Would you pay to share a horse?

Im a bit disheartened at the whole part loan situation.

For the past 3 years I have part loaned and have payed for the privilidge of exercising, turning out, mucking out etc. of someone elses horse. I have payed £25 to £35 per week which is a lot of money to me. I know that I would pay that at a riding school for a 1/2 hour lesson but at least I know I would get to ride. Horses I have shared in the past have all had time where they could not be ridden like owner not getting horse shod when lost a shoe, back problems caused by ill fitting saddle and ownser daughter taking horse out for massive hack on my day and not telling me so I get there and horse is too tired for me to do anything after me driving 30 mins to get there
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Anyway, I guess what Im trying to say is that it seems that I am paying to do the owners a favour. I pay them to look after their horse. I may start to charge people to walk my dog for me
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I used to think it was fair to ask for a contribution towards cost but now I dont think so.

Sorry for the rant, I think Im going to save up the weekly cost and get my own neddy
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gembob

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gosh thats awful it wudnt cost u that to diy livery ur own id defo save up or why not find one thats on full loan and take on all responsabilty
 
I've got to say that if you save up your money and get your own horse there will still be lots of times you cant ride.... he will lose a shoe in the field, go inexplicably lame, get kicked/bitten.....horses have endless ways of putting themselves out of action

It is part and parcel of riding for me, you win some and you lose some
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I think it depends on the situation.

If I wanted half the rights of the horse, to have it to myself on the specified days, to be able to do what I wanted and if the horse was a nice quality one, then yes I'd say its only fair to pay a contribution towards costs.

However I do think some owners take the piss - when you are essentially doing them a favour by helping out and exercising and they're taking your money too.

I think you have to weigh it up by looking at who is getting the most out of the deal. You certainly don't need to pay to find riding if you're reasonably competent, as there are plenty of people looking for help, and you can often come to some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement.
 
urm TBH I think it is fair to ask for a contribution towards the horses keep eg cost of farrier.
Horses are sooooo expensive to keep properly, that £25 doesnt seem very much to me concidering the cost of the whole upkeep of the horse.
 
TBH i think it is reasonable to charge for sharing a horse. However an agreement has to be inplace to protect both parties.

When i wanted to get a sharer for my horse I wanted £30 p/w which included sole use of horse for 3 days a week, the fouth day being shared alternate weeks. However on this day I would expect everything to be done so i wouldnt have to go down at all. I was also offering competition rights.

If you buy your own you can expect to shell out at least £300 p/m and you wont always ride it either! Farriers cant always come out when asked, and back problems are very common.
last year my mare had about 4 months off for one resaon or another.

My advice would be to find a share horse but have a proper agreement. if the agreement is broken - like horse already ridden on your day - dont pay that week.
 
I think it is fair enough to ask for a contribution but I can understand the frustration if you are not getting to ride.
To be honest if you had a horse of your own you'd encounter the same problems only difference is you'd be solely responsible for sorting things out and so would have control. As for not being able to ride that's horses for you we have four and there have been times where they were all out of work at the same time for various reasons!
I've never had that type of arrangement but £25-35 seems quite steep but I suppose it would be dependent on Livery costs etc.
From reading other posts it seems like problems arise through lack of communication. Also no matter how much you contribute the owners still view it as 'their' horse and think they should take priority.
Keep smiling I'm sure you enjoy it really
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Its not all about the riding, there were just some situations like the horse with the bad back that the owner knew about long before she put him up for part loan. She did not tell me about his sore back, I only found out when he reared up with me on hack.

I know there are going to be times when you cant ride for whatever reason.

I just feel that Im paying to look after someone elses horse because they dont have the time to do it themselves.
 
Sorry you've had bad experiences but us owners are not all bad,don't give up with the whole sharing thing,my mare that is now out on loan had a sharer and it worked out really well so much so the lady who shared her is a good friend of mine now.I also have my younger mare up for share due to work and family getting in the way and i've had a great response,i'd like to think i'm quite experienced now at the whole loaning out and sharing thing, it seems to go well because i try to see it from the other persons point of view.I have always stated that no chores are to be done (unless you really want to do them!) the riding is the most important thing,they have pretty much full rein over what they do with my mare on the days they come up,there is a contribution but it would only be to cover her weekly livery and feed which would be £35 a wk. Chance to compete with unlimited riding. I do think some owners go completely overboard and expect far toooo much! I saw an advert for a horse for share that was needing £200!!!!!!!! a wk contribution due to it being on full livery,now i personally feel if the owner chose to put it on full livery they surely shouldn't expect the sharer to pay all of that :0

I quess it depends on what your offering with that price and what facilties you have.
For that much they could go and get their own horse and put it in livery!!!!!

It's very bad that on the days you were supposed to ride someone else had done so already,i used to part loan a pony and it happened to me a few times and the last straw was when i was due to go to a show one morning,went to get the pony out of her stable and she wasn't there, found out the owners friends daughter had taken her out on a 2 hr hack!!!! I was fuming and from them on i saved up for my own and have never looked back.
 
That's around the cost of DIY livery! BUT, of course, it's not the cost of shoeing, annual injections, vets bills and so on. I would have a good long think about it and consider all your options. Do you just want your own ned to love and hug and call him George? Or do you just want to ride? In the second case, if you're a competent rider, you could be doing all the tasks you've described above and working horses at a yard and getting paid for it, even if it's only at the evenings or weekends. I have loaned in the past, it was a shambles and I would never do it again. I want to know that I can provide my neddy with the type of life I wish I had, i.e. lots of treats and adulation and gifts and whatnot, and not let anyone else take that away from her on a whim. I'm biased though so bear that in mind too.
 
I loaned out my pony completely free - I wouldnt dream of asking for any money from someone who was doing me the favour of looking after, riding/exercising and taking care of my pony....Part loan I would ask for half the farrier fee and maybe some help with wormers and feed but thats it...I think it is cheeky sometimes for people to ask for money like that...
full loan would prob be much more worth while for you...
 
If you keep a horse on DIY you can easily keep it for between £150 - 200 a month most of the time, so long as its a reasonably good doer and doesn't need shoeing every 3 weeks or something.
 
well firstly i do think your been a little one sided there people have loan sharers due to lack of time/funds or both and yes you are doing yard work etc of course you are your sharing a horse so you share the work load.
Horse throw shoes and sometimes you cant get a farrier out straight away to replce the shoe or sometimes it is best to leave it a couple of days to make sure no bruising is going to come up and make the horse foot sore.
And horses get back problems/get ill/go lame its all part and parcel the owner still has to look after it and pay for it so there for so should the loan sharer you enter into that understanding when you take a loan horse on would you want to not pay your share if you were going on holiday and couldnt ride for two weeks?
As for the riding thing if someone takes the horse out on your day ask if you can have an extra day instead or ask in future can they call to re-arrange the days with you,but i do agree if you have arranged certain days to ride you should get those day unless horse is unable to be ridden or you have had prior notice.

I myslef have loaned for years and at first i got it into my head that i had as much say as the owner over what happens to the horse etc and i didnt at the end of the day you borrow it for a few days a week and what the owner says goes,unless it is really unfair such as people constantly taking the horse on your day without consulting you then you just find someone else to loan from.
 
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I loaned out my pony completely free - I wouldnt dream of asking for any money from someone who was doing me the favour of looking after, riding/exercising and taking care of my pony....Part loan I would ask for half the farrier fee and maybe some help with wormers and feed but thats it...I think it is cheeky sometimes for people to ask for money like that...
full loan would prob be much more worth while for you...

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why is it cheeky?if people are going to ride your horse they are wearing the shoes down and half the time its the owners doing the loaners a favour because they cant afford one themselves [sole cost] so they get there own horse a few days a week.Would you send a horse out to live with someone and still pay there livery bill i think not.
 
I once shared a horse which belonged to my sharer's sister.

I rode it to start with then was looking after it on my own most nights (walking the three miles there and back in the dark alone) paying for it's keep and feeding it. Then the owner told me I was too fat to ride it (I weighed 9 stone) and that her sister was fine to ride it whenever she liked (even though i was the more competent rider).


Wouldnt ever share again, unless it's someone you know and trust well and everything is written in black and white someone usually ends up worse off.
 


I just feel that Im paying to look after someone elses horse because they dont have the time to do it themselves.

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well you hit the nail on the head there why do you think people loan there horses out for that reason they dont have the time/funds to do it all themselves.
 
I've got a couple of outgrown ponies and I have two girls who ride them. It's not quite the same as sharing as they have more or less sole use, and they pay £100 a month plus shoes. I think they get quite a good deal as although they do some chores to help me out on weekends and one day midweek, I have to do everything else the rest of the week when they don't come up.

They go on sponsored rides, can go to some shows and have lessons. I would like them to help more but they don't live nearby so they can't come up without a parent to drive them. But overall I am happy and I think they are. Does that sound reasonable to anyone else?

Maybe that would be a better option - find someone who has a horse they don't ride and offer to look after it and ride it, rather than try to share a horse with a rider who wants someone to play second fiddle.
 
Ive made it sound like Im bitter that I cant get to ride all the time. I know that they can lose a shoe, but to take 3 weeks to get farrier out was a bit too long after me nagging and saying I would ring farrier myself. And I know horses get bad backs, but to know about it prior to me loaning that the saddle was causing probs and not getting it sorted it quite unresponsible to loaner and horse. There are loads of other situations which has made me question what I am doing.
 
By the way people don't ALWAYS loan horses out because of lack of time and funds there are lots of reasons,one of the reasons i did with one of my mares was because of ill health and it was very unforseen.
 
Umm....
I know of many part loaners paying £25-£35 a week.
However that gives them at least 4 days a week, more if they want...ie holidays etc they can be with the horse 7 days without question. I also know of several who part loan for around the same amount, with the horse also used ad-hoc in lessons on the yards. However the loaner is still able to ride and often gets invited to fill spaces on lesson FOC.

Think it's a case of each to there own, and go for what suits the loaner. In the majority of cases, I would say it works out and suits all involved....
Use of the horse, the experience gained in the run to owning a horse, the work out involved is far more entertaining than paying a lot more for gym membership....and then of course there's the social life that comes with horses.....
personally a bargain me thinks?!?!
 
I have always thought sharing and contributions were a bit of a dodgy subject. I can see the argument from both sides and both arguments are equally strong!
Personally I wouldn't pay to share, and I have shared three horses so far and never paid. My current agreement works really well; I ride Berlin as often as I can, which involves getting him fit, schooling him, taking him to lessons and improving him. I do as much of the duties as I can do (especially now my horse is stabled with Berlin) and every weekday morning I look after all the horses so Berlin's owner can go straight to work and not have to come up to the yard. I also paid all costs involved when I took him for four days to riding club camp in April. So yes, owner is doing me a huge favour by letting me ride and compete her horse and letting me take him three hours away to camp. I am doing her a favour in return by drastically reducing the amount of time she needs to spend with him, so instead she can enjoy the days when she has enough time for riding because she has managed to get more of her work done during the week. We are both happy with the arrangement and it works well.
I had a similar arrangement with my first share horse, owner had very little time so the only way she could avoid selling her horse was to share her. My second arrangement was slightly different in that owner was more doing me a favour by letting me ride her horse; I still did as much of the care side of things as I could, but the horse was a well established SJer and was helping me improve. I didn't pay for this share either but it got to a point where the owner was beginning to use this favour against me, so we called it a day.
I'd prefer to just stick to my own horse!
 
you see the thing really confusing me is why people seem to think they can use peoples horses free of charge you can pay an stupid ammount of money for a lesson on a school horse theese days but yet find it shocking that owners want £25- £35 a week for half a week with a horse.And anyone who doesnt want to do yard chores obviously cant be that desperate for one of there own- sorry guys you loan half a horse the chores come with it be it if you can ride or they dog lame or sore backed and have to be in for a couple of weeks the owners still have to do it so,so should the loan sharers.
 
I personally think that someone sharing a horse should not pay towards the livery costs etc.
It is up to the owner of the horse to pay for the keep etc. The whole reason a person lets another person ride & care for their horse is because they haven't got enough time to ride/care for him/her themselves.

I would think at the very most a contribution to shoeing costs could be asked for but honestly I see the people who come and ride my horse as a favour to me. They keep him fit for me and I get to call the shots. They can't do as they please as he is MY horse so why should they pay? If they have worked him consistently and have been a real big help they get to take him to a show if they fancy.

I benefit from S having the most awsome mini fan club, he gets spoilt with carrots and I am spoilt with support. Add money in to the equation and things tend to get ugly. Just my opinion.
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I just feel that Im paying to look after someone elses horse because they dont have the time to do it themselves.

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well you hit the nail on the head there why do you think people loan there horses out for that reason they dont have the time/funds to do it all themselves.

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Ive found the answer, get my own horse and have it on part loan.
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i did not say that was always why but 90% of the time it is or due to having children like blackhawk but more times than most it is due to lack of time and funds your situation was different but that cant over ride the fact it is generally the main reason.
 
well the arrangment is with us you pay half on livery,shoes,feed,wormers,hay,bedding she deals with vets bills,vac's and teeth,backs you pay your own comp fee's and your fair share of fuel in the lorry when you go out ammount depends on how many of you go out.But she does alot of the owrk herself especially since i had james she does all the hard graft and the loaners just basically go down and ride and poo pick the fields so they get a very very good deal they can compete go out as much as they like.

i could not ride somebodys horse and not pay for it i would feel cheeky and the owner does have the complete say over the horses thats why you get a loan contract and if the loaners try take over you get shot of them plenty of people out there looking for loan horses or vice versa if loan sharer not happy with owner plenty of horses up for loan out there.
 
Horses for courses hey. LOL.

My guys pay but just not with money. They do kind things without being asked. For me it just makes my horsey experience so much more pleasant I would go insane without them.
 
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well the arrangment is with us you pay half on livery,shoes,feed,wormers,hay,bedding she deals with vets bills,vac's and teeth,backs you pay your own comp fee's and your fair share of fuel in the lorry when you go out ammount depends on how many of you go out.But she does alot of the owrk herself especially since i had james she does all the hard graft and the loaners just basically go down and ride and poo pick the fields so they get a very very good deal they can compete go out as much as they like.

i could not ride somebodys horse and not pay for it i would feel cheeky and the owner does have the complete say over the horses thats why you get a loan contract and if the loaners try take over you get shot of them plenty of people out there looking for loan horses or vice versa if loan sharer not happy with owner plenty of horses up for loan out there.

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I guess that I just need to keep searching for the right one.
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you see the thing really confusing me is why people seem to think they can use peoples horses free of charge

[/ QUOTE ]I think you're viewing this in a very narrow and unfair way. 'Use' could readily be replaced with 'care for', 'groom', 'muck out', 'exercise' and 'turn in/out'. I would consider those as favours to me the owner, not privileges that I bestow upon the loaner! Charge them for the pleasure of mucking out my stable? Hmmm. I do agree that shoeing and so forth should be divided between loaner and owner to the ratio that the horse's time is divided, but extra charges on top seem unreasonable.

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you can pay an stupid ammount of money for a lesson on a school horse theese days but yet find it shocking that owners want £25- £35 a week for half a week with a horse.

[/ QUOTE ] But lessons are instruction from qualified individuals helping you to improve your riding and done on horses that are fed, groomed, mucked out and tacked up for you by stable-hands. This is a totally different situation from loaning. It is readily possible to get jobs on yards where you do lots of chores and some riding (just like loaning), and astonishingly, they pay you.

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And anyone who doesnt want to do yard chores obviously cant be that desperate for one of there own-

[/ QUOTE ] Again, life isn't this black and white. Sometimes people don't have time; loaners can have jobs and other commitments too and I think it's unfair to simply write off someone's dissatisfaction with loaning as 'not wanting it enough'.
 
well if thats the situation for you and it works that great but F does nice things for us like picks us all up to go to yard takes us with her to try new horses after we have sold on if WE dont like them she wont get them,she takes us out for birthday meals she buys us birthday,christmas presents[i get more
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well she is one of my closest friends i met her when i got jay on loan she spent about £200 on me a couple of weeks ago for my b'day] but all the other girls she buys them expensive presents and she has us all round for dinner and bbqs and we all go off for days together its lovely.There is just one bad egg in the equasion who will be going bye bye soon.
 
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