a horse full time of their own - they would need full livery really.
To be able to come and ride ad hoc when it suits them, without chores on a horse that is kept ticking over - for £100 pcm I think that would be a pretty damn good deal if they want to be involved with a particular horse.
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my thoughts exactly
 
I wouldn't charge a 'friend' anything for sharing personally - I would just like having them around TBH especially if I didn't get to see them very often - nice to have someone to ride out with etc.

If you really feel like you have to charge then it would probably be nice to your friend if she could pay on a ride by ride basis rather than a monthly charge even when they're not even in the country.
 
Why not agree on a price per week, then if she is away with work for two out of the four weeks she only has to pay for the two she's around.

If it's any use I pay £87 a month for two days per week, do jobs on my nights too.
 
My sharer pays £10 per day she comes and rides. She pays over £40 for a lesson (not on my horse) every week so I think what she pays towards keep for mine is fair. If she doesn't come at all she doesn't pay. She doesn't have to do any chores either and I take her out with me on fun rides, shows etc where she pays for whatever classes she wishes to do.
 
Horsesforever1 said:
If they bought the horse off me and then kept it here [or elsewhere for that matter] at livery it would cost an lot more as there would be full livery fees to pay.
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Yes it would cost them more if they owned the horse and kept it on full livery.
But the fact is they don't own the horse, you do, you keep it at home and have full.control, so not like having their own at all.

Basically you have to ask .the person that would be sharing what they are willing to pay to.
They may have a totally different figure in mind!

£100 a month is the average price for a share but with this person not always being there.
It would be fairer to charge less but they pay every month regardless if they are there or not.
Or you charge them the going rate but per ride, week or month but only when they are around and they don't pay when they are not around.
 
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I think £5 per day is the average if the horse is on DIY and the sharer is doing all the chores and perhaps up to £10 per day if full livery. It would also depend on if your friend would see it as her own horse on full livery or just a bit of fun when she's home. I guess £10 per ride to one person is good value and is when compared to a riding school but also depends on their financial situation. It's a bit like how long is a piece of string, there are so many different factors to consider.
 
As it's a friend only you can decide between the two of you what's fair - not many people will pay £600 for the months when they are not around at all. It probably depends on how good a friend she is.
It's your horse and you'd pay for insurance, hay, feed triming etc is you didn't have a sharer so having someone pay this for you is only a bonus. The only incrimental cost is shoes which may well be covered by a £'s per ride type arrangement. Obviously unless you were going to sell the horse anyway and only keeping it becasue your friend wants you to.

How offended will you be if you say £x a month and she says that's way more than she was thinking - or if she only chooses to pay when she's at home?

I totally agree sharers get a great deal money wise compared to the actual cost of having their own.
 
Although I can see what you're saying, I personally don't think the cost of things such as injections should be covered by the sharer. I think it's he owner's responsibility to pay for them, however I do think you can ask for half the cost towards shoes.

I don't have a sharer for mine but there's a few people at the yard that do and I know they charge them £10 - £15 a week for 2/3 days, plus then half towards shoes. Suppose that works out that it's £5 a day plus shoeing costs. The sharer has to turn out, muck out, do all yard jobs and then bring in on their days.

I do think they get a good deal in terms of hours on the horse vs the costs of lessons, however they've proved to be responsible and a great match for the horses so it helps the owners have a few days without having to do all the work. Depends what means more to the owner (neither right or wrong by the way) - the money or the jobs getting done. :)
 
Sometimes I think it depends on what the sharer is prepared to pay and what you're hoping to get out of it.

I have a lovely little mare on part livery during the week, DIY at weekends and I wanted £100 a month for 3 days (thats what I used to pay 7 years ago when I shared!)

Had one person come and agree on £70 for 3 days a week - she ditched after 3 weeks cos she couldn't commit the time?! And now got someone interested in 2 days who won't pay more than £40 cos she's doing me a favour?! Now, she's not wrong. And it will be lovely to have a couple of evenings to myself - and that is my main reason for doing it rather than the money (I bought the horse, I made the choice to go without regular haircuts etc to pay for her and thats fine) but still think she's getting herself a very good deal. However, for me - the time and having someone committed and responsible is more important than the money - so I would evaluate what you think is most important, the help or the money, and take your negotiations from there
 
Still thinking about what to do for the best. I have looked through my last 12 months outgoings and have realised that the horses are costing me £96 a month each. thats all feed insurance bedding farriery routine vaccinations and wormers, hay isnt counted as we make our own ,however there are still costs involved and its selling locally at £4 per small bale , so the half bale each per day in winter [less in summer] soon adds up to a sizable amount.
Am now considering selling the horse to my friend and letting her keep it here at a reduced full -livery fee per month or just letting her take it elsewhere and she pays whatever they want, eg full livery or let her find her own sharer for it at another yard she moves too,.
I really cant be expected to keep a horse fed shod groomed exercised for someone else for peanuts per month. My friend isnt expected to do any mucking out or tack cleaning or anythin if she doesnt want to, just ride when they are home as much as they want to.
needs a lot of thinking to do.
 
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If you're paying out £1200 + a year for a horse you don't ride and aren't sure if you want then selling sounds like an ideal solution. Then your friend can make the choices she want to in relation to his livery/ care etc. Offering reduced livery at yours sounds kind.
 
I agree that the friend would be getting a good deal for £100 per month. As the owner has said, at the moment the horse is not in work and is unshod, so just putting shoes on would be £50 or so per month of the £100, and then she is proposing to do a fair amount of work to keep the horse fit. I disagree with those that say 'you have the horse anyway so you shouldn't charge anything' - yes you should, if the share situation means it costs you more in shoes and work.

I put a question on here once about charging for a share (the horse was costing me £600/month to keep on livery, and I have 2) and was amazed that a good number of people thought I should bear the whole cost and let someone enjoy the benefit of a nice horse for nothing - just because he was mine already. Yes he is my responsibility, but I don't see why someone should come along and ride him for nothing. It's an expensive hobby. If I were horseless, I would expect to pay for riding or sharing someone's horse.
 
Apologies for putting the cat amongst the pigeons but here goes....sorry :(

I can never understand people who want to charge people to share their horses and do all the chores on that day!!

I have my own horse and if I want my horse turned out, mucked out etc and put to bed, it costs me £10 per day. If I want my horse ridden as well, it's an additional £15.

Therefore at £25 per day it gets pretty expensive. If someone is prepared to look after and exercise YOUR horse and not charge you and you don't charge them, I feel both parties have a good deal.

We have liveries at our yard who have sharers and the owners really take the mickey :( in the summer ours are out at night and in daytime. The owner comes up the night before and doesn't muck out after turning horse out for the night.

The next morning the sharer has to muck out BEFORE she can bring the horse in, she then has to totally poo pick the field which has 3 other horses as well as the share horse.

That evening she has to turn out muck out etc and leave all ready for the owner to bring the horse in the next morning inc haynets hung up ready etc.

Not only would this cost the owner a lot of money if she paid the yard owner to do it, she then has the audacity to charge the sharer for the privilege! !

I'm sure you'll all disagree but I strongly feel it's wrong to charge. The owners dont keep peiple for long and the reason given is either lack of time or money but I feel its because the owners take the mickey with yard duties and charging.

I have seen exactly the same thing happen on 3 different yards with different owners and sharers.

If you have somebody who is reliable and prepared to look after and exercise your horse you should not charge them as its saving you paying your yard owner, happy fit horse and you get a day off!!

Just saying ;) xx
 
Also comparing the cost of lessons to sharing is wrong as its one thing having a LESSON and Learning with an instructor but not the same as taking your horse for a hack or riding in the school with no instruction. Lessons are more expensive as they're paying for an instructor to teach them so it may sound good value sharing but they're not necessarily improving their riding. We ALL benefit from lessons you know!!
 
nice to see it from the other POV neddynesbitt. I was fairly shoddily treated when I was a sharer. £90pcm for 3 days a week (it was 10 years ago). Horse kept at grass-I was expected to exercise nappy horse owner was scared of, look after the companion pony, poo pick for the pair of them for the whole week-once I had caught up on months of it not being done-then also to babysit her daughter on the pony and drive the sprog home afterwards! none of this in the agreement. last straw was when I couldn't ride for 3 weeks because owner didn't get the horse shod-but I was still expected to look after the kid and the horses lol oh and pay for the privilege.

If I were to have a sharer, I may ask for a contribution to shoes if the horse was doing more work, maybe towards the insurance for activities I wouldn't do with the horse. I would not ask them to pay to shovel ****, maybe because a long career in shovelling other people's horses **** has left me somewhat cynical of horse owners.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
nice to see it from the other POV neddynesbitt. I was fairly shoddily treated when I was a sharer. £90pcm for 3 days a week (it was 10 years ago). Horse kept at grass-I was expected to exercise nappy horse owner was scared of, look after the companion pony, poo pick for the pair of them for the whole week-once I had caught up on months of it not being done-then also to babysit her daughter on the pony and drive the sprog home afterwards! none of this in the agreement. last straw was when I couldn't ride for 3 weeks because owner didn't get the horse shod-but I was still expected to look after the kid and the horses lol oh and pay for the privilege.

If I were to have a sharer, I may ask for a contribution to shoes if the horse was doing more work, maybe towards the insurance for activities I wouldn't do with the horse. I would not ask them to pay to shovel ****, maybe because a long career in shovelling other people's horses **** has left me somewhat cynical of horse owners.
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Thank you I thought I may get hung drawn and quartered for my POV.

I do think sharers get the rough end of the deal (I've never been a sharer but just going by my own observations over the years) sadly many people don't have the time to have a horse full time and I do feel many owners prey on the sharers wish to be with horses and treat them as if they should be grateful that they can do all the work etc as well as a ride and pay for it too.

Totally agree that shoes and insurance contributions are a good idea but thats as much as I would consider asking for. I certainly wouldn't expect a sharer to do jobs I hadn't been arsed to do all week (eg poo picking) x
 
Equally when I had sharers I found that if I charged nothing then they didn't turn up (no chores to do so not a real issue but needed horse exercised) a nominal sum seemed to make people come every week.
I think sharers have a great deal cash wise (typical £20 for three days a week) which goes nowhere really towards the full cost and many value the horse care experience as a step to owning their own (agree 3 hours of poo picking or baby sitting probably taking the piss)
Equally they aren't consulted when decisions are made about the horses care and the share can be halted at any time. One of mine left to have a baby, while she was off the second sharer offered to full loan the horse an move him, I was happy with that so off he went. The first sharer was gutted that she couldn;t have him back after her pregnancy - I felt really bad telling her he was gone.
 
All my part shares before owning my own were around £25-35 per week for 2-3 days usually

Horses are exp and it all mounts up.

£100 PCM is typical here

I happily paid this and did chores (sometimes chores on days that I didn't have them)

Lessons are very expensive

One horse I owned only cost his owner £170 PCM and I paid £115
Of this for 2-4 days depending in how many days she could do each week


Depending on how much she can ride in average I'd say it's fair
In weeks she's home would she b ridfing 5 times for example?
 
But I like doing the jobs! I don't think it'd be nearly as enjoyable if I just rocked up at the yard twice a week and got on the horse.

The obvious cost comparison is with lessons at a riding school but that only goes so far. I'm easily getting triple the amount of riding by sharing instead of paying for lessons but more importantly to me, I have the freedom to ride when I want and do what I want. Totally worth paying for, IMO. Also I reckon I've totally fallen on my feet with what I've got - owner is lovely, horse is lovely and there's loads of give and take if I need to swap or miss one of my days. I can see why some might have a negative opinion of sharing if they've had a bad experience (and some of the ones in this thread are bad!) but if you don't like the sharing arrangement, find another one! There are some great ones out there.

OP, selling your friend the horse and charging her livery seems like the best plan. Unless you could look for another main sharer and then your friend could come along to ride when she's home and able to do so? Doesn't quite seem worth bringing the horse back into work and keeping it shod for just one sharer who can't commit to a regular schedule.
 
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