Work for rides - how much work?

[horsemad32]

A friend of the family is thinking of offering this with her daughter's horse, when daughter is at uni. She'd rather the help than the money, and has been talking to me about her plans. So - the question is - how much is fair in terms of chores, for essentially a free horse? A paying sharer would still have to do that horse's chores, so... how much poo picking/ragworting/cleaning tack/general mucking out etc would be fair? Friend is an RI and is willing to teach a bit in return too.

ETA: friend has more than one horse, so general chores would help a lot time-wise for her. Up till now her daughter has always mucked in and helped with them all, so she'll be losing that help on top of having another horse to exercise & do chores for, hence this idea!

 

[Batgirl]

If the idea is that it is one person, all chores for the day and week (M/O, tack clean etc) With some dispensation around T/O.

If it is more about a couple of people I would say M/O and an hour of other work (ragwort etc).

 

[Littlelegs]

I had a similar arrangement when daughter was 1 for a year. Teen got to ride/ compete/show when she liked. I'd ride one wkend day dependent on her plans & maybe the odd eve. In return she did 3 mornings & 4 eves, & was also on standby to help if baby was ill. She also did tack cleaning, painted stable etc, & often did extra am/pms if she was up to ride. I gave her regular lessons for free & taught her stuff like clipping to save me doing it. So although she got a free horse, I got free part livery & mine prefers to do stuff.

 

[La Fiaba]

I used to do 3 or 4 days a week in return for rides. My days I did everything that needed doing, so the same as a sharer/part loaner but I didn't pay. I now have my own riding school and I expect a full days work in exchange for rides (ok, so food and accom is included too, but only because we're a bit far for a day trip !)

 

[mystiandsunny]

Interesting . I have a teenage sharer/loaner for one of mine who doesn't pay. Total expected time doing chores about 30-45 mins each riding day. That includes that pony's stable, feeds etc. As a teenager I worked a full day for a ride, like a poster above. Would anyone do that now I wonder?

 

[jumpthemoon]

When I was away at college I had a lady look after my horse during the week and I did him at weekends. She didn't pay anything and it worked really well.